Waffle House, the Southern diner chain known for its smothered hash browns and open kitchens, systematically underpays servers, according to a union complaint filed Thursday with the US Department of Labor.
The Union of Southern Service Workers (USSW) said that understaffing and company directives to keep labor costs low have led to servers performing a “herculean number of tasks” off the clock or for wages meant for workers who also collect tips, even when the responsibilities – like washing dishes or stocking inventory – don’t generate tips. The difference can be significant; while the federal minimum wage is $7.25, tipped employees can be paid as little as $2.13 an hour.
Officials at the Georgia-based restaurant chain, which is closely held and primarily operates in the U.S. South and Midwest, were not immediately available to comment. The USSW, an affiliate of the Service Employees International Union, has been trying to organize Waffle House workers at multiple locations.
Under the Fair Labor Standards Act (FLSA), an employer can pay tipped employees less than minimum wage for tip-producing work like waiting tables. However, tipped workers cannot spend more than 20% of their time performing non-tipped work.
“Waffle House does not staff its restaurants appropriately,” SEIU President April Verrett told Bloomberg. “Whoever’s working does everything. They serve the tables, they clean the floor, they cook the food.”
Servers across different Waffle House locations surveyed by the union reported that their managers did not track the amount of time they spent on non-tipped duties, with many being paid the sub-minimum tip wage for these hours.
“Waffle House is one of the worst actors in the industry,” Verrett said. “We need real systemic rule change to protect workers.”
Kashena Spencer, 30, juggles supervising, cooking and serving during her 10-hour shifts as a supervisor cook at a South Carolina location.
Spencer said she has seen cooks and servers leave in the middle of their shifts, often out of frustration over workplace conditions. Tempted to leave herself but lacking a permanent home and living in a hotel, she said she is sometimes forced to work the restaurant alone.
“I’ve worked there a long time, and I can’t afford to just walk out,” Spencer said.
Katelyn Giede, 32, a server in Georgia, said she was left to cook, clean, and serve by herself for a seven-hour shift when the restaurant’s cook left abruptly.
“It was very defeating. I just worked my butt off for you, and you don’t care,” she said.
Though she clocks in and is paid as a server, she is often expected to clean the dish pits, walls and bar stools, and also cook.
“We’re running this company for them. It’s time that they realize that we’re human and deserve to be treated that way,” said Giede.
According to the complaint, servers spent on average two to three hours of a seven-hour shift performing non-tipped work. The USSW estimates servers lose as much as $46.8 million in unpaid wages annually due to the alleged violations.
These infractions are not uncommon in the industry: a 2012 Labor Department investigation of more than 9,000 restaurants found more than 84% of them violated tip credit rules, resulting in millions in lost wages.
