TIP sharing

Well here is another question also ,I work at The Cheesecake Factory in Boston as a server. We are required to tip out the bus staff 2.25% of our tips, not on our sales. The bus staff gets paid $2.63 an hour so essentially we are paying for their income. Is this legal? Should’nt the company pay their hourly minimum wage and the server tip them as we see fit???? Please help me understand….

As long as the busser is making minimum wage (hourly + tips) it is perfectly legal. Right now, MA min wage is $6.75 so average tips + hourly and see what you get.

I know it sounds awful, but if a company can find employees (bussers) to work without an hourly, they will do it.

Each restaurant has different rules on tipping out and if you want to work there and have ample help, tip more to those who bust their butts.

restaurants can only suggest tip sharing. they cannot force/require you to tip out anyone. if there is an unwritten rule amongst the waitstaff on how to tip bartenders/bussers then thats ok, but an owner/manager absolutely cannot tell you that you have to tip out. i have seen managers lose their jobs because of this.

When you go to the Attorney General’s web page and do a search on tip law, you’ll be interested to see what was passed in June of 2004. If you are in a “tip share” or “pool” situation, it is legal if the gratuities are going to employees, and not management. (servers/bartender gratuities may be used toward a general pool for the entire staff making less than $6.75 and hour) But the law SPECIFICALLY states that NONE of this money make go to management. It addresses tip skimming. And the uniform statement left by the previous “lawyer” is untrue without documentation of receipt on your part. Think about the last time you were provided a uniform by your employer, odds are, you signed something stating what you received. So, it is legal unless there are improper deductions or management is taking a cut.

It was in the process of researching this topic that I discovered the facts behind my previous post. Here is my question, and there seems to be enough Grey area to hire an attorney, has anyone already dealt with this?
A large casual dining chain, based out of Boston, has determined that it’s tipped employees “need assistance in managing their money” (from a company memo). Effective this month, all charge tips (previously paid at the end of each shift) will be collected and distributed in said employees paychecks. This is to assist those employees who failing to meet health insurance payments and 401K contributions.
As you know, most tipped employees paychecks are next to nothing after these deductions and taxes.
Here is my question. This was not to address a tax situation, which is an individual situation anyway, but to address those individuals failing to meet financial obligations for VOLUNTARY programs of health insurance and 401K. Entire company is blanketed by this policy, including part time employees.
What right does a company have to manage gratuities not provided by the company, in a NON-tip pool situation? For voluntary programs? The company even went so far as to issue a memo telling the employees that this was to “help them better manage their finances.” These gratuities can be held for up to 11 days based on the pay period.
Is this legal? Based on Mass tip laws passed last year, is there enough that has not been addressed to hire a lawyer?

To be honest for the most part your screwed, the best thing you can do is count your own tips record the amounts you make and your rings. Document everything date, shift whatever, and then see what you have. The hardest part about this is that Tips are usually cash or taken out in cash and thus are subject to all types of shady dealings. The only way to protect yourself is to keep track of exactly how much you personally are making. It is also the only way you would have any sort of legal case. Also a good way to check and see if a manager is skimming is to watch your percentages. As a server you will know what tip of tip percentage you average, i.e. I ring $1000 and my tips are usually $180 so i usually make 18%. If you track that carefully you will notice a discrepancy between what people are tipping you and how much your making. This is also a good way to see if other servers are skimming if you are in a pool situation.

good luck and document everything

No you are not entitled to the extra because they are paying you above minimum wage. The service charge is not considered a tip, but is considered just what it is. Look at it the same way as a late fee on a credit card bill. Not something you are happy about, but something you really can not change.

If they are paying you less than 20/hour, I would leave for greener pastures. And if you are making more than that, then you are probably doing well enough to stay.

okay here is my question about tip sharing. how is it leagel to be tax twice on the same dollar? okay for instance; I earn $94.00 for the day. the micro records you credit card tips you record the cash. the manager tells you to tip out 3% of total sales and split that with bartenders and bussers. makes sense until you claim your cash at the end of the night. i do not claim the cash i tip out. the bartenders and bussers are suppose to claim all cash tips. well i was suspended for one week , which was later reversed , for not claiming at least 11% of my cash sales. i claimed all credit card sales and i claimed all cash after tip out. why should we pay taxes twice on money earned . So i went to corp and they told me that tipping is out of the kindness of my heart and if i chose i do not have to tip. the bussers recieve minimum wage. so i have to claim all money and if i choose to pay them it is out of pocket.

Is the owner of a restaurant allowed to take part of the tipshare pool just because he/she helps out during a shift? An example, helping the bartender. Would he or she be allowed to take half of the bartenders tipshare?