Comments on: Georgia Minimum Wage Requirements

By: Caitlin

Caitlin — Thu, 14 Jan 2010 23:26:40 +0000

Hi Jon! Training is time worked under the federal and Georgia minimum wage laws, so you are entitled to payment for that time. File a wage complaint with the Georgia Department of Labor or U.S. DOL. HTH, and thanks for reading the blogs!~ Caitlin

By: Jon

Jon — Thu, 14 Jan 2010 19:38:16 +0000

hi my question is this. I got hired to work for a dinner as a server.I started on thurs and there was suppose to be training until mon when it opened. the date of opening kept getting pushed back until Friday which would be tomorrow. They kept making us come to training and they made it seem mandatory. I looked on the DOL.gov site and they seem to breaking more then one of these. BUT THEY SIAD NO PAY training. To top it off on thurs. they had VIP eat there and I was suppose to serve. Last minute they made me Food Runner and ended up getting 7 bucks for my 10 hour shift.

Caitlin please help me !

By: Caitlin

Caitlin — Thu, 11 Dec 2008 14:03:07 +0000

Hi Laney! Under the federal FLSA or Fair Labor Standards Act, a tipped employee who spends more than 20% of his or her time doing maintenance or general cleaning jobs, must be paid the minimum wage. In addition, if a tipped employee does two jobs — such as cook and waitress — she cannot be paid at the lower tipped wage for both. She must be paid at the higher rate, for the non-tipped wage.
Read more about this at: http://www.dol.gov/esa/whd/regs/compliance/whdfs15.pdf
You can also post questions on our sister site at http://www.laborlawtalk.com. HTH, and thanks for your question!~ Caitlin

By: Laney

Laney — Thu, 11 Dec 2008 05:54:07 +0000

Hi! I am interested in where the law actually outlines servers being paid minimum wage for having to do tasks such as cleaning the floor if you could post that. Thanks!

By: Caitlin

Caitlin — Tue, 30 Sep 2008 14:27:29 +0000

Hi Michael! Unfortunately, no, there is no Georgia or federal law that covers this situation. Suppose Mark is hired as a warehouse worker at $12.80 per hour. One day the forklift driver calls in sick, and Mark fills in all day. Normally forklift drivers earn $14.82 per hour. There is no law that the company has to pay Mark the higher rate for the day, or for any portion of the day.

Many companies would pay Mark the higher rate, but that is strictly a matter of company policy. Other companies expect employees to pitch in and do whatever it takes to get the job done, espeically in a tough economy.

Many employees in Mark’s situation would continue to fill in on the forklift occasionally, even at the lower rate of pay. When a full-time forklift position is available, Mark can make a strong case that he is qualified for the job and deserves it.

If Mark is driving the forklift all day, every day, for a few weeks, then he should go to his supervisor and point out the inequality in pay. At that point, the supervisor might increase Mark’s rate of pay…or he might hire a new forklift driver, at $12.80 per hour.

There are a couple of exceptions here. If other employees are being paid the higher rate when they occasionally drive the forklift, and Mark is not, that may be discrimination based on race, color, religion, sex, age (over 40), etc. If Mark is working under a union contract, some agreements would require that he not drive the forklift, or that he be paid the forklift drivers rate. HTH, and thanks for reading the blogs!~ Caitlin