— Tipped Employees Category Archives — Dallas Employment Lawyer Blog Published by Dallas, Texas Employment Lawyers

Is your employer the Grinch who stole tips? A guide to the FLSA’s regulations regarding tipped employees.

December 14, 2025 | Riley Carter

Dallas Employment Trial Lawyer Riley Carter

When it comes to tipped employees, few issues create more confusion—and more lawsuits—than who legally owns the tips. The Fair Labor Standards Act (FLSA) sets strict rules about how tips must be handled, when employers can take a “tip credit,” and whether managers or non-tipped staff may participate in tip pools. Recent amendments and Department of Labor (DOL) guidance have also tightened restrictions on tip retention, increasing the stakes for compliance.

Below is a clear breakdown of the current legal landscape governing tips under the FLSA.

When it doesn’t pay to be the boss: the Fair Labor Standards Act’s “Manager Rule”

September 9, 2021 | Austin Campbell

Summary: This article gives a brief overview of the problems that the “manager rule” can cause high-level employees trying to raise concerns about pay issues, as well as the limits of that rule.

Categories: At-will; Wrongful termination; Retaliation Claims; Fair Pay; Wage and Hour; Tipped Employees

If your employer turns on you and starts taking actions against you because you raised a complaint protected by law, you may be suffering unlawful retaliation. However, not all laws treat all complaints—and all whistleblowers—the same. As a result, even clear retaliation might not always cross over the line into actually being illegal.

Here’s a Tip: Don’t Let Restaurants Steal Yours

May 25, 2020 | Deontae Wherry

The restaurant industry is known for stealing hard-earned tips from its employees. This practice has been going on for years, yet it continues to be a paramount issue in the industry. As a restaurant employee, you may have asked yourself the following question because you have seen it done time and time again: Can my manager take my tip? Am I obligated to pay for a walked tab? Do I have to share my tip with cooks? The answer to all of these questions is likely no.