The Office of the Attorney General for Washington D.C. (OAG) recently reminded hospitality employers in the city who use mandatory service charges and other fees that they must properly disclose such charges to guests under...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
On March 18, 2022, the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Eleventh Circuit upheld a district court’s decision that an 18% service fee charged at the upscale Miami steakhouse of celebrity chef Nusret Gökçe was not a “tip” and was...more
When writing his famous line in Romeo and Juliet, Shakespeare clearly was not thinking of the Massachusetts Tips Act. The Supreme Judicial Court (SJC) recently issued a reminder that, in fact, a name can be critical to...more
Although it may have intended for a customer charge to be treated as an administrative overhead fee separate from gratuities paid to its employees, a country club’s reference to the amount as a “service charge” in some...more
Massachusetts is seeing an increase in Tips Act claims, and the Massachusetts Supreme Judicial Court (SJC) just reinforced that a lack of clarity in fee- and tip-related documentation may result in employer liability,...more
On August 23, 2021, the Massachusetts Supreme Judicial Court ruled in Hovagimian v. Concert Blue Hill, LLC, that the Massachusetts Tips Act requires that an employer pay service employees any “service charge” listed on an...more
Attention hospitality employers. Is that charge you add to a guest check a service charge (typically a set amount added to a guest check in lieu of a tip)? Or an automatic gratuity (such as a set amount for a party of 8 or...more
A service charge can provide a welcome boost to a business’ bottom line, but employers must manage and mitigate the risk of lawsuits, disgorgement and damages. Recent developments across the nation serve as a reminder that...more
A recent settlement between Seattle chef Tom Douglas and his restaurant employees highlights the potentially costly technical requirements of Washington’s automatic service charge laws for hospitality businesses. ...more
Upsetting what many considered settled precedent, a California Court of Appeal has held that a mandatory service charge may qualify as a “gratuity” under California Labor Code Section 351 that must be distributed to the...more
A California appellate court just held that mandatory service charges added by banquet facilities to their contracts may need to be paid to banquet service employees essentially as a form of a gratuity. The October 31, 2019...more
Over the summer, news broke that Surly Brewing Co. was found liable by a Minnesota court for violations of the state’s tip-pooling law. The brewery, which operates a large beer hall in Minneapolis, was accused by a former...more