Here's a tip for Massachusetts employers: Sometimes a typo is just a typo

Sometimes little errors can cause huge headaches and make a big difference, like the now infamous Oxford comma case in which one improperly omitted comma in a Maine statute resulted in a $5 million overtime settlement. On other occasions, however, an error is just an error. In a recent case, the Massachusetts Appeals Court decided one misused contract term following several other disclaimers did not invalidate the Massachusetts Tips Act’s (MTA) safe-harbor provision.

‘Service charge’

Blue Hill Country Club is a standard country club that also does business hosting banquets and other events requiring food and beverage service. Several members of the wait staff got into a dispute with the employer over a typographical error in its event invoices, which used the heading “service charge” instead of “administrative charge.” Under the MTA:

If an employer or person submits a bill, invoice or charge to a patron or other person that imposes a service charge or tip, the total proceeds of that service charge or tip shall be remitted only to the wait staff employees, service employees, or service bartenders in proportion to the service provided by those employees.

Under no circumstances can an employer reduce the fee or demand any part of it.

Normally, if an employer collects a service charge from customers and doesn’t distribute it to the staff, the outcome would be straightforward: The employer would be on the hook for some lost wages.