Rojgar Job News

Late yesterday, various press reports signaled what could be the beginning of the end for 2011 Department of Labor guidance that had greatly expanded legal claims against restaurants. The 2011 rule barred businesses (mainly restaurants) from including nontipped workers in their tip pools.  That practice – if done involuntarily – then entitles the servers or waitstaff who have contributed those tips to the tip pool to minimum wage for their hours (not the tip-credit minimum wage.) As of this morning, the DOL had not released its’ rule publicly, but according to a Law 360 report the description “suggests it would roll back the DOL’s 2011 rule amending its interpretation of the Fair Labor Standards Act to blog businesses from giving a portion of service employees’ tips to traditionally nontipped workers, such as kitchen staff.” The attack on this 2011 guidance is also making its way through the courts.  The U.S. Supreme Court is expected ...

A bill that would have brought the state’s tipping regulations in line with federal regulations was not brought up for a veto override vote earlier this week. I previously covered the subject in prior posts here and here. According to a report in CT Mirror, a “deal” is now being sought that would allow the issue to be brought back before the General Assembly.  However, that may not happen until next year. ( Update on July 29, 2019:  The deal may be brought before a special session late this summer.) As a result, restaurants should continue to ensure that they meet the requirements of the state’s confusing regulations on service vs. non-service work. I covered that in a prior post. This will, no doubt, come as a disappointment to some who had sought to have this bill go under the radar.   Indeed, I even heard grumblings that I shouldn’t have even posted about it — as if talking about something that passed the General Assembly o...