Legal questions from a restaurant employee in DC...?

I work in a restaurant in DC, and need a few questions answered concerning taxes and minimum wage.



The first concerns my hourly wages and taxes. When I began working there, I was never given a form to fill out for tax claims, and every two weeks (regardless of the number of hours I work or how much I make in tips) I receive a voided check; apparently everything goes straight to taxes. I also don't claim my own taxes.



My second question is about the minimum wage... Once a week I work as a busboy and am paid $25 for a 6-7 hour shift. In this restaurant, busboys also act as baristas and food runners, and they receive 20% of the servers' tips. If this means that the busboy only qualifies for the minimum wage for servers, the $25 isn't so bad, but if the busboy should receive regular minimum wage, I'm getting screwed...



Is anyone very familiar with this topic or know where I should turn for advice?Legal questions from a restaurant employee in DC...?
I think you're getting screwed in general.



Your check NEVER, EVER, EVER goes straight to taxes. The less you make = the less takes you pay.



You should have gotten a W-4 when you started working there, and you should be getting a paycheck. No voided check, you shoule be getting a PAYCHECK for whatever hourly wage you work for multiplied by the # of hours you work and then taxes taken from that. You can go to PaycheckCity.com and put in your info and see what your paychecks SHOULD be.



I went to PaycheckCity.com and got the following information, based on you working 20 hours at a rate of $6/hour, filing as single with no dependents, and in Washington, D.C, and for a two week paycheck you should have the following:



Bi-weekly Gross Pay

$120.00



Federal Withholding

$1.81



Social Security

$7.44



Medicare

$1.74



Washington DC

$0.00



Net Pay

$109.01



Your check would be $109.01 give the circumstance I provided above.



I think you should do calculations from the above website, print them out, and print a W-4 out and take them to your manager and tell them you want to know where your $$$$ is. You should be getting a paycheck REGARDLESS. When I worked as a waitress in high school, the waiters wage was $2.15/hour + tips, and my paycheck every two weeks was $40-$60 (I worked part time)....So, I know that you should be getting a check.

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