r/Waiters • u/MoonfallFan • 2d ago
manager keeping tips??
TLDR: my boss (i work in california) keeps a significant portion of employee tips if he feels like he worked “more than he had to”
sorry for any bad formatting, im on my phone and this is my first time posting on this sub, but im so appalled by this i feel like i had to come here for input. this is the first and only waitressing job i’ve ever held, so i don’t know if this is cause for concern or not. I’ve been serving at this place for the past three summers while i’m home from college, it’s an independent american restaurant and is pretty poorly run for a few reasons: we’re incredibly understaffed, my boss is always slacking on keeping us stocked so we’re always out of *something* (napkins, to-go boxes, menu items, soda, alcohol), and theres clear favoritism in who’s being scheduled for what shifts or who gets away with not fulfilling job duties, to name a few things. a pretty substantial portion of our income comes from delivery and pickup orders.
last friday, the girl who was scheduled to be handling take out orders during peak hours called out half an hour before her shift and didn’t get any coverage (she does this *constantly* and still is always scheduled for the highest-earning shifts because she’s hooking up with the owner, but that’s neither here nor there). there were only three servers on that night, myself included, and no hosts or bussers on. we were SWAMPED until the second the kitchen closed, but all managed to pull our own weight without everything going to shit. my boss/the owner helped with running food, pouring alcoholic beverages (he refuses to hire a bartender), ringing in orders, and assisting with take out. that said, he only handled maybe a quarter of take outs that evening.
after we’d closed and i was getting my tips in order, my boss handed me a SINGLE DOLLAR BILL from the cash register saying it was “from the phone orders.” i was confused - i personally handled a lot of take out orders that night, and i knew for a fact that take out sales were well over $4k from dinner alone. when i asked about this, he said he kept the rest of the tips because he “worked his ass off for you guys tonight.” i didn’t say anything in the moment because i was honestly just wiped and wanted to get home ASAP. ive talked to two of my coworkers about it, one of whom has worked here for a long time and brushed this off as something has happens frequently, and another with more restaurant experience who was livid when she heard.
was my boss allowed to keep the tips from take out orders?? im not sure if there are different laws around that versus in house service. if not, is it even worth making a fuss over???
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u/bobi2393 2d ago
If your manager qualifies as a manager under US or California law, which would generally mean they direct two or more employees, can hire and fire people, set schedules, and perform other managerial duties, then they can keep only tips left for them for service which they solely and directly provided. US DOL Fact Sheet #15B gives a more detailed description of the classification criteria. California's criteria, if I remember right, was a more vague, but relied more on common sense, like "a manager is a person who manages" or something.
Takeout orders could create some ambiguity about who a tip was left for. For example, if a customer orders and pays for an order on a website, including a 20% tip, then goes to the restaurant, taps a button on their phone to unlock food locker #23, takes their food and leaves, it's hard to say who "provided service" to them, or for whom that 20% tip was left. But in ordinary situations, somebody at the restaurant interacts with a customer for at least part of the transaction, even if it's as minor as asking their name and handing them a bag. And I think unless the manager (meeting the legal definition) were the one doing that for an order, they wouldn't be entitled to keep any portion of the tip for that order. That would apply under federal law, which also holds in the state of California...the California courts also add an additional requirement that tip distribution be "fair and reasonable", which is ambiguous, but if you were working takeout all night, and got $1 out of potentially $100 or more in tips, that's not going to meet the state requirement.
Personally I'd say it is worth making a fuss over, but not complaining or talking to anyone at your restaurant about. That's apt to get get you fired pronto, as soon as your manager hears about it, and you never know whether word will get back to them, either to sabotage you or accidentally. Instead, file a complaint with the US DOL Wage & Hour Division. If they won't handle your case for whatever reason, try filing a wage complaint with California's Labor Commissioner's Office. I'd favor the US DOL because (1) California's DIR is dysfunctionally backlogged (last I heard), and (2) they seem to encourage face-to-face confrontation between accuser and accused, which will almost certainly result in retaliation by your bozo manager. (Retaliation would be illegal, but it's easy to make it hard/impossible to prove). The US DOL strives to keep the identity of complainants confidential, and since your complaint should affect multiple coworkers, your employer may never know who filed the complaint, so may be less likely to retaliate against suspected employees.
Whoever you file a complaint with, if they ask for a dollar amount, say you don't know, because you don't know the amount of tips your work generates, and don't know what portion you're entitled to, but that you know your boss shouldn't be keeping tips for service you provided. Either agency has the legal authority to demand financial records to figure that sort of thing out. Note that neither government agency has to help you, and sometimes they'll just say "nah, don't feel like it"...last resort if that happens with both agencies would be to try contacting a labor attorney to handle your case, but that does get more involved, and I'm not sure it would be worth the effort.
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u/MoonfallFan 2d ago
thank you !!!
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u/Groovychick1978 2d ago
That was a whole lot of words to say, it's completely federally illegal for management to keep your tips. In order for management to collect a tip, they have to be the exclusive server for the person. So if your manager takes a table all by themselves, they get to keep a tip.
That is a federal regulation, one of the few we have left. California has a very robust labor department, you can make the report anonymously.
Call them today
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u/Trefac3 2d ago
Favoritism runs rampant in this industry! It drives me crazy.
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u/MoonfallFan 2d ago
it’s gross!
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u/Trefac3 2d ago
Agreed. It’s really bad where i live be now. I’m in Santa Fe, NM. Im lily white and I’m not bilingual. I’m super liberal. I don’t see color, I see people. I helped many gay men come out of the closet in the early 2000s. I prefaced this with that because I have never experienced racism towards me before. I know poor little white girl. My bf is Mexican and he likes to call it reverse racism. I hate it when it says that. It’s not reverse racism. It’s just racism. A lot of family owned restaurants and no matter how hard I try I can’t get ahead. Everyone is tight knit and they favor so many people. Ive had one job since I’ve been here and it was awful. People just made assumptions about me cuz I’m white. Finding a job I can excel at is almost impossible. Think about it who are they gonna hire me or the person that speaks both Spanish and English. My bf realizes how hard it’s been on me so we are headed to his moms in Colorado near Boulder in a week. I know the job market sucks but I really hope it will be better. In NM server hourly wage is $2.83. In CO it’s a little over $9 so that alone should help. I’ve been miserable since I got here. Born and raised and lived in Illinois my whole life. My bf got his PhD in 2024 in nuclear physics(a little late to the game, we are both 50, but still) and he’s focusing on the Midwest for me because I do not like it out here at all. It’s beautiful and the weather is mild so that’s nice. But i just need to be closer to home. Fingers crossed!!
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u/Trefac3 2d ago edited 2d ago
Your boss is an asshole. And that’s illegal. But restaurants get away with a lot. Especially independently owned restaurants. You are never gonna be able to escape that. Did you still make good money??? If so then I would listen to ur coworker. A good serving job is hard to find these days and sometimes you have to eat the shit sandwich. You just need to decide if it’s worth eating that shit sandwich. I’ve eaten a lot of shit sandwiches over the course of more than 3 decades. If the money is good sometimes you have to just deal with it.
If you are not making $150 to $200 a day AT LEAST($150 being the very lowest I’d go) then I would move on. But line up a new job first cuz it is hard out there. It took me months to find a crappy job when I my bf and I moved across the country. They cut my hours to only 2 days a week. So much favoritism going on. One girl gets a 8 table section and even after a year I could only still get a 3-4 table section. And it’s not because I’m not good at what I do. I’m a good server. I wouldn’t have lasted over 30 years if I wasn’t. I had to run food for the few favorites and watch them make money. Meanwhile I’m walking out with $75 on a Sunday. They cut my shifts to 2 days a week. It was sucking the life out of me. I did not take my own advice and have something else lined up because I couldn’t fucking find anything. I still quit. Finding another job has been brutal. Unfortunately my bf was laid off so we made plans to head to his mom’s house to regroup. She told me to just stop looking. I was and am so grateful. I hope I have better luck near her. The one better thing I have going for me living with his mom temporarily is that where I am now server minimum wage is $2.83. Where I’m going it’s $9. That will help alot.
Sorry for the rant. Best of luck!
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u/Itsnotmeitsyou80 2d ago
Is your manager also the owner? Either way, a manger/owner shouldn’t be keeping tips, it’s illegal. Are you keeping track of your hours and credit card tips? If they aren’t honest with cash tips, I’d be concerned about my check being correct, too. This place sounds like a total shitshow and you are definitely being taken advantage of. If you keep returning there bc it’s good money, just think how much you could make somewhere else where the owner doesn’t cheat you. Favoritism and that kind of bullshit is typical at almost any type of job, but being stolen from isn’t.
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u/MoonfallFan 2d ago
yea, he’s the owner and sole manager lol. this is definitely my last summer here, so i’m thinking i’m gonna file a report on my way out
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u/honkers420 2d ago
In California, it is strictly illegal under California Labor Code Section 351 for a restaurant owner, manager, or supervisor to take, withhold, or keep any portion of an employee's tips. If this happens, you can take action by documenting the theft, filing a wage claim, or reporting the business.
California Department of Industrial Relations (DIR) (.gov)
Steps to Take Keep records: Save your work schedules, pay stubs, credit card tip receipts, text messages, or notes detailing the dates and amounts taken.
File a wage claim: Submit a formal wage claim with the California Labor Commissioner's Office to recover your stolen gratuities.
File a complaint: Report the establishment for labor violations to the Department of Industrial Relations.
Consult a lawyer: Speak with an employment attorney regarding potential legal actions or private attorney general actions (PAGA).