Co-authored by Howard M. Wexler and Robert S. Whitman
Seyfarth Synopsis: Governor Andrew Cuomo has directed the Commissioner of Labor to schedule public hearings to address the possibility of eliminating the tip credit. A tip credit allows an employer to pay less than minimum wage to employees who receive the bulk of their pay in customer tips.
As we
Continue Reading NY Governor Signals “Tipping” Point Over Elimination of Minimum Wage Tip Credit
Authored By Alex Passantino
As we’ve reported previously, among the items the Department of Labor identified earlier this year in its Regulatory Agenda was a Notice of Proposed Rulemaking (NPRM) seeking to rescind portions of a 2011 rule that restricted tip pooling for employers who do not use the tip credit to satisfy their minimum wage obligations. On October
Continue Reading Tip Credit Rule to White House
Authored by Alex Passantino
Seyfarth Synopsis: The Wage & Hour Division announced its regulatory plan for the next year and it is less ambitious than some may have anticipated. A request for information on the overtime rule and a proposal to rescind a limited tip credit regulation are all that is on the immediate horizon for employers.
Each spring and
Continue Reading What’s on the Agenda? Tips and OT
Co-authored by Robert Whitman, Joanna Smith, and Samuel Sverdlov
Joining a budding national trend, renowned restaurateur Danny Meyer of Union Square Hospitality Group last week announced that he will eliminate formal tipping at his restaurants starting in 2016. Meyer stated that the new policy, aptly named “Hospitality Included,” is meant to better compensate “back of house” staff, who
Continue Reading Tip-Toeing Around Class Actions: Can a “No Tipping” Policy End Wage and Hour Litigation in the Hospitality Industry?
Co-authored by John W. Egan and Robert Whitman
Retail and hospitality employers should perk up at the recent decision (here) by the New York Court of Appeals to affirm Starbucks’ tip pooling policy. On June 26, the Court resolved questions certified by the Second Circuit (as we previously reported here) regarding the New York Labor Law’s prohibition against
Co-authored by Ariel Cudkowicz and Jessica Schauer
On Friday, March 18, 2011, the U.S. District Court for the District of Massachusetts adopted a pair of reports by a federal Magistrate finding that Starbucks violated Massachusetts law by allowing “shift supervisors” to share in the proceeds of tip jars and recommending certification of a class of Massachusetts baristas affected by the
Continue Reading Bay State Baristas Don’t Have to Share Tips with Shift Supervisors
Authored by Brigitte Duffy
Over the last decade, the Massachusetts food service industry has experienced a pervasive steam of litigation challenging tip pooling practices. At its root is the Massachusetts Tip Statute, which strictly regulates who may participate in pooled tips and defines what is a “tip” subject to its regulation. The statute defines a tip as a “sum