On February 15, 2019, the U.S. Department of Labor issued Field Assistance Bulletin No. 2019-2, providing additional guidance for Wage and Hour Division staff regarding how to apply tip credit rules for employees who perform both tip-generating work (like taking orders and serving) and other duties. We provided an overview of the DOL’s position
Restaurants: Do your employees know that you take the tip credit?
If not, you might have a problem.
In 2011, the U.S. DOL published a regulation mandating that restaurants who count tips toward the minimum wage as permitted under the Fair Labor Standards Act have to notify employees that they are taking the credit. (See U.S. DOL Fact Sheet #15 for more information on the current
Involved In Multiple Businesses? You Might Be a Joint Employer!
In our previous post about the DOL’s new Administrator’s Interpretation (“AI”) on joint employment under the FLSA, we focused on “vertical” joint employment. That’s the variety of joint employment that exists when there is some sort of intermediary, like a staffing firm, PLA, or temp agency between the employee and the employer that is ultimately
Are You in the DOL’s Crosshairs? Statistics Give Warning to Retail, Hospitality Employers
Last week, the Department of Labor posted a new blog post from Wage and Hour Division Administrator Dr. David Weil highlighting the DOL’s wage and hour enforcement efforts. Dr. Weil’s statement that the DOL recovered “over $240 million owed to more than 270,000 workers nationwide in fiscal year 2014 alone” sent me digging in
Under the FLSA, the NLRB Says Even “Non-Concerted” Activity Can Be Concerted
My colleagues and I have noted repeatedly over the past couple of years that the National Labor Relations Board takes a very expansive view of the National Labor Relations Act, even (and perhaps especially) when the case does not involve a union or any union activity at all. Recently, an NLRB Administrative Law Judge issued
The 20% Rule for Tips is Back in the News
We’ve covered tips and tip credits at length in the past 
Another Celebrity Chef Runs Afoul of Tip Pooling Rules
Shortly after my co-author, Bill Pokorny, wrote about celebrity and Iron Chef Mario Batali’s multi-million dollar settlement of a class action tip pooling lawsuit, another celebrity chef here in Chicago was sued for violating tip pooling laws. In March 2012, a lawsuit was filed against Master Chef Graham Elliot by 14 former employees over tip
Mario Batali Restaurants Settle Tip Pool Lawsuit For $5.25 Million
The latest news in celebrity chef wage and hour litigation is that eight New York restaurants owned by Mario Batali have agreed to settle $5.25 million to settle a class action lawsuit alleging that they illegally withheld tips from hourly service workers. The proposed settlement, which must still be approved by the court following a
Ten Things Small Business Needs To Know About Minimum Wage and Overtime
I read the stories every day: some small business, often a local restaurant or a similar “mom and pop” operation, gets sued or tagged by the Department of Labor for failing to pay minimum wages and overtime to employees. Here’s just one example.
I have worked with a fair number of small and midsize