Is it legal? Restaurant employer claimed my tips for me then took money from my next check to cover difference?

michr

contact your states department of labor. what this employer has done, if you have all the details correct, is a violation of the tip-credit part of the minimum wage law. even in a tipped position the employee must make at least minimum wage for every hour worked. your reported tips plus your hourly wage, paid by the employer, must equal to at least the minimum wage which is currently $6.55 hour (higher in some states). if your reported tips plus what the employer pays you does not take your hourly wage to minimum or above then the employer must pay the difference. they can not change your tips or take a credit from another week to prevent themselves from having to pay the correct amount.

however if the employer has proof of tips such as credit card receipts that you failed to report then they must report those and can take them as a part of the tip-credit towards minimum wage.(this only applies if you under-report and the employer has evidence that shows that )

here is a list of the state's department of labor web-sites. go to your states site and look for wage and hour laws and then how to file a wage claim. you will also find contact information for each state so you can call and get help with the clarification of the laws in your state.

EDIT:
damn..........i forgot the link
http://www.dol.gov/esa/contacts/state_of.htm
much better.

bdancer222

You claim all of your credit card tips because you have no choice. Those amounts go thru your employer's records. You are suppose to claim ALL of the non-credit card tips as well.

Only claiming roughly 10% means you are violating the law by not reporting all income. It sounds like your employer had to withhold taxes on 20% overall of your sales. When you file your income tax, you can change the amount of income reported and maybe you'll get that extra withholding returned. Then again, maybe the IRS will audit your returns for the past three years and present you with a big bill.

garykung

It is legal because they overpaid you.

Beside, you have paid in advanced.

Judy

It's legal for an employer to allocate tips, and they might legally be required to, although 20% sounds high unless you work someplace where 20% is the norm. Did you ask where that number came from?

You say you claim ALL of your tips on credit cards and NOT all of your non credit card tips - you do realize it's illegal not to claim all of ALL of your tips?

evileye322

i think this is legal.

you claim all your credit card tips, bc you have to. but you only claim 10% of noncredit card tips. ( i hope you mean you claim 10% of sales, not you claim 10% of what you should be claiming)

the company would look at what you were tipped on credit cards versus sales of the credit card food.

and expect the same percent as non-credit tips.

then look at the tips you claimed as cash versus total sales as cash sales and see you didn't claim everything.

the probably explained all this when you were hired and told how to claim tips.

you are suppose to claim ALL tips. its illegal not to.

what you do not get, is the company pays taxes to the government on your behalf based on what you make as well. this is what goes to unemployment, medicare, fica, etc.

so you not probably claiming your tips is affecting them too.

you didn't claim your tips right, so you owe more taxes on the tips you didn't claim, so they have to take it out of your pay check.

the thing with people saying its illegal not to make minimum wage, is wrong, bc they are saying you made that minimum in what they paid you and tips, and you under reported your tips, to be taxed less, but they have to compensate for that. and are taking it out of your pay, so you were paid it, but you owe the government more, so instead of your pay going to you, it goes to the government where your tips should have went.

just start claiming all your tips and this wont happen.

damonem345

(Reads over your inquiry and shrieks out in surprise), while I do not know if this is illegal per se, it is sure is very unethical!!! This is something that an attorney needs to investigate, but since restaurant workers are not that well-paid to begin with, it will most likely implode your economy because of the double-whammy of the attorney's fees and the lost income because the employer has decided that you are too costly to employ. I am wondering one thing: why are you still working for this guy!?! If I were in your shoes, I would get all the facts to explain the whole story and put it in the newspaper as I search for alternate employment. The court of public opinion is of MUCH greater efficacy than the judicial court is. You are neither a cash cow nor a workhorse; there is no reason to accept this kind of treatment!!!

charlie

I dont know the answer to this - see an attorney but I can tell you that the IRS assumes that you will be receiving tips of at least 10% of the sales ypu have made and will tax you on it whether you received it or not.

lawondacampbell

so like last night when i made 7.00 and had to claim at least 20 to equal minimun wage per say the employer isnt that lying to the irs and helping the company by saying you made money you did not make to help the employer not have to adjust it to minimum wage its been explained to me that you have to take your hrs and times it by 5 thats to cover the company and so what about you

LisaP

I worked in a low salon with few customers. I rarely got a decent tip, many times no tips because of the class of people that came to the salon. My tax form came and my employer claims I got 900 dollars in tips. I never got a quarter of that amount. What can I do when I file my taxes? Its listed under employee reported tips, which I never did. Its my first job and I didn't know I had to report my tip to them.

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