When you are starting off as a young adult, whether you are attending college or not, you may decide to get a job to help pay your way and allow for greater responsibility. If your job involves receiving tips, you may be surprised to realize your tips may not be in addition to a minimum wage rate of hourly pay.
Tipped employees are protected by the minimum wage in the sense that they are required an hourly rate of pay and an employer cannot pay beneath that. If after the sum of that wage and tips are combined, you are averaging less than a non-tipped employee’s minimum wage, your employer must compensate you for the difference.
Since the minimum wage for a tipped employee is $2.13 an hour, you may be concerned that you will lose money working shifts with less traffic. However, the minimum wage has been put into place to protect employees. If your employer fails to provide you with the compensation to bring you up to the state’s set minimum wage of $7.25 an hour, you may need to discuss the discrepancy with them and ensure compliance with state laws as set with the Department of Labor.
If you feel that an employer has continually hired and worked employees for less than legally required hourly wages and you want to put an end to it, you may benefit from finding an Indiana wage and hour attorney to advocate on your behalf. Not only could you receive justice, you and others who were slighted may also receive substantial compensation.