Applebee’s Decision Regarding Minimum Wages for Tipped Employees

An Appeals Court has recently ruled against Applebee’s regarding the payment of minimum wage to tipped employees. In that case, tipped employees, such as servers, bartenders and bussers spent more than 20% of their day performing non-tipped related activities, such as setting tables, cleaning silverware, filling salt and pepper shakers, cutting fruits and vegetables and general cleaning. Since tipped employees spent more than 20% of their day performing non-tipped related duties, they were entitled to the full minimum wage of $7.25 per hour, rather than the tipped minimum wage, which is currently $5 per hour in New York. Tipped employees should keep track of how many hours per shift they are performing non-tipped work, as they may be entitled to the difference between the full minimum wage rate and the tipped minimum wage rate plus 100% as a penalty.