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  1. #1
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    Default Can a Waitress be Required to Perform Cleaning Duties at the Tipped Minimum Wage

    My question involves labor and employment law for the state of: PA
    I am a waitress and my employer pays me $3/ hr and I receive tips from customers .. along with my usual job duties of waiting tables, I am also required to clean the restaurant EX sweeping and mopping floors, wiping down walls, cleaning the bathrooms, putting away dishes, I don't get compensated for doing all of this. There are too many "daily chores" to list, but is it legal for me to have to do all of this extra work without being paid the full minimum wage? All of this is expected to be done at the same time I am on the clock making the $3 wage of a waitress.

  2. #2
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    Default Re: Waitress Expected to Do Other Jobs for $3/Hr

    If you take your total pay ($3/hr plus tips) for your whole work week and divide it by the total # of hours worked, does it equal at least $7.25 per hour? If so, you are making the "full" minimum wage as required by law. If you fail to make $7.25 the employer must make up the difference. So if you are spending too much time on "daily chores" and it affects your tips too greatly, it will affect this calculation and he will be forced to pay the difference. Other than that, only you can decide if overall your wages are enough for the job you are being asked to do.

    If you want the actual info from PA: "The minimum wage credit for tipped employees will remain at $2.83 per hour. However, an employer will have to make up the difference if the employee’s tips and the $2.83 per hour do not meet the full Pennsylvania minimum wage listed in FAQ 1. The tip credit applies only if an employee received more than $30.00 in tips during a month. If an employee does not receive more than $30.00 per month in tips, the employer must pay the regular minimum wage." -- FAQ 1 is just the statement that $7.25 is PA's minimum wage per hour.

    eta: after I read your other question -- your total pay in this calculation would be BEFORE she took out the voluntary $20 per shift deduction for rent.

  3. #3
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    Dec 2015
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    Default Re: Waitress Expected to Do Other Jobs for $3/Hr

    ok .. just thought there was some law that required the employer to pay for those jobs to be done as opposed to the customer paying for it with tips considering that most restaurants have the busboys clean the tables off and a dishwasher to put away dishes and someone to clean the restaurant ,, didnt realize that was all required when the employer is only actually paying $3/hr for one person to do the job of 3

  4. #4
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    Default Re: Waitress Expected to Do Other Jobs for $3/Hr

    Quote Quoting jpauley79
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    ok .. just thought there was some law that required the employer to pay for those jobs to be done as opposed to the customer paying for it with tips considering that most restaurants have the busboys clean the tables off and a dishwasher to put away dishes and someone to clean the restaurant ,, didnt realize that was all required when the employer is only actually paying $3/hr for one person to do the job of 3
    Your employer certainly does things in a rather unique way. None of it is illegal but its a bit unique. By providing rental housing to employees she kind of locks you into not just walking out on her, therefore she is in a position to demand more than most employers would.

    Personally, I would look for another job and other housing.

    Its common for wait staff/tipped employees to do some chores outside of just waiting tables. However, generally those chores include things that improve service and help turn the tables faster so that the wait staff has the opportunity to earn more money. Things like helping to bus tables, rolling silverware, restocking wait supplies. Mopping floors, washing walls, cleaning bathrooms and putting away dishes are unusual chores for wait/tipped staff. However, again, as long as you are walking away with at least minimum wage for the week, its not illegal.

  5. #5
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    Default Re: Waitress Expected to Do Other Jobs for $3/Hr

    If we were talking about minor cleaning activities interspersed with your service of tables, 'hr for me' and llworking might have a point. However, what you describe appears to involve more "chores" than are allowed for a tipped employee, and some sound like they would take place after the restaurant is closed. The Department of Labor explains,
    Quote Quoting Dual Jobs
    The FLSA permits an employer to take the tip credit for some time that the tipped employee spends in duties related to the tipped occupation, even though such duties are not by themselves directed toward producing tips. For example, a waitperson who spends some time cleaning and setting tables, making coffee, and occasionally washing dishes or glasses is considered to be engaged in a tipped occupation even though these duties are not tip producing. However, where a tipped employee spends a substantial amount of time (in excess of 20 percent in the workweek) performing related duties, no tip credit may be taken for the time spent in such duties.

  6. #6
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    Default Re: Waitress Expected to Do Other Jobs for $3/Hr

    Quote Quoting Mr. Knowitall
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    If we were talking about minor cleaning activities interspersed with your service of tables, 'hr for me' and llworking might have a point. However, what you describe appears to involve more "chores" than are allowed for a tipped employee, and some sound like they would take place after the restaurant is closed. The Department of Labor explains,
    Depending on the size of the restaurant and the number of wait/tipped staff, closing chores of the nature described could easily be accomplished in 30 to 45 minutes...therefore never exceeding 20% of working hours.

    When I owned my restaurant the dishwasher cleaned the bathrooms and mopped (and sometimes bussed). Kitchen staff cleaned the kitchen. The wait staff mostly did the items I mentioned in my previous post, but did have to vacuum the carpet in their assigned area. Even on the busiest of nights, it never took more than an hour to close...and generally it was closer to 30 minutes.

    Interestingly enough, on slow nights (generally the early part of the week) the wait staff often took on extra tasks of their own volition just to keep busy. Sometimes I had to chase them out of the kitchen because they got in the way.

  7. #7
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    Default Re: Waitress Expected to Do Other Jobs for $3/Hr

    Quote Quoting llworking
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    Depending on the size of the restaurant and the number of wait/tipped staff, closing chores of the nature described could easily be accomplished in 30 to 45 minutes...therefore never exceeding 20% of working hours.
    There's possible, and then there's what's plausible. There's also a distinction between side work and being regularly assigned to perform maintenance duties. Further, some courts have held that assigning employees to perform cleaning duties for a significant, distinct period of time, either before or after the restaurant is open, that period of time cannot be paid at the tipped wage. Rather than assuming that the OP is a lightning-fast janitor, and risking giving her the wrong answer, we should provide a complete answer.

  8. #8
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    Default Re: Waitress Expected to Do Other Jobs for $3/Hr

    Quote Quoting Mr. Knowitall
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    There's possible, and then there's what's plausible. There's also a distinction between side work and being regularly assigned to perform maintenance duties. Further, some courts have held that assigning employees to perform cleaning duties for a significant, distinct period of time, either before or after the restaurant is open, that period of time cannot be paid at the tipped wage. Rather than assuming that the OP is a lightning-fast janitor, and risking giving her the wrong answer, we should provide a complete answer.
    I was trying to provide a perspective from experience. As far as "lightening fast" is concerned, how long would it take to clean your house if there were 10 people doing it all at the same time?...with each room having its own vacuum cleaner?

    Most restaurants are not going to require wait staff to do any side jobs that do not enhance the wait staff's ability to earn tips...except perhaps a few minutes of vacuuming their station at the end of the night...generally the equivalent of one smallish to medium room. I agree that its questionable if they are required to do anything beyond that. My point was simply that it doesn't take as long to close as you might think, therefore its unlikely that any chores that do not enhance a wait staff's ability to turn tables and make more tips would ever exceed 20% of their weekly time.

    Based on this OP's various threads its very probable that this restaurant owner is at least taking advantage of his/her staff. There is simply not enough information here to determine if it reaches the point of violating the FLSA.

  9. #9
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    Default Re: Waitress Expected to Do Other Jobs for $3/Hr

    Great, a partial answer and some experience, neither of which justify giving an incomplete answer.

  10. #10
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    Default Re: Waitress Expected to Do Other Jobs for $3/Hr

    Quote Quoting Mr. Knowitall
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    Great, a partial answer and some experience, neither of which justify giving an incomplete answer.
    Please explain exactly how the answer is incomplete? You normally do not react this way to someone explaining how a particular industry/item works, so I am puzzled by your reaction.

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