Restaurant workers wages, tips and rights: 3 things to know
The U.S. Department of Labor recently recovered more than $262,000 in back wages and damages for servers at a Fort Myers restaurant.
An investigation found that Ginza Fort Myers Inc. required 75 servers to tip sushi chefs, owners and managers based on the servers’ total sales.
"Tips are the property of the employees who earn them. No employer has the right to keep any tips unless they are given directly to the manager who directly serves a customer,” Wage and Hour Division District Director Nicolas Ratmiroff in Tampa said in a news release.
A quick search on the labor agency's website shows similar violations are quite common in the industry.
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More than $1M recovered in April alone
A quick search on the labor agency's website shows similar violations are quite common in the industry.
In March, labor officials reported two St. Petersburg restaurants “withheld tips earned by bartenders and servers to pay customers who skipped out on their bills, illegally charged employees for uniforms and denied workers required minimum wage and full overtime pay.” Back wages and damages of $190,000 were recovered.
A total of $253,044 was recovered for 93 workers in February after four Florida restaurants had servers earning tips only after not paying them any wages.
From a steakhouse in Tennessee to a restaurant in Grand Rapids, Michigan, more than $1.1 million has been recovered for 338 food service workers nationwide in April alone.
For servers and anyone else who has questions, here are three things to know:
Resource for tipped employees
Fact sheet No. 15 is a valuable resource for tipped employees and can be found on the Wage and Hour Division website.
It covers tip credit, tip pooling, credit cards (when tips are put on credit cards and the employer deducts a percentage), service charges and record keeping.
There is also a section on typical problems, including overtime, minimum wage and tip pooling issues.
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Feds recovered money: How can you get it?
This resource, located on the Department of Labor's website, takes you through a step-by-step process to receive owed wages. When the Wage and Hour Division recovers unpaid wages, all employees who are eligible to receive those wages are notified. The agency is unable to locate all employees. If an employee isn’t found, his or her portion is held for three years while the agency continues to search. If you feel this applies to you, a quick search of the database can trace your funds.
How to file a complaint
Go to the Wage and Hour Division's website for a step-by-step guide to learn how to file a complaint, from gathering information to deciding whether to file and how to work with the division. There is a frequently asked questions section and an explainer on how the investigation process works.
In addition, the Wage and Hour Division can be called confidentially, regardless of immigration status. Workers can speak to department representatives in more than 200 languages. Call (866) 487-9243 from 8 a.m. to 5 p.m. or go to dol.gov/agencies/whd.
Robyn George is a community content editor and food writer for The Fort Myers News-Press. Send scoops and news to rhgeorge@gannett.com.
This article originally appeared on Fort Myers News-Press: What to know: Restaurant worker's wages, tip and rights
