Many employers of tipped employees violate Federal, State, and Local Laws involving the payment of wages to their tipped employees. If you are, or recently have been, an employee who has worked for tips, you may be entitled to additional money from your employer if:
- Your employer fails to pay you any wage whatsoever, even if you agreed to work only for tips!
- Your employer has failed to inform you of certain provisions of Federal law, and has failed to inform you that it was crediting your tips against its minimum wage obligations!
- Your employer pays you the subminimum tipping wage and requires you to participate in a tip pool, while also allowing managers or other individuals who typically do not receive tips (e.g., cooks, dishwashers, etc.), to share in the tip pool!
- Your employer requires you to perform excessive preparatory work, or requires you to perform “off the clock” (prevents you from clocking in)!
- Your employer requires you to work overtime, but fails to pay you at a proper overtime rate (under Federal law, you are entitled to receive at least $5.75, and potentially more, for each hour of overtime worked)!
- Your employer requires you to pay for customers who “hog and jog,” or forces you to cover, from your wages or tips, other business losses such as glass breakage, cash register shortages, etc.!
- Your employer subtracts large fees from you for credit card tips!
If you have been a victim of a legal violation, you may be entitled to double damages plus attorneys' fees! We do not charge any fee or cost to our employee clients when collecting unpaid wages. Your legal fees and costs should be paid by your employer as part of any settlement or judgment. Do not let another lawyer steer you wrong and take a percentage of your recovery.