Former Broadmoor employee talks about unfair wages and no overtime pay at hotel

No overtime pay, unfair wages, and working conditions that led to workers getting sick. Those are just some of the allegations a former server has leveled at the iconic Broadmoor Hotel and resort in Colorado Springs.

Kristin Ricker has been a server for 20 years and for two of them she worked for the Broadmoor. However, after working for a short amount of time her enjoyment quickly faded. She says a typical shift can last more than 12 hours with her longest day being 23 hours. “I’m literally walking until the insides of my legs are bleeding,” Ricker says.

Saying the Broadmoor never paid for overtime, “We never got paid overtime, ever. Even if it was scheduled over twelve hours in a day.”

All while making $2.17 per hour plus gratuity. Those tips are shared between her and dozens of other servers and other employees. Ricker says if she ever accepted a cash tip from a customer, “They could fire me on the spot.”

On great nights, she would be tipped thousands in total which management would divide up and give to all the servers. But when she received her paychecks she says, “Nowhere on here does it state my hourly, my gratuity.”

Never knowing how much gratuity she was given, she believes the amount of each paycheck was far less than what she was owed.

When Ricker tried talking to her boss about the issue, “When I did mention going to the Department of Labor several of them were thinking about it he said well that’s okay they can try we have lawyers.”

Some workers took that advice. Ricker says she contacted Colorado’s Department of Labor who said multiple people have called them about the same problems.

“She did, in fact, explain that there is an active case against the Broadmoor currently open and it is for the practice of not proper hourly charges, over time, not properly paid for overtime.”

That is one of the reasons why Ricker left the Broadmoor and wanted to speak out about it. To bring attention to what’s happening at one of the most popular hotels in the country.

KRDO is reaching out to the Broadmoor and Department of Labor for their response to these allegations.