November 2009

Director Rebman Educates Businesses on Tipped Employee Laws

On Oct. 27, Labor Department Director, Larry Rebman, spoke to the Greater Kansas City Restaurant Association during its labor roundtable in Lenexa, Kan.  Rebman provided the Association with details on Missouri’s labor law as it pertains to employees.

“The more opportunities the Department has to educate employers regarding the laws on employee wages, the fewer complaints we’re likely to receive,” said Director Rebman.

Minimum wage laws were put in place to promote and protect our state’s economic stability and are enforced by the Missouri Department of Labor and Industrial Relations’ Division of Labor Standards (DLS).

The law makes most Missouri employers liable to pay their employees the state minimum wage rate for hours worked. (Employers engaged in retail or service businesses whose annual gross income is less than $500,000 are not required to pay the state minimum wage rate.)

Tipped employees must be paid at least half of the state minimum wage rate. However, if the tipped employee does not make up the other half of the minimum wage in tips, the employer is required to pay the difference. Employers not subject to the minimum wage law can pay employees wages of their choosing.

Employees who feel they have not been compensated for the hours worked should file a complaint with the DLS to be investigated. The DLS investigations have a 90 percent success rate in returning owed wages to employees. Visit, www.labor.mo.gov/dls/minimumwage/ for current state and federal minimum wage rates or to file a complaint.

For more information about the Missouri Restaurant Association, please visit, www.morestaurants.org.