Bradenton, FL asked in Employment Law for Florida

Q: Is it illegal to be a server in a restaurant & be forced to pay for any mistakes or walk outs of customers from your _

So it' not illegal to make employees pay out of pocket for walk outs, mistakes, & a % of merchant credit card costs to the restaurant? From what ive read in the labor laws, these are all illegal actions on their part, regardless if Fla. is a "no fault" state & can terminate at will, it's not about my termination, it's about their illegal actions. Further, they also claim my cash tips w/out even asking me what i made. I have no say & no idea what they are claiming, as well as clock me in & out when they choose to. I've been clocked out & been made to wait for my tips that are left--after they've claimed whatever they wanted to, & still asked to help off the clock until they were ready to pay me. Im not seeking legal help because i was let go, im blowing the whistle on the whole company, thats basically stealing from the employees by making them pay for these things out of pocket instead of simply voiding or comping them, not to mention the extra cash tips they claim falsely on my behalf

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1 Lawyer Answer
Bruce Alexander Minnick
Bruce Alexander Minnick
Answered
  • Tallahassee, FL
  • Licensed in Florida

A: Nothing has changed in the restaurant business over the past 30 years. Surely you must know that some restaurants are much better to work at than others. And some restaurant owners or managers are better to work for than others. If you are being treated badly by the restaurant that just terminated you instead of complaining about them here your best bet is to look for a better restaurant to work at. There is nothing any lawyer here can do to help you; why?

Because Florida is an “at will” state, which means private employers are free to hire, transfer, promote, demote, suspend, reinstate, fire and rehire employees for any reason at any time, i.e., “at will.” The only thing employers cannot do is make any of these adverse employment decisions based upon the employee’s race, gender, age, handicap, disability, religion, marital status or national origin.

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