(a) In general. An employee who receives tips, within the meaning of
the Act, is a ``tipped employee'' under the definition in section 3(t)
when, in the occupation in which he is engaged, the amounts he receives
as tips customarily and regularly total ``more than $20 a month.'' An
employee employed in an occupation in which the tips he receives meet
this minimum standard is a ``tipped employee'' for whom the wage credit
provided by section 3(m) may be taken in computing the compensation due
him under the Act for employment in such occupation, whether he is
employed in it full time or part time. An employee employed full time or
part time in an occupation in which he does not receive more than $20 a
month in tips customarily and regularly is not a ``tipped employee''
within the meaning of the Act and must receive the full compensation
required by its provisions in cash or allowable facilities without any
deduction for tips received under the provisions of section 3(m).
(b) Month. The definition of tipped employee does not require that
the calendar month be used in determining whether more than $20 a month
is customarily and regularly received as tips. Any appropriate recurring
monthly period beginning on the same day of the calendar month may be
used.
(c) Individual tip receipts are controlling. An employee must
himself customarily and regularly receive more than $20 a month in tips
in order to qualify as a tipped employee. The fact that he is part of a
group which has a record of receiving more than $20 a month in tips will
not qualify him. For example, a waitress who is newly hired will not be
considered a tipped employee merely because the other waitresses in the
establishment receive tips in the requisite amount. For the method of
applying the test in initial and terminal months of employment, see
Sec. 531.58.
(d) Significance of minimum monthly tip receipts. More than $20 a
month in tips customarily and regularly received by the employee is a
minimum standard that must be met before any wage credit for tips is
determined under section 3(m). It does not govern or limit the
determination by the employer or the Secretary of Labor of the
appropriate amount (up to 50 percent of the minimum wage) of wage credit
under section 3(m) that may be taken for tips.
(e) Dual jobs. In some situations an employee is employed in a dual
job, as for example, where a maintenance man in a hotel also serves as a
waiter. In such a situation the employee, if he customarily and
regularly receives at least $20 a month in tips for his work as a
waiter, is a tipped employee only with respect to his employment as a
waiter. He is employed in two occupations, and no tip credit can be
taken for his hours of employment in his occupation of maintenance man.
Such a situation is distinguishable from that of a waitress who spends
part of her time cleaning and setting tables, toasting bread, making
coffee and occasionally washing dishes or glasses. It is likewise
distinguishable from the counterman who also prepares his own short
orders or who, as part of a group of countermen, takes a turn as a short
order cook for the group. Such related duties in an occupation that is a
tipped occupation need not by themselves be directed toward producing
tips.
