Is it legal for an employee not to pay the $2.13/hr, if I make $500 in a week?

Question

I have not been paid 2.13 per hour this week because I made $500 in tips. Is this legal??

Answer 1

The Federal minimum wage for workers who receive tips is $2.13 an hour. Even if you make $1,000 a day in tips, they STILL have to pay you your $2.13.

If your total tips, plus the $2.13 an hour, do not add up to $6.55 an hour over each day worked, your employer must pay you enough that, added to your tips, it totals $6.55 and hour.

Richard

Answer 2

Are you a waitress/waiter?? They still have to pay you your wage no matter how much you made in tips.

Answer 3

You must be paid at least the minimum wage for tipped employees.  However, your FICA and Medicare taxes are withheld from that, as well as federal and state income taxes.  You should get a pay stub showing the calculations: hours, gross pay, each deduction, net pay.  If you made that much in tips (or in "imputed tips" -- an estimate of the average tips earned per hour), you might have had the entire paycheck going to taxes.  That's pretty common.

Answer 4

Yes, it's legal.