NJ Restaurant Minimum Wage

[coffee]

I am a server in a chain restaurant in New Jersey. We receive 2.13/hr plus tips. But, we often get people who don't know how to tip, and we have to tip out 3% of our sales to the busser, foodrunner, and bar, and on a Friday or Saturday night, we also have to tip out a silverware roller and a "server assistant," who goes around the restaurant and stocks things, helps run food, etc. There have been nights when I have literally walked out with 35 dollars after working an 11 hour shift. I tipped out more than I made. My sales were nearly 700 dollars, and because people are horrible tippers, I essentially paid THEM to sit in my section, as I have to tip out between 3 and 5 percent, even if the table tipped me less than that or not at all.

So, I researched New Jersey labor laws on tipped employees. The NJ Dept of Labor website says tipped employees who receive 2.13/hr must have an hourly wage that adds up to the 5.15/hr federal minimum wage.

Many of the servers that I work and myself do not by any means meet this standard. The restaurant often has 20 servers on so the sections are smaller and if it's not a busy night, we will often be making far below the federal minimum wage including our tips.

Based on what I read on the Dept of Labor website, this does not seem to be legal. Obviously, working an 11 hour shift and going home with less than 40 dollars puts me at about 3 dollars an hour, which I still have to declare and pay taxes on.

What, if anything, can be done about this? I am essentially a slave laborer being paid far below minimum wage. I realize in the restaurant industry the income isn't always consistent, but just based on what I read via the NJ Dept of Labor, I think my rights are being violated when I am not compensated on nights when my tips are less than 10% of my total sales. I would like to lobby for food service workers' wages to be raised, but it seems like a huge task... What can I do? Also, couldn't the restaurant theoretically be shut down because its employees are often being paid below minimum wage? (which is no fault of their own, but it does occur frequently.)