I work in a restaurant, myself and one other were lead servers making $20 / hour vs the $15.50 an hour that is the minimum wage in California.
Last week, the restaurant laid off 8 people (even though the restaurant is busy af) because the COMPANY is poor (other restaurants in the company struggling) and they need money to open ANOTHER restaurant in Irvine. After laying off 8 people, the GM also sat me and the other server down and told us there will be no more need for lead servers and we were being demoted back to just Server.
Fine by me honestly, they heavily encouraged me and the other lead work off the clock on several different occasions, and I was done with being a manager-lite.
Except… When I got my most recent paycheck, my ENTIRE paycheck was paid at 15.50, even though I worked that entire pay period as a lead making $20 / hr. Is this something I should contact the Labor Board over? Btw, already asked HR about it, they told me “Its just going to be this way.” This feels like wage theft to me.
P.S. – I have my suspicions the owners are also shaving money off the top of tipouts, and the owners have directed management to take tables (including making tips) in the early morning because they're too cheap to schedule any servers until 930am (we open at 8am)