Anyone familiar with labor laws? Have some questions

[Fritzo]

My daughter got a job at a local restaurant, and a couple of things are rubbing me the wrong way.

1) She's a waitress, making $3.00/hr. When things are slow, the owner sends home the dishwasher and makes the waitresses wash dishes for the same pay.

2) They print my daughter's SS# on her paycheck.

3) The dishwasher they employ is "slow". He gets a one hour break per day, during which time the owner makes him run around doing errands.

My daughter's only 16, and we asked her to talk to the owner on those points. She said she received a "your parents don't know everything" in response. Are any of these things illegal? The guy sounds like a class A certified douche and I'd love to nail him on some of these points.

 

[sixone]

Is she working in Ohio?

Not sure whether this applies, but it looks interesting: http://www.minimum-wage.org/ohio-tipped-employee-minimum-wage/

 

[gorcorps]

1.) Not illegal, technically. What WOULD be illegal is if the owner didn't pay the difference to bump your daughter to minimum wage for the weeks she didn't get enough tips. Wait staff make a reduced rate + tips, and if that rate+tips doesn't equal the minimum wage per hour then the restaurant has to pay them the difference so they ARE at minimum wage.

2.) Not illegal AFAIK

3.) It's none of your business who they hire as their dishwasher. That's their choice.

 

[Fanatical Meat]

In MA the issue he could have is having the dish washer run errands (I assume for him or the business) during his/her lunch. That time needs to be compensated for. Although it would be ok for him to "pay" the dish washer to run personal errands during his lunch break. Bottom line if it seems like a crappy business it probably is, have her look at other food places or even something different.

 

[sixone]

1.) Not illegal, technically. What WOULD be illegal is if the owner didn't pay the difference to bump your daughter to minimum wage for the weeks she didn't get enough tips. Wait staff make a reduced rate + tips, and if that rate+tips doesn't equal the minimum wage per hour then the restaurant has to pay them the difference so they ARE at minimum wage.

But by making her wash dishes, he's borking her average tips for that pay period.

OP, have your daughter contact the Bureau of Wage & Hour Administration.

They'll be able to tell her, more reliable than we are.

 

[SMOGZINN]

My daughter got a job at a local restaurant, and a couple of things are rubbing me the wrong way.

1) She's a waitress, making $3.00/hr. When things are slow, the owner sends home the dishwasher and makes the waitresses wash dishes for the same pay.

He can have her spend up to 20% of her time doing non-tipping duties. Any more then that and he is required by federal labor laws to pay her minimum wage for ALL her time (since she would not longer be classified as a tip earning employee.)

2) They print my daughter's SS# on her paycheck.

Sadly this is still legal. Please write your congressmen and tell them this makes you unhappy, and that you feel there needs to be better regulations restricting how business can use Social Security Numbers.

3) The dishwasher they employ is "slow". He gets a one hour break per day, during which time the owner makes him run around doing errands.

This is a very grey area. Is he "slow" in a way that is protected by the Americans with Disability's act, or is he just not very smart?

 

[PenguinPower]

My daughter got a job at a local restaurant, and a couple of things are rubbing me the wrong way.

1) She's a waitress, making $3.00/hr. When things are slow, the owner sends home the dishwasher and makes the waitresses wash dishes for the same pay.

2) They print my daughter's SS# on her paycheck.

3) The dishwasher they employ is "slow". He gets a one hour break per day, during which time the owner makes him run around doing errands.

My daughter's only 16, and we asked her to talk to the owner on those points. She said she received a "your parents don't know everything" in response. Are any of these things illegal? The guy sounds like a class A certified douche and I'd love to nail him on some of these points.

1.) Legal, as long as (as SMOGZINN mentioned) it is not more than 20% of her time.
2.) Legal.
3.) Legal (if this is in Ohio and the dishwasher is not under 18).

Sorry, but it doesn't appear on face value that anything illegal is being done.

 

[NikolaeVarius]

All of that is perfectly legal. And none of it seems bad at all.

I stay all the time at my part time kitchen job well after work when I need to be going home to get ready for classes the next day. I'm only technically a on call waitstaffer, but I do the dishes for all other events occasionally, I get a 30 minute break at most per day, and we're talking like 19 hour days sometimes. I help fix broken equipment, help in the kitchen to get food done faster for large events, and supervise less experienced workers, all for not a single cent more in pay, even though I do much more work that I'm "supposed" to do.

Everything you just mentioned is what every single catering/food service company ever does, and its very light stuff. Not sure about the SS# thing, but everything else? Your kid has it very very VERY easy for a waitress.

 

[DrPizza]

edit: I thought the 20% thing applied, but that Ohio link above changes things. Apparently, it's different in Ohio.

ncluding tips and cash wages, all tipped employees must still earn at least the Ohio Minimum Wage of $7.70 per hour. If a Ohio employee does not earn at least $7.70 including tips in any given hour of work, their employer must make up the difference in cash.

​

Ohio Tipped Wage Example: Amy works in Ohio as a waitress, and earns over $30 in tips a month. This hour, Amy earned $3.50 in tips. Her employer must pay her a cash wage of at least $4.20, to bring her total earnings for the hour up to the Ohio minimum wage of $7.70. Annette, who also works as a waitress, earned $10.50 in tips this hour. Because she is already earning at least the minimum wage, her employer can pay her the Ohio tipped minimum wage of $3.85 for this hour.

That states that it's PER HOUR. Any hour that she gets more than $3.85 in tips, the employer doesn't have to pay extra. But, for any hour she earns less than $3.85 in tips, the employer owes her the difference.



imho, if she makes this a huge issue, she's likely to find herself fired for some unrelated reason. SO, if this really is an issue (you didn't say how much time was spent on washing dishes) - she gets all her tips during one or two hours, then spends 3 more hours working for far less than the minimum wage with other duties; making the average pay just over minimum - then you should help her to keep VERY careful logs. When she's ready to move on to another job, she can report the owner (if that's your and/or her prerogative), or go after the extra wages in small claims court - hence the careful documentation.

 

[Fritzo]

Is she working in Ohio?

Not sure whether this applies, but it looks interesting: http://www.minimum-wage.org/ohio-tipped-employee-minimum-wage/

That's actually useful. Thanks!

 

[Fritzo]

All of that is perfectly legal. And none of it seems bad at all.

I stay all the time at my part time kitchen job well after work when I need to be going home to get ready for classes the next day. I'm only technically a on call waitstaffer, but I do the dishes for all other events occasionally, I get a 30 minute break at most per day, and we're talking like 19 hour days sometimes. I help fix broken equipment, help in the kitchen to get food done faster for large events, and supervise less experienced workers, all for not a single cent more in pay, even though I do much more work that I'm "supposed" to do.

Everything you just mentioned is what every single catering/food service company ever does, and its very light stuff. Not sure about the SS# thing, but everything else? Your kid has it very very VERY easy for a waitress.

You think it's OK to have her to a $8.00/hr job for $3.00? He's sending home his higher paid employee so he can use a tipped employee to do the job. That seems fishy to me.

 

[Fritzo]

edit: I thought the 20% thing applied, but that Ohio link above changes things. Apparently, it's different in Ohio.



That states that it's PER HOUR. Any hour that she gets more than $3.85 in tips, the employer doesn't have to pay extra. But, for any hour she earns less than $3.85 in tips, the employer owes her the difference.



imho, if she makes this a huge issue, she's likely to find herself fired for some unrelated reason. SO, if this really is an issue (you didn't say how much time was spent on washing dishes) - she gets all her tips during one or two hours, then spends 3 more hours working for far less than the minimum wage with other duties; making the average pay just over minimum - then you should help her to keep VERY careful logs. When she's ready to move on to another job, she can report the owner (if that's your and/or her prerogative), or go after the extra wages in small claims court - hence the careful documentation.

Truthfully, I'd like her to quit or be fired. She likes earning money (it's her first job), but I can see what a piece of crap this guy is. She comes home with reports that the owner makes them cut mold off of pies so they can be served, their burgers are pre-made then heated up on a grill when ordered, they serve expired food and drinks all the time...having a background as a chef it makes me ill. In our county places get notice before a health inspection, so there's little chance a report to the health department would be effective. I just hate that people like this exist.

 

[Farang]

Frankly I think you're doing your daughter a disservice by having her nitpick the owner on this stuff. The life of a low-wage worker is you get screwed and there is little recourse, especially on small ball stuff like this. Your alternative is to get an education or start your own business, or else this is your future.

Really.. I've been there and was just as upset that rules weren't followed. And even most of what seems unfair is still within the rules, because the rules suck.

edit: and I say that living in a blue state, can't imagine what the rules are in Ohio. Worse I imagine

 

[NikolaeVarius]

You think it's OK to have her to a $8.00/hr job for $3.00? He's sending home his higher paid employee so he can use a tipped employee to do the job. That seems fishy to me.

If she gets the minimum wage, it is 100% okay by me. Every single food service/restaurant cuts costs like that and its perfectly legal

 

[Wreckem]

You think it's OK to have her to a $8.00/hr job for $3.00? He's sending home his higher paid employee so he can use a tipped employee to do the job. That seems fishy to me.

Doesn't matter, he still has to make sure she gets min wage X hours worked. If she doesn't get min wage because she doesnt get enough tips, he has to make up the difference.

 

[JoeyP]

Not for nothing, but this sounds an awful lot like a place not to work. I realize she is young and it feels nice to work and get some money, but most restaurant staff get treated this way.

Are there other jobs where she can earn a similar amount without having to put up with this kind of treatment?