A rule that a federal court suspended in August 2024 seems to be well and truly dead now. As the Society for Human Resource Management explained in a release, the DOL has withdrawn its 80/20/30 rule. This complicated rule, the SHRM noted, divided work into three categories: traditional tipped labor, supporting work preparing or assisting such work, and work that was unrelated to tipped work. Businesses could only apply the tip credit under certain circumstances, based on time spent and the specific categories. The details were complex — and became irrelevant thanks to a 5th Circuit ruling.
What's next?
It seems that businesses can now return to the simple "dual jobs" policy, which goes back to 1967. This basically said that employers could not take a tip credit for an employee performing untipped work. The SHRM writes: "The DOL effectively restored the pre-2021 language of the 'dual jobs' regulation for tipped employees under the Fair Labor Standards Act." The 4Hoteliers website, a portal for the hospitality industry, also says the court's decision leaves "employers with the previous dual jobs regulation."
However, this is not all you need to know. This is just a summary of many complex provisions and subtleties, and state rules may also apply. The bottom line? Don't worry about the 80/20/30 rule anymore. But do stay in close touch with your financial and payroll professionals to make sure you're following the rules — and any future DOL guidance in the wake of this recent rule withdrawal.
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