Hello,

This is a really great site; there is a ton of good info. I've been reading, but haven't been able to find a posted question about tipped wage earners, so I thought I'd post, if that's okay. :)

My girlfriend is a waitress/bartender at a local bar in the state of Texas, and has been told by the owner of the company that they "don't pay overtime to anyone". I'm kind of confused on this, as I don't know what the exempt/non-exempt status of tipped wage earners might be. They don't make minimum wage, but I could swear that hours worked in excess of 40 per 7-day pay period were still supposed to result in 1.5 time on their paycheck. Am I correct?

Thanks for any responses, and thanks again for this great site.

Tipped or not, a nonexempt employee, which your gf definitely is, must be paid at least 1.5 times the full minimum wage (not the sub-minimum wage allowed for directly-tipped employees in Texas) for all hours worked in excess of 40 in a workweek. A workweek is a fixed 7-day period defined by the employer.

If your gf is working over 40 hours in the workweek and is not getting paid overtime pay at all, or is not getting it at the full amount, she should file a claim for unpaid overtime with the Texas Workforce Commission.

I've never hit this problem, but this post made me think of this...

Tipped employee works over 40 hours and receives 1.5 times rate for everything over 40 hours...

The regular 40 hours + tips must equal state minimum wage or the employer must make up the difference.

Does this same rule also apply to hours in excess of 40, does the employer have to make up the difference at the OT rate, or would it be at state minimum wage per hour?

I hope I asked this correctly.

RO12

To my knowledge, overtime hours must be paid at, at least, the full minimum wage rate. You cannot use the sub-minimum rate for hours over 40 in a workweek. You can contact the Texas Workforce Commission to confirm. You also might want to look into the Restaurant Association in your area. Texas is HQ to a lot of huge restaurant chains, and I understand that the association is very active.

I am Mangaburn's girlfriend. I am no longer at the job who shorted me the overtime. Even after confronting them about this issue, they told me that they do not have to pay over time through some loop hole in the law. They currently owe me 36.51 hours in over time. Does anyone know how I would go about collecting this?? Thank you for your help.

You contact your state DOL and file a complaint for unpaid overtime.