Employment Law

Florida Tipped Minimum Wage

Over half of minimum wage earners work in either retail or the hospitality industry. Retail positions rely heavily on a sales commission and hospitality jobs primarily rely on cash tips. Unfortunately, employers often take advantage of their employees in these types of industries by failing to pay them the minimum wage if the business is slow. As wage and hour lawyers, we understand the state and federal labor laws, including Florida tipped minimum wage.

Florida Tipped Minimum Wage Laws

If you receive over $30 per month in tip compensation, you are considered a “tipped employee” by state and federal laws. Under the national standard for minimum wage law, the Fair Labor Standards Act (FLSA), employers are required to compensate their employees by at least $7.25 per hour. In Florida, the minimum wage is $8.25 per hour; however, tipped employees earn a minimum cash wage of $5.23 per hour. Employers are aware that they must adhere to both federal and state wage and hour laws. Moreover, employees are entitled to the preferable legislature for these federal and state wage and hour requirements.

Important Information Pertaining to Tip Pools

FLSA establishes that tips given to tipped employees are their property. However, there are some circumstances in which the total tip amount is not the property of the employee. Under FLSA, the employer can apply a tip credit to the employee or the employee may be required to share their tips in a tipped pool with other qualified tipped employees. For example, positions like servers, bartenders, bussers, or workers that serve customers qualify as employees that can be included in a tip pool. However, positions that do not regularly receive tips like cooks, chefs, janitors, and dishwashers should not be included in a tip pool.

Work Violations of Tipped Minimum Wage

Here are some examples of ways employers violate Florida tipped minimum wage laws. If you have experienced any of these examples, your employer may owe you additional compensation for your unpaid wages.

  1. The employee fails to be compensated enough in tip compensation to earn the difference between their total earnings and the minimum wage. The employer must compensate the employee to make up the difference.
  2. The employer does not pay the employee the minimum wage and the employee only earns compensation from tips.
  3. The employer enforces deductions to the employee including customer walkouts or cash register shortages; however, the deductions are so costly the employee earns less than minimum wage.
  4. A tipped employee is forced to contribute to a tip pool that includes employees that are not classified as tipped employees.

If you would like to speak with an attorney pertaining to Florida tipped minimum wage laws, please contact us today.

Disclaimer: The information contained in this article is for general educational information only. This information does not constitute legal advice, is not intended to constitute legal advice, nor should it be relied upon as legal advice for your specific factual pattern or situation.