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Wage and Hour Class Action Against Houlihan’s Restaurants

Minimum Wage Class Action Claim for Houlihan’s Servers

Employees who customarily receive tips are treated slightly differently under the Fair Labor Standards Act when it comes to minimum wage. Employers are allowed to apply a “tip credit” to the hourly wage paid to tipped employees to reach the minimum wage. The employer must show that the employee actually gets to keep the tips, except in certain tip-pooling arrangements. Valid tip pools cannot include employees who do not customarily and regularly get tips as part of their work.

Have You Worked as a Server for A.C.E. Restaurant Group Inc. in New Jersey in the Past Three Years?

A.C.E. Restaurant Group is a franchise operator with more than a dozen Houlihan’s restaurants in New Jersey. In some cases, it appears that servers at A.C.E. Restaurant Group franchises were illegally denied minimum wages. If you have worked as a server at a Houlihan’s location in New Jersey in the past three years, you may have been affected.

Were You Forced to Share Tips With Non tipped Employees?

Some tip-sharing arrangements are valid. When tip pools are restricted to employees who generally receive tips, potentially including waiters, waitresses, bellhops, counter personnel who serve customers, bussers and service bartenders, they can be acceptable policy. When they include non tipped employees, such as hostesses or expediters, they cannot be used by employers as a tip credit to make up the difference between cash wages paid to servers and the minimum wage. If you are not sure whether the tip pool you were subjected to was valid, you need to speak to a knowledgeable wage and hour attorney as soon as possible.

We Can Help

At Costello, Mains & Silverman, LLC, our lawyers have nearly 30 years of experience helping workers in wage and hour disputes. Our lawyers handle class action lawsuits designed to help groups of workers get the wages they are entitled to. If you were part of a tip-pooling arrangement at a Houlihan’s location in New Jersey over the past three years, you may have been illegally denied minimum wage. For more information on joining a collective action against A.C.E. Restaurant Group Inc., contact us online or call 866-944-3371 to schedule a confidential consultation right away.