What If You Earn Tips on Your Job?

If you are for example, a bartender, waitress, or waiter, then part of your income probably depends on your tips.

If you receive tips as part of your job compensation, as of July 24, 2009, the total of your tips plus your minimum hourly wage rate of $2.13 must add up to at least $7.25. If not then your employer must compensate you for the difference.

Some employers require that tipped workers, such as bellhops, waitresses, bartenders, and waiters pool and then divide their tips.

This requirement applies only to the excess amount of tips that are needed to meet the minimum wage requirements.

Some employers want you to share your tips with other workers who aren't usually tipped. For example, your employer may try to make you share your tips with chefs, dishwashers, and maintenance workers. This is against the law.

There are absolutely no circumstances that require tipped employees to share their tips with any of the aforementioned workers. And it is also illegal for employers to require that tipped employees share their tips with anyone in management.

If this has happened to you and you file a complaint then your employer will be ordered to repay you for the tips that he required you to share with any non-tipped employees.

Are You Entitled to Overtime If you are a Salaried Employee?

Businesses may choose to pay their employees on a monthly, bi-weekly, weekly, daily, or hourly basis. However, unless your job is classified as exempt under the provisions of the Fair Labor Standards Act, you are entitled to be paid for all of the hours that you actually work during any given week.

If your employer refuses to pay you for overtime because you are a salaried employee then he or she is violating the law.

For example, let's say that you are hired to work as an executive assistant for a salary of $700 per week. After a very busy day you have to work an additional four hours of overtime in order to catch up. This will bring your work week up to 39 hours.

If your boss refuses to pay you for the extra four hours and says that you are a "salaried" employee, he or she is breaking the law. Because you are not classified as an exempt employee under the FLSA you are legally entitled to any overtime work that you do in any given week.

Sir Ranulph, 66, was returning from the 42-mile High Peak Marathon on March 6th this year when he momentarily fell asleep at the wheel of his X-type Jaguar, which struck Luigi Castaldo痴 Nissan Micra with such force that it was pitched into a roll. Although his son, a passenger in his car, was not injured, Mr Castaldo himself had to be taken to hospital after the crash and still requires help to walk.

However, in court it came to light that he was not wearing a seatbelt at the time of the accident, which undoubtedly contributed to his injuries. If Mr Castaldo is considering making a compensation claim for his injuries, this fact could work against him.

Contributory negligence often has the effect of lowering an award made by the court in the event of such an occurrence. It is obvious that, had he been wearing his seatbelt, Mr Castaldo痴 injuries would have been much lighter.

Having said that, Sir Ranulph should not be let off the hook. The former army officer, who climbed to the summit of Everest only last year, has at no point tried to excuse or deflect the blame away from himself. However, even the prosecution admitted that Sir Ranulph is not 疎 normal human being.