Federal & State Regulations | Tips - Connecticut | J. J. Keller® Compliance Network

State Info

Summary of difference between federal and state regulations

There are certain instances where employers can pay employees at a rate lower than the minimum hourly wage specified by the federal Fair Labor Standards Act. The most common instance pertains to an employee who earns tips. The employer can deduct the amount of the tips (but only up to a certain maximum amount) from the hourly wage.

Connecticut Statute 558 §31-60-2 provides for a maximum tip credit of 29.3 percent of the minimum fair wage per hour for persons in the hotel and restaurant industry, including a hotel restaurant, who receive gratuities, and 8.2 percent of the minimum fair wage per hour for bartenders who receive gratuities, and up to $.35 per hour for other employees.

Restaurants and hospitality employers got clarity on how to pay tipped workers under a new law, Public Act 19-1. The Labor Commissioner must adopt regulations codifying the “80/20” rule (i.e., 80 percent time spent on tipped work; 20 percent doing non-tipped work), as well as perform at least 75 restaurant wage and hour audits of tipped workers to ensure compliance. The new rule also limits employees’ rights to class action suits against restaurants. It’s estimated that the regulation may take effect in October 2020.