The Office of Management and Budget is in the midst of
finalizing the U.S. Department of Labor's (DOL) proposed rule
to revise its standards for tipped workers. Among other things, the
proposed rule is intended to prevent employers from keeping tips
received by their employees. More specifically (and as reported in
detail in our spring newsletter), the DOL said in the spring that
it will also revise its existing tip credit rule as it pertains to
dual jobs, which currently allows employers to pay employees who
perform both tipped and nontipped duties at a lower tipped minimum
wage for service work as long as they pay at least the full minimum
wage for nontipped tasks.
Last November, the DOL published an opinion letter that
rescinded the "80-20 rule" (which prohibited employers
from paying tipped workers at a lower wage if they spent more than
20% of their time on nontipped side work). Since then, several
federal courts have rejected the DOL's opinion letter.
