Some tipped workers underpaid
Published March 14, 2007
Some Missouri businesses might be taking more than their fair share out of their employee's tips.
According to Saveourtips.org, a Web site that provides surveys, petitions and other information about the minimum wage matter, tipped workers were supposed to receive a base pay of $3.50 starting in January. This amount replaced the $2.13 that was required federally.
"We surveyed certain restaurants, and we've talked to servers, and there's only one restaurant that's paying $3.25," Jobs With Justice Organizer Aaron Burnett said.
Jobs With Justice, along with Give Missourians a Raise and the Brennan Center for Justice, sponsors Saveourtips.org. The Web site was formed after the November ballot initiative to raise the minimum wage passed.
Burnett said the Web site surveyed seven restaurants in the city of St. Louis, St. Louis County and Kansas City. Six of the restaurants still pay their tipped employees $2.13 per hour base pay.
"Interpretation of the rule by Gov. (Matt) Blunt's administration says the restaurants don't have to raise the base rate," Burnett said.
The rule Burnett refers to is found in the Missouri Code of State Regulations, which was not affected by the ballot measure that raised the minimum wage.
"Tipped employees shall receive at least the applicable minimum wages set forth in this rule except that the employer can claim gratuities as a credit toward the payment of the required minimum wage," the Code of Regulations states. "The maximum amount of gratuities that the employer can claim as a credit is 50 percent of the applicable minimum wage rate."
The code also states that if the employee does not receive enough tips to equal the minimum wage, the employer is responsible for paying the difference.
Burnett said because employers might only count gratuity as half of the wage, they are obligated to raise the base pay to $3.25, half of $6.50. Burnett also said that under the interpretation of the rule by Blunt's administration, restaurants don't have to raise the base rate above the federally required $2.13.
Saveourtips.org sent a petition to Blunt that advocates changing the policy to require a base pay of $3.25 per hour for all tipped employees. The petition can be signed on the Web site.
According to a Missouri Department of Labor and Industrial Relations Division of Labor Standards flier, requiring a base pay of $3.25 is the enacted policy.
"Compensation for tipped employees must total at least $6.50 per hour," the flier stated. "If the employee is paid by tips alone, the employer must make up the difference between tips received and $6.50 per hour. If the employer is subject to the federal Fair Labor Standards Act, employees must be paid at least $2.13 per hour in wages, regardless of the amount of tips they receive, to be in compliance with federal law."
A representative from the Department of Labor and Industrial Relations was unavailable for comment.
