The U.S. Supreme Court will not review a decision by the Eighth Circuit to defer to U.S. Dept. of Labor regulations prohibiting restaurant employers from taking a tip credit on any “substantial amount of time” (defined as more than 20 percent) that a tipped employee spends on performing related but non-tipped work, such as general preparation work or cleaning and maintenance.

The case involves a class action minimum wage lawsuit against Applebee’s where the tipped employees claimed that the restaurant chain required them to perform non-tip-producing duties for significant portions of their shift while taking the tip credit for those duties. The lawsuit is now allowed to proceed to a trial on the claim.