Restaurant employees that regularly receive tips -- servers and bartenders most obviously -- may have applied to them the "tip credit," which means that they can be paid $2.13 per hour. The assumption, of course, is that they will receive enough in tips to assure that they are paid more than minimum wage.
There are only two steps to properly apply the tip credit: (1) the employer must inform the employee that the tip credit is being applied to them; and, (2) the employee must not be required to share any of the tips he or she receives with anyone who does not work in a non-tipped job. For example, it is okay if the tipped employees pool their tips and share as long as the only employees that are sharing also work in tipped jobs.
Employees at El Toro Mexican restaurant in Lexington have filed suit under the federal Fair Labor Standards Act claiming that the tip credit was misused, because they were required to share a portion of their tips with managers, who did not work in a tip job.
Source: Lexington Herald-Leader
Lexington, Kentucky overtime lawyer Robert Abell helps individuals and employees recover the wages and overtime they've earned by not been paid; contact him at 859-254-7076.
