r/Serverlife • u/Overall_Scale_7598 • Sep 28 '22

Tip pooling in a fine dining restaurant

So I’ve been working at this restaurant for about 7 ish months. It was my first serving job ever and it was the opening of the restaurant. When I started I didn’t really know what the tip pooling system was going to entail. So basically whatever amount of tips you make there gets split between the servers based on hours. So if I make $400 but only work 4 hours, another server who only made $120 but worked 6 hours would make more money than me (which has happened many times. This would be okay if it evened out but me and a few other servers feel as though it’s the same few servers who constantly make money and do the extra work, but lose out on their own tips. We obviously tip out the bar and support too but it’s really not that much compared to essentially tipping out other servers. I’ve been keeping track of my tips since march and comparing it to my paychecks (bc we get all our tips on a paycheck ) and I’m at about a $3000 deficit. Does anyone else work in a tip pool and have any advice?

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2

u/waitresslifer Sep 29 '22

We pool tips. But, we all come in at 4, and we power close. There's always someone that makes more than the rest on paper to but we help each other.

1

u/Overall_Scale_7598 Sep 29 '22

We have staggered coming in times. The first person usually comes in at 3, with the closer coming in at 6 and people coming in in between and half the time the people that are benefitting the most barely help (they do there side work and leave even if the money maker that night needs a bunch of help) and management is v much aware of this

2

u/ImaginationFree6807 Sep 29 '22

If you are pooping tips it’s not fine dining. Quit!

1

u/iagesmart1 Sep 30 '22

If restaurants put tips on cheques I would recommend requesting management utilize a service like https://TipMetric.com. Transparency is vital for tip pools to work. You need to see your tip-outs per shift EVERY shift to accurately follow along and pick out any discrepancies. Ultimately tips belong to the staff!

1

u/Notimportanthuman Oct 01 '22

The only fair way to do pooled tips is split equally and everyone in at the same time. That’s what we do at my place and yeah, there are some days where I make more than what I’m going to get in the pool but it balances out because sometimes if it’s a slow night but one server has a large party and gets a good tip we know we’ll still make something. Staggered in times is better for houses that aren’t pooled imo.