On May 23, 2023, Evanston, Illinois joined the state of Oregon and cities in California (Berkeley, Emeryville, Los Angeles, and San Francisco); Illinois (Chicago); New York (New York City); Pennsylvania (Philadelphia); Texas...more
5/26/2023
/ Employee Rights ,
Employer Liability Issues ,
Fair Workweek ,
Food Service Workers ,
Hospitality Industry ,
Illinois ,
Labor Reform ,
Local Ordinance ,
Notice Requirements ,
Wage and Hour ,
Work Schedules
The U.S. Department of Labor published a final rule on September 23, 2021 clarifying several amendments to section 3(m) of the Fair Labor Standards Act (FLSA) that concern tip pooling. The final rule reestablishes the DOL’s...more
9/29/2021
/ Civil Monetary Penalty ,
Department of Labor (DOL) ,
Employer Liability Issues ,
Fair Labor Standards Act (FLSA) ,
Food Service Workers ,
Labor Reform ,
Labor Regulations ,
Restaurant Industry ,
Tip-Pooling ,
Tipped Employees ,
Tips ,
Wage and Hour
On January 15, 2021, the U.S. Department of Labor issued two opinion letters addressing tip-related issues. The first, FLSA2021-4, addresses whether, and in what circumstances, a restaurant that takes a tip credit for its...more
1/20/2021
/ Department of Labor (DOL) ,
Employer Liability Issues ,
Fair Labor Standards Act (FLSA) ,
Food Service Workers ,
Labor Reform ,
Labor Regulations ,
Minimum Wage ,
Restaurant Industry ,
Tip Credit ,
Tip-Pooling ,
Tipped Employees ,
Tips ,
Wage and Hour
On December 22, 2020, the U.S. Department of Labor (DOL) issued a final rule solidifying tip credit issues under the Fair Labor Standards Act (FLSA). The rule becomes effective 60 days after its publication in the Federal...more
12/24/2020
/ Consolidated Appropriations Act (CAA) ,
Department of Labor (DOL) ,
Employer Liability Issues ,
Fair Labor Standards Act (FLSA) ,
Food Service Workers ,
Labor Reform ,
Labor Regulations ,
Restaurant Industry ,
Tip Credit ,
Tipped Employees ,
Wage and Hour
On Tuesday, December 15, 2020, the New York City Council’s Committee on Civil Service and Labor voted to approve two bills, Proposed Int. No. 1415-A and Proposed Int. No. 1396-A, that would fundamentally alter the...more
12/17/2020
/ At-Will Employment ,
Employer Liability Issues ,
Fast-Food Industry ,
Food Service Workers ,
Hiring & Firing ,
Just Cause ,
Labor Regulations ,
Local Ordinance ,
Regulatory Agenda ,
State and Local Government ,
Termination
For over a year, New York State employers harbored concerns that New York State would enact rules that would eliminate their ability to apply a tip credit towards the wages of employees who earn tips. ...more
1/2/2020
/ Employer Liability Issues ,
Food Service Workers ,
Hospitality Industry ,
Labor Regulations ,
Local Ordinance ,
Minimum Wage ,
Municipalities ,
NYDOL ,
Resorts & Restaurants ,
Restaurant Industry ,
State and Local Government ,
State Labor Laws ,
Tip Credit ,
Tipped Employees ,
Tips ,
Wage and Hour ,
Wage Orders ,
Wages
On November 8, 2018, the U.S. Department of Labor (DOL) reissued and adopted a nearly decade-old opinion letter to clarify how employers must pay tipped employees who perform dual jobs. ...more
11/12/2018
/ Corporate Counsel ,
Department of Labor (DOL) ,
Employer Liability Issues ,
Food Service Workers ,
Hospitality Industry ,
Job Duties ,
Opinion Letter ,
Regulatory Oversight ,
Regulatory Requirements ,
Restaurant Industry ,
Tip Credit ,
Tipped Employees ,
Wage and Hour
Last June, New York City passed legislation that significantly reduced fast food and retail employers’ flexibility in crafting schedules to meet their legitimate business needs. This “Fair Workweek” legislative package also...more
On Tuesday, June 19, 2018, residents of the District Columbia voted to approve Initiative 77, which will incrementally phase out the “tip credit” that many employers use as an offset towards their minimum wage obligations to...more
6/22/2018
/ Ballot Measures ,
Employer Liability Issues ,
Food Service Workers ,
Minimum Wage ,
Pending Legislation ,
Regulatory Reform ,
Regulatory Standards ,
Restaurant Industry ,
State and Local Government ,
State Labor Laws ,
Tip Credit ,
Tipped Employees ,
Tips ,
Wage and Hour
On March 27, 2018, President Donald Trump signed into law Congress’s $1.3 trillion, 2,232-page omnibus budget bill, the Consolidated Appropriations Act, 2018. ...more
4/12/2018
/ Consolidated Appropriations Act (CAA) ,
Department of Labor (DOL) ,
Deregulation ,
Employer Liability Issues ,
Fair Labor Standards Act (FLSA) ,
Food Service Workers ,
Hospitality Industry ,
Minimum Wage ,
Regulatory Reform ,
Regulatory Standards ,
Restaurant Industry ,
Tip Credit ,
Tip-Pooling ,
Tipped Employees ,
Tips ,
Wage and Hour
The U.S. Department of Labor (DOL) has issued a proposed rule to rescind the Department’s position that employers must comply with tip-pooling requirements even when paying the full minimum wage. ...more
12/6/2017
/ Comment Period ,
Department of Labor (DOL) ,
Employer Liability Issues ,
Fair Labor Standards Act (FLSA) ,
Food Service Workers ,
Franchises ,
Minimum Wage ,
NPRM ,
Restaurant Industry ,
Tip Credit ,
Tip-Pooling ,
Tipped Employees ,
Wage and Hour
The U.S. Department of Labor (DOL) has issued a proposed rule to rescind the Department’s position that employers must comply with tip-pooling requirements even when paying the full minimum wage. ...more
12/5/2017
/ Department of Labor (DOL) ,
Employer Liability Issues ,
Fair Labor Standards Act (FLSA) ,
Food Service Workers ,
Franchises ,
Minimum Wage ,
NPRM ,
Public Comment ,
Restaurant Industry ,
Tip Credit ,
Tip-Pooling ,
Tipped Employees ,
Wage and Hour
On October 16, 2017, New York City’s Department of Consumer Affairs (DCA), promulgated rules that further expand upon New York City’s Fair Workweek Law. ...more
Restaurants, hotels, and other businesses that employ tipped workers have long wrestled with a seemingly simple, but actually intractable, question: who is entitled to receive a share of a guest’s gratuities? If an employer...more
7/28/2017
/ Department of Labor (DOL) ,
Employer Liability Issues ,
Fair Labor Standards Act (FLSA) ,
Food Service Workers ,
Hospitality Industry ,
Minimum Wage ,
Restaurant Industry ,
Tip Credit ,
Tip-Pooling ,
Tipped Employees ,
Tips ,
Wage and Hour