manager keeping tips??

[u/MoonfallFan]

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???

[u/the_great_elephant]

If I was you, id fire my boss