SF 1280

Conference Committee Report - 87th Legislature (2011 - 2012) Posted on 05/23/2011 01:32pm

A bill for an act
relating to employment; providing notice of sharing of gratuities and authorizing
employers to safeguard and disburse shared gratuities; amending Minnesota
Statutes 2010, section 177.24, subdivision 3.

BE IT ENACTED BY THE LEGISLATURE OF THE STATE OF MINNESOTA:

Section 1.

Minnesota Statutes 2010, section 177.24, subdivision 3, is amended to read:

Subd. 3.

Sharing of gratuities.

For purposes of this chapter, any gratuity received
by an employee or deposited in or about a place of business for personal services rendered
by an employee is the sole property of the employee. No employer may require an
employee to contribute or share a gratuity received by the employee with the employer
or other employees or to contribute any or all of the gratuity to a fund or pool operated
for the benefit of the employer or employees. This section does not prevent an employee
from voluntarily and individually sharing gratuities with other employees. deleted text begin The agreement
to share gratuities must be made by the employees free of any employer participation. deleted text end new text begin
Employees may establish a system for the sharing or pooling of gratuities among
employees provided that the employer shall not require or coerce employees to agree upon
such system. If an employee agrees to participate in sharing gratuities, an employer is not
precluded from administering a valid gratuity pool and may:
new text end

new text begin (1) keep a record of the amounts received for accounting, bookkeeping, or tax
reporting purposes; and
new text end

new text begin (2) upon the request of employees, safeguard gratuities to be shared by employees
and disburse shared gratuities to employees participating in the agreement.
new text end

new text begin Nothing in this section shall prohibit an employer from informing servers about the
opportunity to participate in a gratuity-sharing program on a voluntary basis and posting a
copy of this section for the information of employees. new text end The commissioner may require
the employer to pay restitution in the amount of the gratuities diverted. If the records
maintained by the employer do not provide sufficient information to determine the exact
amount of gratuities diverted, the commissioner may make a determination of gratuities
diverted based on available evidence and mediate a settlement with the employer.