Attorney General Janet Mills Joins Coalition to Oppose the Trump Administration?s Proposal to Rescind the Rule allowing Employees to Keep Tips

February 7, 2018

Attorney General Janet Mills Joins Coalition to Oppose the Trump Administration?s Proposal to Rescind the Rule allowing Employees to Keep Tips

AUGUSTA ? This week Attorney General Janet Mills joined a coalition of 17 Attorneys General in opposing the Trump Administration?s proposal to rescind a rule that allows employees to keep the tips they have earned. The rule issued in 2011 clarified that, consistent with custom and long-established understanding, gratuities are the sole property of employees. Under the Trump Administration?s proposed change, employers would be allowed to pocket tips earned by employees who are paid the federal minimum wage. According to the Economic Policy Institute, this change could result in employers taking up to $5.8 billion in earned tips from the pockets of working men and women. The U.S. Department of Labor (DOL), which is spearheading the rule change, reportedly shelved an economic analysis that highlighted the billions in tip earnings workers could lose.

?Maine law has long required that tips go to the employees who serve the customers, not to the employer. Hardworking men and women, especially those who are paid close to the minimum wage, depend on every penny they've earned to feed their families, keep a roof over their heads, and advance their education or careers,? said Attorney General Mills. ?We file our opposition today with a particular sense of urgency, given that the U.S. Department of Labor apparently ignored the economic analysis showing that workers could lose billions in earnings if the DOL?s proposed change goes into effect.?

Maine law provides that tips received by service employees are the property of the service employees and may not be shared with the employer. The proposed federal rule, which attempts to change the longstanding expectations of customers, employees and employers alike, will create unnecessary confusion between the different standards under federal and state laws.

The coalition of Attorney Generals opposing the proposed rule rescission includes, in addition to Attorney General Mills, California Attorney General Xavier Becerra, Illinois Attorney General Lisa Madigan, Pennsylvania Attorney General Josh Shapiro and the Attorneys General of: Connecticut, Delaware, Iowa, Maryland, Massachusetts, New York, North Carolina, Oregon, Rhode Island, Virginia, Vermont, Washington, and the District of Columbia.

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