NEW YORK — TGI Friday’s Inc. and its parent company, Carlson Restaurants Inc., continue to settle wage and overtime claims with its tipped employees in federal court. The most recent settlement resolves the claims of 14 members in the class action lawsuit alleging violations of the Fair Labor Standards Act (FLSA). The class action lawsuit claimed the restaurant chain failed to properly compensate as many as 42,000 of its tipped employees for time spent performing non-tipped, side work dating back to 2011.
TGI Friday’s Claim
In January, a New York District Court judge granted conditional class certification in the class action wage and overtime pay lawsuit which was filed in April 2014. The class includes current and former hosts, bartenders, and servers who did not receive minimum wage when they performed non-tipped work like restocking, preparing food, and cleaning. If a tipped employee performs non-tipped work, or work that does not typically receive tips, an employer must pay the employee at least the full minimum wage for the time they are performing the non-tipped work.
While TGI Friday’s objected to the class certification claiming the employees’ allegations would be best addressed individually, the employees were able to demonstrate that the parent company had sufficient control over all of its restaurants’ policies that addressing all of the allegations in one court case was justified. With the class certification, nearly 42,000 current and former tipped employees across the country became eligible to join the class action. Prior to the current settlement, TGI Friday’s claims to have settled dozens of additional claims totaling $700,000 in settlement compensation. The 14 class members in the current settlement will receive between $2,500 and $82,000 each in back wages and damages.
Tipped Wages And Overtime
Under the FLSA and state labor laws, non-exempt employees must receive at least minimum wage for every hour worked and one and a half times their regular rate for every hour worked in excess of 40 hours in a workweek. Tipped employees, on the other hand, may receiving minimum wage, $7.25, or they may receive the tipped minimum wage, $2.13, and sufficient tips to bring their hourly rate up to $7.25. Tipped employees are entitled to overtime wages at one and a half times their hourly rate regardless of which hourly rate they receive, but if the tipped employee receives the tipped minimum wage their overtime is based on a $7.25 hourly rate instead of the $2.13 rate.
If you are a tipped employee and you are not aware of what your hourly rate is or your employer is not paying you different hourly rates for non-tipped work or overtime, you may have a wage or overtime pay claim. Time is limited for filing wage and overtime complaints so it is important to call today! Our top-rated team of overtime pay lawyers can be reached at (855) 754-2795. Or you may complete our Free Unpaid Overtime Case Review form and our experienced legal team will evaluate your claim. If we accept your case, we will represent you under our No Fee Promise. This means there are no legal fees or costs unless you receive a settlement.