Pay rules for cooks and dishwashers: overtime, tips and deductions

Cooks, prep cooks and dishwashers are usually paid by the hour with no tips, so pay rules for cooks and dishwashers are mostly about hours: whether every hour is paid, and whether long weeks get overtime. This page covers those, plus tip sharing, deductions and breaks.

Full minimum wage, no tip credit

Back-of-house workers are not tipped employees, so your employer cannot take a tip credit against your wage. Every hour must be paid at least the full minimum wage where you work, never a tipped cash wage like $2.13.

Time you are required to work is paid time. That includes prep before you clock in, waiting on a delivery, and cleanup after you clock out. If you are told to clock out and keep working, those hours are still owed.

Overtime for cooks and dishwashers

Kitchen schedules run long, so overtime is where most back-of-house pay problems show up. Under federal law, hours over 40 in a workweek are paid at 1.5 times your regular rate. Things to watch:

• No averaging. 50 hours one week and 30 the next is 10 overtime hours, even on a two-week check.
• Two rates. If you cook at one rate and wash dishes at another in the same week, overtime is based on the weighted average. Say 30 hours at $15 and 15 at $12: $630 for 45 hours is $14.00 an hour, so each of your 5 overtime hours is owed an extra $7.00.
• Differentials and bonuses. A late-night differential or a bonus you were promised for hitting a target goes into the regular rate, so it raises your overtime rate too.
• Two locations. If the same company has you work at two of its restaurants, the hours generally count together for overtime.
• Daily overtime. California, Alaska, Nevada and Colorado also count long days. See daily overtime.

A title like kitchen manager or sous chef does not by itself make you exempt from overtime. Exemption depends on your actual duties and how you are paid. If you are salaried but spend most of your shift cooking on the line, it is worth asking how your job is classified.

Can cooks share in tips?

Sometimes. Under federal law, cooks and dishwashers can be included in a tip pool only if the employer pays everyone in the pool the full minimum wage and takes no tip credit. If the servers are paid a tipped cash wage, the kitchen cannot be in a required pool.

Some states never allow it: Massachusetts and New York bar kitchen staff from tip pools either way. In California, courts have upheld pools that include kitchen staff in the chain of service.

If you do get a share, it should show up on your stub as tips, separate from your wages. Those tips do not count toward your minimum wage, because your employer takes no tip credit for you.

Uniform, tool and breakage deductions

Kitchens sometimes charge workers for chef coats, aprons, knives or broken dishes. Under federal law, a deduction for something that mainly benefits the employer cannot push your pay below the minimum wage or cut into overtime pay. If you earn close to the minimum, there may be no room for it at all.

Many states are stricter. California, New York, Oregon and Massachusetts ban uniform deductions, and many states ban breakage deductions or require your written consent first. Minnesota caps uniform deductions at $50 and requires them to be paid back when you leave. See which deductions are illegal.

Meal and rest breaks

Federal law does not require breaks, but short breaks of 5 to 20 minutes that you get must be paid. An unpaid meal break only counts if you are fully relieved of duty. Eating on the line while tickets come in is work time.

Many states require breaks. California requires a 30-minute meal break for shifts over 5 hours and a paid 10-minute rest break for every 4 hours, and owes an extra hour of pay for each type missed in a day. Washington, Oregon, Colorado and Minnesota also require meal and rest breaks. See meal break and break premium.

What to check on your stub

• Hours, compared with your own record of clock-in and clock-out times.
• Hourly rate, at or above the full minimum wage where you work.
• Overtime hours for each workweek over 40, and the overtime rate.
• Tip pool share, if any, listed apart from wages.
• Deductions for uniforms, tools, breakage or "adjustments".
• Break premiums, if your state has them.
• Sick leave balance, if your state requires paid sick leave.

The paycheck checker runs these against your state's rules. If something is off, ask payroll first. Your state labor agency takes wage claims for free, without a lawyer. See what to do if you were underpaid.