New rule could require servers to share their tips with co-workers, US Department of Labor says
The department announced the amendment to the Fair Labor Standards Act (FLSA) by the Consolidated Appropriations Act of 2018 (CAA) on Tuesday, a law which protected servers’ tips from being taken by management or supervisors.
The new amendment, however, will allow restaurant to implement a "traditional" or "nontraditional" tip pool, dependent on whether or not servers are paid minimum wage.
For instance, if an employer claims a tip credit from servers and wants to invoke tip-pooling, it must be a "traditional" tip pool, meaning tips can only be shared among people who traditionally receive tips such as servers and bartenders. Workers "in the back" such as cooks and dishwashers cannot take part in the "traditional" tip-pooling.
Should employers decide to not take servers’ tip credits and pay them the full minimum wage requirement, it is mandatory for employers to implement a "nontraditional" tip pool, meaning that servers who receive tips while also getting paid minimum wage must share them with workers who do not traditionally receive tips, such as dishwashers and cooks.
"An employer that elects to take a tip credit must pay the tipped employee a direct cash wage of at least $2.13 per hour. The employer may then take a credit against its wage obligation for the difference—up to $5.12 per hour—in tips received by the employee if the cash wage plus the employee’s tips equal at least the minimum wage," according to the FLSA.
https://www.fox26houston.com/news/new-rule-could-require-servers-to-share-their-tips-with-co-workers-us-department-of-labor-says?