Posts Tagged ‘tips’

The U.S. Court of Appeals for the Eighth Circuit recently upheld a lower court’s ruling denying summary judgment to a restaurant that claimed a tip credit against all of the wages earned by its servers and bartenders, even though the employees spent considerable time performing tasks for which they did not receive tips [Fast v. Applebee's International, Inc., CA8, Dkt. No. 10-1725/10-1726, 4/21/11].

Servers and bartenders at Applebee’s restaurants filed a lawsuit claiming that they regularly spent more than 20% of their time on general preparation and maintenance, activities that didn’t generate tips. Applebee’s took a tip credit for all work performed by its servers and bartenders, including the general preparation and maintenance work, even when it amounted to more than 20% of the employee’s work. The servers contended that this was a violation of the Fair Labor Standards Act (FLSA) and that Applebee’s owed them additional compensation.

Here are some useful tips to help manage your company’s losses in the recession. Although the downturn has changed normal payment patterns, when you see any of these signs, you should act before it is too late.

These Four Things are Critical to Running Your Business.

Many small business owners treat bookkeeping as as task they hire an accountant to do just before the final tax deadline.

In actuality, keeping up-to-date books is essential to helping small business owners run their operations more efficiently and cost-effectively.

Whether you do your own books or use a professional service, these four (4) simple tips can help keep you on track.