What States Have to Pay Food Servers Minimum Wage?
The United States minimum wage establishes a standard that workers must be paid. The federal minimum wage is nationwide, although individual states can set their own higher minimum wages if they so desire. As of 2011, it is legal for employers to pay food servers only $2.13 per hour and then apply an employee's tips toward meeting the minimum wage, although employers must make up the difference if tips do not equal it. However, some states have their own laws requiring employers to pay food servers a straight wage and prohibiting them from applying tips toward the minimum.
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California
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California Labor Code Section 351 states that employers cannot share or keep any part of gratuity left for an employee by a patron. Gratuities are defined as any tip or money that has been given to, or left, for an employee above the actual amount needed to pay for services. California law also explicitly states that employers cannot take wage deductions from tips or use them as credits against wages. However, California law does allow involuntary tip pooling in restaurants. Tip pooling requires servers to share their tips with other staff that provide direct table services but do not generally receive their own gratuities, such as bus boys. Employees who do not provide direct table service, like cooks and dishwashers, do not share in the tip pool. The tip pool cannot be used to compensate managers, supervisors or owners, either.
Alaska
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Alaska is another state that does not allow employers to apply tips toward the minimum wage for servers and other kinds of tipped employees. Section 23.10.065 of Alaska's labor code says that employers "may not apply tips or gratuities bestowed on employees as a credit toward payment of the minimum hourly wage." The law does provide for some exemptions from the minimum wage in general, such as apprentices, employees in training and those with physical and mental disabilities.
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Nevada
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Nevada not only does not allow tips to be used as credit toward the minimum wage, it also has two sets of minimum wages for servers that must be met by employers. Which minimum wage applies depends on whether an employer offers health insurance. If an employer provides health insurance, it only has to meet the federal minimum wage, which was $7.25 per hour in 2011. If an employer does not offer health insurance, it must pay a minimum wage of $8.25 per hour.
Oregon and Washington
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Oregon and Washington states have laws against employers using tips toward the minimum wage for servers. Both states also have a higher minimum wage than the federal standard. In 2011, the minimum wage in Oregon was $8.50, while the minimum wage in Washington state was $8.67.
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