Workers at Risk: Waiters and Other Restaurant Employees

Working in a restaurant is something of a rite of passage for many young adults. Waiting tables or serving as a busboy requires little in the way of formal training, and the long, unpredictable hours are much better suited to energetic young workers. Unfortunately, this creates circumstances in which employers feel like they can take advantage of the comparative inexperience of their staff, paying them substandard wages in violation of both federal and Texas wage laws.

Restaurant managers present the situation to new hires as the accepted standard. Because the new wait staff does not have anything with which to compare it, they unquestioningly accept this potentially illegal situation as the norm. If you suspect that you have been paid an unfair wage in your restaurant job, contact the Houston fair pay lawyers of the Ross Law Group at 713-482-6910. We can help you to determine whether or not a formal complaint and legal action may be appropriate.

Warning Signs

One of the most fundamental rules governing the wages that must be paid to tipped employees is that the average hourly rate of pay must at least equal the minimum wage (soon to be $7.25 per hour) when tips and direct wages are combined. Tipped employees in Texas must be paid a direct wage of $2.13 per hour or more. Anything that reduces one's rate of pay below the minimum wage is cause for concern. Some common problems that face restaurant workers are:

• Reduced pay for breakages or walked checks
• Compulsory tip sharing in excess of the tip credit
• Compulsory tip sharing with non-tipped employees
• Failure to acknowledge large-party gratuities as wages instead of tips
• Failure to pay at overtime rate

Contact Us

It can be intimidating to speak up when you are wronged in the workplace, but we can help you do just that. Contact the Houston fair pay lawyers of the Ross Law Group today at 713-482-6910.