Abstract
The Fifth Circuit recently delivered a significant blow to the Department of Labor’s (“DOL”) regulatory authority in Restaurant Law Center v. U.S. Department of Labor, which vacated a rule delineating the permissible scope of non-tip-producing work for employees under the Fair Labor Standards Act (FLSA) for employers claiming a “tip credit.” The challenged regulation—often referred to as the “80/20 rule” with a “30-minute rule” addendum—sought to limit the amount of non-tip-producing work a tipped employee could perform if the employer claimed a tip credit. What renders this decision particularly notable is the Fifth Circuit’s relatively swift invalidation of a long-standing regulatory concept, an action compelled by the Supreme Court’s landmark decision in Loper Bright Enterprises v. Raimondo. Restaurant Law Center, therefore, exemplifies a fundamental change, commanded by Loper Bright, in judicial review of agency action, requiring courts to independently scrutinize such actions and statutory interpretations without the deference that had characterized administrative law for decades.
Recommended Citation
William T. Perryman,
Back to Basics: Statutory Interpretation and the Demise of the DOL’s Tip Credit Rule After Loper Bright,
90 Mo. L. Rev.
(2026)
Available at: https://scholarship.law.missouri.edu/mlr/vol90/iss4/11