Teresa Gubbins Staff

"atina", the source of this information is Courthouse News Service. are you involved with the restaurant in some capacity?

1 year, 5 months ago ( Link to this comment | Suggest removal )

April Powell Staff

While I have no information about Riccardi's practices or whether they've been sued, I have worked in both the food service and legal fields in my lifetime. So I felt a little stupid when I read this and didn't know what the heck tip pooling is all about.

For others, like me, who may be unfamiliar with the practice, here's what the Department of Labor has to say about it:

http://www.dol.gov/esa/regs/complianc...

News releases from the Wage and Hour Division of the DOL indicate that several Houston restaurants have been sanctioned for violating tip pool rules in the past couple of years:

http://www.dol.gov/esa/media/press/wh... http://www.dol.gov/esa/media/press/wh... http://www.dol.gov/esa/media/press/wh...

And at least one Dallas restaurant:

http://www.dol.gov/esa/media/press/wh...

According to the DOL's 2006 statistics, "Over a third of WHD enforcement resources are attributed to investigations in nine low-wage industries, which include day care, restaurants, janitorial services, and temporary help."

Restaurants are by far the target of most of the investigations for 2006, so I'm guessing that most folks running and working in restaurants may be as unaware of the laws regarding tip pooling as I was.

I feel like I learn something every day here at Pegasus News . . . .

1 year, 5 months ago ( Link to this comment | Suggest removal )

Teresa Gubbins Staff

Courthouse News changes its menu pretty regularly. the only data they had was that it was a class-action complaint, filed in Dallas Federal Court, accusing Riccardi’s of requiring employees to participate in an "invalid tip pool".

I've had communication with Riccardi's owner Anita Riccardi, who says that the restaurant's general policy is not to pool tips; but that, "sometimes our waiters do want to POOL their tips if we have big parties and we all work together, but other than that, this is NEWS to me."

it would appear that the suit has been filed by an employee, but i haven't seen the suit nor the identity of the person who filed it.

1 year, 5 months ago ( Link to this comment | Suggest removal )

April Powell Staff

Just to clarify, for folks who don't care to read all of the Department of Labor stuff above (hey, not everybody likes dry, legal writing as much as I do), tip pooling in and of itself is not prohibited. There are just rules on how tip pools are conducted.

The main thrust behind the DOL rules seems to be ensuring that everyone employed is receiving at least the minimum wage. If the suit mentioned in the news item is, as Teresa says, a class action, the DOL may not be involved in it at all. I just found their site a good resource because I had no idea what tip pools were or that they were regulated by law.

1 year, 5 months ago ( Link to this comment | Suggest removal )