Orlando Former Employee Alleges Restaurant Owner Violated FMWA

April 25, 2018

A former employee is suing an Orlando restaurant owner, alleging violation of the Florida Minimum Wage Act (FMWA).

The man filed a complaint April 9 in Orange Circuit Court alleging the restaurant owner failed to provide employees their proper wages, benefits and incentives.

According to the complaint, starting in September 2015, the man worked at the restaurant as a manager and bartender. He says he has suffered lost wages as a result of the restaurant’s unlawful conduct in compensating him at a rate less than the minimum wage by taking tip credit from his wages.

He says the restaurant failed to compensate him at the applicable minimum wage for all hours worked for performing dual occupational tasks, improperly applying a tip credit to every hour that he worked, and failed to keep complete and accurate time record of its employee.

The 2018 Florida minimum wage is $8.25 per hour. According to the FMWA, employers of tipped employees, who meet eligibility requirements for the tip credit under the FLSA, may credit towards satisfaction of the minimum wage tips up to the amount of the allowable FLSA tip credit of $3.02. The employer is still required to pay tipped employees a direct wage. The direct wage is calculated as equal to the minimum wage ($8.25) minus the tip credit ($3.02), or a direct hourly wage of $5.23 as of January 1, 2018.