National Restaurant Consultants (NRC) continuously monitors new federal and state regulations and laws that effect operators throughout the country.
The National Restaurant Association as well as state associations continue to communicate and inform their members regarding these new regulations and pay thresholds. At NRC, we work to be an additional resource to the industry to make sure all operators stay in compliance and stay out of regulatory troubles. We are advocates for our industry as well as to the national and state restaurant associations. The following information you should be aware of relating to new Federal and in some cases state laws pertaining to your staff. The first one is regarding salaried exempt staff members.
Overtime exemption threshold
Beginning July 1, 2020, employees must be paid a salary of AT LEAST $684 per week (which equates to $35,568 annually) to be EXEMPT from overtime. This is consistent with the Federal that went into effect January 1, 2020. Importantly, tips DO NOT count toward this total — and hourly workers are never exempt from overtime. They must also meet the duties test for exempt employees to be exempt from overtime, which is not changing. There are multiple duties tests published to determine if you are managing this in your operation or contact NRC for more information.
Date Weekly Overtime-Exempt Salary
July 1, 2020 $684.00/week ($35,568 per year)
January 1, 2021 $778.85/week ($40,500 per year)
January 1, 2022 $865.38/week (45,000 per year)
January 1, 2023 $961.54/week ($50,000 per year)
January 1, 2024 $1,057.69/week ($55,000 per year)
January 1, 2025 The 2024 salary adjusted by CPI
Breaks
Employees who work at least five consecutive hours are entitled to an uninterrupted and duty-free meal period of at least 30 minutes. Employees must also be given a compensated 10-minute rest period for each 4 hours of work. If an employee doesn’t get a 10-minute break, you have to pay for that extra ten minutes — and backpay can add up quickly if you fail to do so. The only exception to the rest period rule is if on a given workday, or in writing covering up to a one-year period that is signed by both parties, the employee and employer agree voluntarily and without coercion to have two 5-minute breaks. Rest breaks must be long enough for an employee to use the restroom or rest in the designated break room. Make sure your employees are not only getting their rest periods, but also acknowledging that they received them by either signing a statement before getting their paycheck or otherwise confirming this electronically. It is very important that you implement this process with your staff. We have templates we can provide for you on how to make sureyour staff acknowledges they have been provided time to take rest periods and to sign off on this.
Uniforms
If you require employees to wear a uniform (such as a logoed shirt), you must provide one free. This is a change from prior law, when you could take a 50 percent deposit on the uniform. This applies only to dress or equipment that an employee would not already reasonably own — if part of your dress is something the employee would already own (e.g. black pants), then you do not need to provide it.
Staying on top of these regulations can be overwhelming and time consuming. Contact us so we can help you navigate and create simple solutions to manage these new processes.
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