Tip theft occurs when employers illegally take or withhold tips from their tipped employees. Employers, such as servers, bartenders, and delivery drivers, often work for tips. Their minimum wage is set lower than a non-tipped employee’s minimum wage because tips make up the remainder of their salary. However, that does not mean their tips are eligible for unconditional employer control.
Tip theft can occur through illegal tip pooling practices, illegal withholdings of additional money from tips, withholding tips, confiscating tips, and more.
When you experience tip theft, you need a tip theft lawyer to help you get the compensation you deserve. The top wage and hour lawyers at the Derek Smith Law Group in New York City, Philadelphia, Miami, Los Angeles, San Francisco, and New Jersey can help.
Tell us about your situation so we can get started fighting for you. We tailor each case to meet our clients’ needs.
A tipped employee is a person who earns their salary through customer tips. Tips, or gratuity, are paid as an extra amount of money for a job well done. Tipped employees include waitstaff, bartenders, food runners, ride-share drivers, and delivery drivers, to name a few. Under federal laws, tipped employees earn a minimum wage of $2.13 per hour from their employer and tips earned while working.
Tipped employees must earn at least federal or state minimum wage when combining their tips with their hourly rate. Under federal law, the minimum wage is $7.25 per hour. If tipped employees earn $2.13 per hour from their employer, they must earn at least $5.12 per hour in tips. If a tipped employee does not earn at least $7.25 in combined income from tips and wages, their employer must make up the difference in their wages.
Tip pooling occurs when tipped employees combine their tips or share their tips with one another. In some workplaces, they share their tips with bussers, food runners, bartenders, bouncers, delivery drivers, and other employees who work for tips in the company. In some cases, servers must pool their tips together and divide them amongst each other.
Any employee who performs at least 20% of the work duties of a tipped employee is eligible to participate in the tip pool. The more important question is who cannot participate in the tip pool. Tips pools cannot include managers, hosts or hostesses, kitchen staff, or anyone within the company who does not conduct at least 20% of a tipped employee’s work duties. If your employer violates these rules regarding the tip pool, you may have a claim for tip theft. You need a tip theft lawyer to help you fight for the compensation you deserve. The top wage and hour lawyers at the Derek Smith Law Group can help.
The federal minimum wage is $7.25. Employers of tipped employees pay their employees a federal minimum wage of $2.13. They can pay this lower wage because they have a right to take a tip credit. Under federal law, the tip credit is $5.12. This tip credit allows employers to pay a lower-tipped minimum wage. However, employees must make that tip credit up in tipped income. The employer must pay the employee the difference if they do not make enough tipped income to cover the tip credit.
In some cases, an employer does not realize they are committing tip theft. In other cases, an employer is trying to cut corners and is aware they are violating the law. Either way, you have a right to hold your employer accountable. You may first speak with your employer or HR team to discuss tip theft.
However, if your employer does not pay you the money they owe you, you have a right to file a claim for tip theft. Filing a claim for tip theft against your employer can help you get the compensation you worked for and deserve.
Tip theft occurs when your employer illegally withholds or takes your tips from you. You have a right to earn the money for which you worked. Your employer cannot withhold your tips or deduct money from them unless deductions are allowed by law. Some examples of tip theft include, but are not limited to, the following:
Withholding tip money is a gray area. In some states, employers cannot withhold any tip money for any reason. However, in some states, employers can withhold tip money for unpaid meal bills or order the wrong meal or item for a customer. However, even if the employer can withhold tip money for these rare occurrences, they cannot withhold money as punishment for a bad day, broken dishes, or any other punishment. Furthermore, if they withhold tip money for any legal reason, the employee’s pay for the week must still equal at least $7.25 per hour.
In many cases, customers will pay a tip on a credit card. These tips belong to the employee. Employers must pay employees any tips paid on credit cards by the end of the pay period. This money can be included in the employee’s weekly paycheck. If your employer does not pay you this money or holds it longer than a pay period, you have the right to file a claim for tip theft. A talented tip theft lawyer, such as the wage and hour lawyers at the Derek Smith Law Group, can help.
Your employer likely has a team of attorneys working to help him avoid litigation and pay out settlements for any type of wage and hour violations. Therefore, working with a wage and hour lawyer can help you fight back against your employer and their attorneys. Your top wage and hour lawyers can help you file your claim within the proper time frame. They can help you meet all deadlines. They will help you ensure your case is heard and your story is told. Remember, the tips you earn belong to you under the law. If you are the victim of tip theft in the workplace, the best wage and hour lawyers at the Derek Smith Law Group can help. Call today at 800.809.2207 for a free consultation.
A qualified tip theft lawyer will advise you to file your tip theft claim sooner rather than later. However, under federal law, you have two years (three years if intentional tip theft) to file your claim with the Department of Labor. The best wage and hour lawyers at the Derek Smith Law Group can help you hold your employer accountable for tip theft.
Employers must pay the amount of money they withhold or steal from you when committing acts of wage theft (also known as tip theft). However, in many states, they may be forced to pay liquidated damages. Liquidated damages are double the amount of money owed in back pay. Other times, employers may be forced to pay other forms of punitive damages (money meant to prevent the employer from conducting similar acts with other employees).
Lorem Ipsum is simply dummy text of the printing and typesetting industry. Lorem Ipsum has been the industry’s standard dummy text ever since the 1500s, when an unknown printer took a galley of type and scrambled it to make a type specimen book. It has survived not only five centuries, but also t…
Lorem Ipsum is simply dummy text of the printing and typesetting industry. Lorem Ipsum has been the industry’s standard dummy text ever since the 1500s, when an unknown printer took a galley of type and scrambled it to make a type specimen book. It has survived not only five centuries, but also t…
Lorem Ipsum is simply dummy text of the printing and typesetting industry. Lorem Ipsum has been the industry’s standard dummy text ever since the 1500s, when an unknown printer took a galley of type and scrambled it to make a type specimen book. It has survived not only five centuries, but also t…
Lorem Ipsum is simply dummy text of the printing and typesetting industry. Lorem Ipsum has been the industry’s standard dummy text ever since the 1500s, when an unknown printer took a galley of type and scrambled it to make a type specimen book. It has survived not only five centuries, but also t…
Employers with tipped employees can claim a tip credit. The tip credit is the difference between minimum wage for tipped employees and minimum wage for non-tipped employees. As long as your tips and your minimum wage equal $7.25 per hour, your employer can pay a reduced minimum wage.
Tips pools are only legally available to employees who conduct at least 20% of a tipped employee’s job duties. Managers are often salaried employees and do not fit the rules of participation in a tip pool.
Tipped employees are still entitled to overtime pay. For any hours worked over 40, tipped employees must earn 1.5 times the federal minimum wage.
While you do not need to work with a tip theft lawyer to file a claim against your employer, working with a tip theft lawyer can help you better prepare for your claim and hold your employers accountable for their actions.
Tell us about your situation so we can get started fighting for you. We tailor each case to meet our clients' needs.
