SPRINGFIELD, Ill.– Food service employees in the state of Illinois will keep more tips earned.
New legislation has been signed by Governor JB Pritzker that clarifies an existing state law makes it crystal clear that employees own their tips.
The law, which took effect the beginning of 2020, amends the Illinois Wage Payment and Collection Act.
Michael Kleinik, Director of the Illinois Department of Labor says “People in the various service industries work hard for their money and in many cases, such as for restaurant servers, tips make up an important part of the overall compensation.”
The law states that gratuities are the property of employees, and that their employers cannot retain them.
“This law leaves no doubt that gratuities belong to the workers who earned them.” said Kleinik.
The law requires gratuities to be paid to employees within 13 days after the end of the pay period during which the gratuities were earned.
Employers are required to pay tipped workers a minimum of 60% of the state’s minimum wage, which rose to $9.25 an hour on Jan. 1st, and the tips and wage combined must equal at least the minimum wage.
The law does not prohibit a tip pooling arrangement among employees as permitted by law.
