Queens NY Employment Defense Attorneys

Minimum Wage Changes and Tipped Employees

When a state legislature approves a minimum wage hike, implementing the changes is more complicated for employers with tipped employees than non-tipped employees. NYS minimum wage increases are set to go into effect on December 31 every year, starting with 2016. However, changes are not uniform for the whole state.

Minimum Wage Change Schedule

The New York State Restaurant Association (NYSRA) has published the full schedule for minimum wage hikes. Increases are scheduled to take place for:

  • NYC business owners with 11 or more employees from 2016–2019
  • NYC business owners with 10 or fewer employees from 2016–2019
  • Business owners in Nassau, Suffolk and Westchester counties from 2016–2021
  • Business owners in other NY counties from 2016–2020

At the NYSRA website, you can see exactly what the wage changes are for minimum wage workers, food service workers and what the tip credits are that go into effect  each year, on December 31.

Who qualifies as a tipped employee and what is a tip credit?

Tipped employees are those who customarily and regularly receive more than $30 per month in tips. Employers can use employee’s tips as a credit against its wage obligation to the employee (“tip credit) or in furtherance of a valid tip pool. (FLSA Fact Sheet)

Employers can apply the minimum food server’s wage as long as the food server’s tips make up the difference between the food server’s minimum wage and the current minimum wage.

What about time spent on work that generates tips vs. work that does not generate tips?

Another consideration in paying food servers is how much time they spend performing work that does not generate tips: for example, washing dishes, food prep or cleaning. When food servers spend more than 20 percent of their work time doing work that is not related to generating tips, then employers must pay them the minimum wage and cannot take the tip credit. (DOL guidelines based on the FLSA Fact Sheet)

Consult with An Experienced Employment Lawyer

If you have wage and hour questions related to running your restaurant, our Queens, NY wage and Hour attorneys at Stephen Hans & Associates are glad to provide you with answers about current laws and work with you to put proper work policies in place. We also represent restaurant owners in employment litigation issues.