Is training for a day as server without pay or tips legal?
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Is training for a day as server without pay or tips legal?
My 16 year old son was
Asked on July 20, 2018 under Employment Labor Law, Virginia
Answers:
SJZ, Member, New York Bar / FreeAdvice Contributing Attorney
Answered 5 years ago | Contributor
There is no such thing as mandatory unpaid training: anything which is required by the employer (rather than voluntarily done by an employee to enhance his/her career, like taking classes to earn some useful degree, certification, or license) is work time, and all work MUST be paid. You could sue the steak house for 5.5 hours of pay at the minimum wage for tipped servers and also for the appropriate share of his shift's tips (most restaurants "pool" all tips received during a shift, then divide them among the tipped servers and bussers). Whether it is economically (in terms of time, cost, etc.) worth filing a lawsuit, even a small claims suit, for the likely amount of money is a different story, but you would certainly have the legal right to sue.
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