A North Carolina restaurant franchisee has agreed to pay $40,000 and take other corrective measures to settle a religious discrimination and retaliation lawsuit filed by the EEOC after being accused of denying a cook’s...more
8/20/2024
/ Civil Rights Act ,
Employer Liability Issues ,
Employment Litigation ,
Equal Employment Opportunity Commission (EEOC) ,
Hiring & Firing ,
Religious Accommodation ,
Religious Discrimination ,
Restaurant Industry ,
Retaliation ,
Title VII ,
Undue Hardship
Many restaurants utilize tip pools to encourage teamwork, consistency, and customer-focused service – but you may be confused about who can and can’t participate in the pool. You feel confident that your servers and...more
5/17/2024
/ Department of Labor (DOL) ,
Employer Liability Issues ,
Fair Labor Standards Act (FLSA) ,
Hospitality Industry ,
Minimum Wage ,
Restaurant Industry ,
Tip Credit ,
Tip-Pooling ,
Tipped Employees ,
Tips ,
Wage and Hour
An appeals court just raised the bar for employees seeking to notify other potential plaintiffs about collective wage and hour claims under federal law. Employees may bring such claims under the Fair Labor Standards Act on...more
Employers in the hospitality industry have been through it all in recent years – from the devastation of the pandemic to ongoing labor shortages to an impending recession. These challenges and dramatic changes have surely...more
1/19/2023
/ Bonuses ,
Employer Liability Issues ,
Hospitality Industry ,
Managers ,
Over-Time ,
Rate of Pay ,
Rest and Meal Break ,
Salaried Employees ,
Service Charges ,
Supervisors ,
Tip Credit ,
Tip-Pooling ,
Tipped Employees ,
Tips ,
Unpaid Overtime ,
Wage and Hour
Restaurants’ reliance on food delivery apps soared during the pandemic because they provide a convenient way for customers to order from local restaurants and an easy solution for processing restaurant payments and sourcing...more
10/4/2022
/ Delivery Drivers ,
Department of Labor (DOL) ,
Employer Liability Issues ,
Fair Labor Standards Act (FLSA) ,
Minimum Wage ,
Mobile Apps ,
Restaurant Industry ,
Tip Credit ,
Tipped Employees ,
Tips ,
Wage & Hour Division (WHD) ,
Wage and Hour
Employers in the restaurant and hospitality industries know it’s a common practice to ask workers to share gratuities. Tip pools can promote teamwork and a better customer experience – but they can also land you in hot water...more
5/19/2022
/ Department of Labor (DOL) ,
Employer Liability Issues ,
Fair Labor Standards Act (FLSA) ,
Hospitality Industry ,
Minimum Wage ,
Over-Time ,
Restaurant Industry ,
Tip Credit ,
Tip-Pooling ,
Tipped Employees ,
Tips ,
Wage & Hour Division (WHD) ,
Wage and Hour
With the government’s final rules on the tips provisions of federal wage and hour law becoming effective just weeks ago, employers will be challenged with ensuring they have a plan to address the rules’ impact on their...more
1/27/2022
/ Civil Monetary Penalty ,
Department of Labor (DOL) ,
Employer Liability Issues ,
Fair Labor Standards Act (FLSA) ,
Federal Labor Laws ,
Final Rules ,
Hospitality Industry ,
Minimum Wage ,
New Rules ,
Restaurant Industry ,
Tip Credit ,
Tip-Pooling ,
Tipped Employees ,
Tips ,
Wage and Hour
Federal labor officials just finalized a rule that broadens their ability to assess monetary fines against those business that commit wage and hour violations with regards to tip payments, a development several months in the...more
10/4/2021
/ Civil Monetary Penalty ,
Department of Labor (DOL) ,
Employer Liability Issues ,
Fair Labor Standards Act (FLSA) ,
Final Rules ,
Hospitality Industry ,
Managers ,
Supervisors ,
Tip Credit ,
Tip-Pooling ,
Tipped Employees ,
Tips ,
Wage and Hour ,
Willful Violations
The U.S. Department of Labor issued a long-awaited final rule right before Christmas addressing the issue of tipped employees. The final rule, released on December 22 but not effective until February 20, 2021, provides...more
12/29/2020
/ Civil Monetary Penalty ,
Department of Labor (DOL) ,
Employer Liability Issues ,
Exempt-Employees ,
Fair Labor Standards Act (FLSA) ,
Final Rules ,
Hospitality Industry ,
Job Duties ,
Minimum Wage ,
New Rules ,
Recordkeeping Requirements ,
Tip Credit ,
Tip-Pooling ,
Tipped Employees ,
Tips ,
Wage and Hour
Employers that utilize the “tip credit” in the federal Fair Labor Standards Act (“FLSA”), or whose employees receive tips, should carefully consider regulatory changes that were proposed by USDOL today. While many of the...more
10/8/2019
/ Comment Period ,
Department of Labor (DOL) ,
Employer Liability Issues ,
Employment Policies ,
Fair Labor Standards Act (FLSA) ,
Field Operations Manual ,
Minimum Wage ,
Proposed Regulation ,
Proposed Rules ,
Tip Credit ,
Tip-Pooling ,
Tipped Employees ,
Wage and Hour
When the news broke Friday afternoon that Labor Secretary Alexander Acosta would be resigning from his post, employers across the country began wondering what this transition would mean for them. You may have even heard...more
7/15/2019
/ Affirmative Action ,
Corporate Counsel ,
Department of Labor (DOL) ,
EEO-1 ,
Employer Liability Issues ,
Equal Employment Opportunity Commission (EEOC) ,
Family and Medical Leave Act (FMLA) ,
Filing Deadlines ,
Foreign Workers ,
Immigration Enforcement ,
Joint Employers ,
OFCCP ,
OLMS ,
OSHA ,
Pay Data ,
Pay Equity Laws ,
Resignation ,
Secretary of Labor ,
USCIS ,
Wage and Hour ,
Workplace Safety
Hotel and restaurant employers commonly require employees to wear uniforms, some as simple as a shirt with company logo, others requiring a more complete look: jacket or blouse and pants or skirt, or dress. Some employers,...more
6/11/2019
/ Dress Codes ,
Employer Liability Issues ,
Fair Labor Standards Act (FLSA) ,
Hospitality Industry ,
Minimum Wage ,
Non-Exempt Employees ,
Over-Time ,
Payroll Deductions ,
Restaurant Industry ,
Statutory Violations ,
Wage and Hour
On February 15, the U.S. Department of Labor struck another nail into the coffin of the infamous “20% Rule,” the agency’s prior enforcement position which purported to limit an employer’s ability to take the federal Fair...more
2/19/2019
/ Department of Labor (DOL) ,
Employer Liability Issues ,
Fair Labor Standards Act (FLSA) ,
Field Operations Manual ,
Hospitality Industry ,
Job Duties ,
Minimum Wage ,
Restaurant Industry ,
Tip Credit ,
Tipped Employees ,
Tips ,
Wage and Hour
The United States Department of Labor (USDOL) issued four opinion letters yesterday in which it construed issues arising under the federal Fair Labor Standards Act (“FLSA”). The most significant of these letters, FLSA2018-27,...more
11/9/2018
/ Department of Labor (DOL) ,
Employer Liability Issues ,
Fair Labor Standards Act (FLSA) ,
Hospitality Industry ,
Job Duties ,
Minimum Wage ,
Opinion Letter ,
Restaurant Industry ,
Timekeeping ,
Tip Credit ,
Tipped Employees ,
Tips ,
Wage and Hour
Section 3(m) of the federal Fair Labor Standards Act ("FLSA") permits an employer to take the "tip credit" for "tipped employees". Certain requirements must be met though, including that the employee must earn a sufficient...more
As we previously wrote, Congress has now amended Section 3(m) of the federal Fair Labor Standards Act (FLSA) to prohibit an employer from "keep[ing] tips received by its employees for any purpose, including allowing managers...more
3/30/2018
/ Appeals ,
Department of Labor (DOL) ,
Employer Liability Issues ,
Fair Labor Standards Act (FLSA) ,
Hospitality Industry ,
Minimum Wage ,
New Amendments ,
Proposed Rules ,
Restaurant Industry ,
Tip Credit ,
Tip-Pooling ,
Tipped Employees ,
Tips ,
Wage and Hour
The federal Fair Labor Standards Act (FLSA) establishes minimum wage and overtime requirements, period. The FLSA does not explicitly require that employers cover all work-related costs, nor, does it do so by specifically...more
We have previously written about the U.S. Department of Labor's position adopted in 2011 saying that an employer may not retain any of an employee's tips even if management:
• Takes no tip-credit under the federal Fair...more
12/6/2017
/ Comment Period ,
Department of Labor (DOL) ,
Employer Liability Issues ,
Fair Labor Standards Act (FLSA) ,
Minimum Wage ,
Proposed Regulation ,
Public Comment ,
Tip Credit ,
Tip-Pooling ,
Tipped Employees ,
Tips ,
Wage and Hour
Legal issues surrounding tip credits have been in the spotlight throughout much of 2017, from significant court decisions to announcements by the U.S. Department of Labor (USDOL). But rather than setting forth clear rules,...more
12/4/2017
/ Department of Labor (DOL) ,
Employer Liability Issues ,
Fair Labor Standards Act (FLSA) ,
Federal Labor Laws ,
Hospitality Industry ,
Legislative Agendas ,
Minimum Wage ,
Notice Requirements ,
Recordkeeping Requirements ,
Tip Credit ,
Tip-Pooling ,
Tipped Employees ,
Tips ,
Wage and Hour
In a welcome decision for employers, the Eleventh Circuit U.S. Court of Appeals (having jurisdiction over Alabama, Florida, and Georgia) recently ruled that a tipped employee for whom no federal Fair Labor Standards Act "tip...more
6/15/2017
/ Appeals ,
Corporate Counsel ,
Department of Labor (DOL) ,
Dismissals ,
Drivers ,
Employer Liability Issues ,
Fair Labor Standards Act (FLSA) ,
Minimum Wage ,
Private Right of Action ,
Tip Credit ,
Tip-Pooling ,
Tipped Employees ,
Tips ,
Wage and Hour
Last month, the U.S. Department of Labor (USDOL) issued an Administrator's Interpretation aimed at addressing what it characterizes as the “problematic trend” of employers misclassifying workers as independent contractors...more
9/2/2015
/ Administrative Interpretation ,
Affordable Care Act ,
Best Practices ,
Department of Labor (DOL) ,
Economic Realities Test ,
Employee Definition ,
Employer Liability Issues ,
Fair Labor Standards Act (FLSA) ,
Hospitality Industry ,
Hotels ,
Independent Contractors ,
Misclassification
Employers have long understood that they face potential liability when an employee is sexually harassed by another employee and they do nothing to prevent or fix the known problem. It is also true, but perhaps less well...more
8/3/2015
/ Assisted Living Facilities (ALFs) ,
Best Management Practices ,
Employer Liability Issues ,
Employment Policies ,
Equal Employment Opportunity Commission (EEOC) ,
Harassment ,
Health Care Providers ,
Hospitals ,
Nursing Homes ,
Retaliation ,
Sexual Harassment ,
Third-Party Risk ,
Title VII
Most healthcare employers require employees to wear some sort of uniform. Of course, the most familiar uniforms in this setting are “scrubs,” but some employers require lab coats or other garments.
Some healthcare...more
A recent U.S. Labor Department press release highlights a growing area of scrutiny under the federal Fair Labor Standards Act: Paying "per diem" amounts to non-exempt employees....more
A recent decision by the Second Circuit U.S. Court of Appeals (Connecticut, New York, and Vermont) is a reminder that individual business owners and management members can face claims of personal liability for federal Fair...more