Country club servers required to fork over tips
Restaurants have continued to be an important part of the American economy's recovery from the recent recession. Unlike some industries that have taken longer to recover, the restaurant sector has seen steady increases and hired accordingly. According to the Bureau of Labor Statistics, there are 4.1 million food and beverage serving jobs in the United States. These can be valuable positions that provide competitive wages - or they can be bad employment situations in which staff members are denied proper pay for their time and attendance under poor circumstances.
The Department of Labor's Wage and Hour Division representatives recently investigated the Happy Hollow Club in Nebraska and found that servers were required to participate in an illegal tip pool that was used to pay for bussing staff. As a result, the employer has paid 38 affected employees - both servers and other pool, accounting and mechanic workers that were underpaid - a total of $65,000 in back wages.
"The Labor Department continues to make a concerted effort to protect vulnerable, low-wage workers who may not know their legal rights under federal labor laws. Businesses are obligated to pay their workers fairly and abide by these laws," said Michael Staebell, the Des Moines director of the WHD district office.
According to the FLSA, tip pools are illegal if employees' contributions are retained by employers for any reason or used for any purpose besides counting toward approved minimum wage credit totals.
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