Construction
West-Press
Printing Mechanical
Komatsu Equipment Co
Resident Field Mechanic Sales and Marketing
Everready Glass
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RANCHO RESORT
MAINTANANCE POSITION Health Care
Dependable Health Services
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CENTRAL ARIZONA COLLEGE
DIRECTOR OF HEALTH INFORMATION MANAGEMENT Health Care
Sierra Tucson
Eating Disorders Program Coordinator

Q: I have a $9-an-hour job as a hotel room-service cashier. I work 45 hours a week, but I do not receive any overtime. My employer says that's permissible because I receive a percentage of tips from the room servers. But my average weekly take from tips is about $25, and the most I've ever gotten was $40. Even that is well below what I'd make if I were paid overtime. I believe I should be paid overtime in addition to the tips. Do I have a legal case?

A: You certainly do. While the law allows employers to make allowances for qualified "tipped" employees, in their base pay, "it has nothing to do with their obligation to pay overtime," said John Bolanovich, a labor lawyer in Orlando, Fla.

The "tip credit" means workers such as restaurant servers can legally receive a base pay of less than the minimum wage — as long as their weekly income, including tips, meets or exceeds the minimum wage for the number of hours they work. Any week the pay comes up short of that, employers must make up the difference.

But base pay and overtime are two different things.

"It's illegal to use tips to compensate for what's otherwise due to an employee as an overtime payment," Bolanovich said.

A couple of employees at an Ohio company have entered a brave new world. They have volunteered to have identity chips implanted under their skin. Their company, CityWatcher.com, is believed to be the first U.S. employer to implant chips in workers, according to the Society for Human Resource Management.

CEO Sean Darks also has one — a radio-frequency identification microchip made VeriChip of Delray Beach, Fla.

The company provides video surveillance, monitoring and video storage for government and business. Darks told CNN the advantage of embedded chips is that they can never be lost or misplaced, and the chips "do not put out any signal that can be tracked." No employee would be forced to have an embedded chip, Darks said.

Not yet, anyway.

The source may be suspect, but a new survey suggests employers looking to attract new workers and keep their current ones motivated should consider going to the dogs.

The Web site Dogster, along with the job-search engine Simply Hired, reported that two-thirds of those polled would work longer hours if allowed to bring their dogs to work.

Nearly half said they would consider leaving their jobs for a company that allowed them to have their dogs at work.

The survey was conducted in January of 150 people, presumably most of whom are dog lovers. For a list of dog-friendly workplaces, check Dogster.com.

Opinion by

Harry Wessel