Restaurant Industry Association Files Suit Challenging “80/20” Rule

The Restaurant Law Center, a public policy affiliate of the National Restaurant Association, has filed suit against the Department of Labor and its Wage and Hour Division, seeking to declare unlawful the DOL’s 2012 revision to its Field Operations Handbook, purporting to establish, through sub-regulatory guidance, the “80/20” tip credit rule or “20% Rule.” Restaurant Law Center v. U.S. Dept. of Labor, No. 18-cv-567 (W.D. Tex. July 6, 2018). The 80/20 Rule seeks to limit the availability of the tip credit when tipped employees spend more than 20% of their time performing allegedly non-tip generating duties. One of several problems in applying such a rule is identifying what is, and what is not, an allegedly “tip-generating” duty.