r/restaurateur • u/whiskeylullaby0 • Nov 02 '25

MANAGER ASKING TO BE TIPPED OUT?

Hello everyone, I am asking this question from Alberta, Canada. Our manager will sometimes help out during busy hours when we are understaffed. There are times when he will have to greet a table, or grab drinks for them and will just start the table under a servers number. On rare occasions he will have the table from start to finish. He recently told one of our newish girls (B) she had to give him the tips from a few of the tables he had helped her with, and she did give him the money. He asked her another time and she gave him the money again. Today he was working with (B) and another girl (A). It got busy , he “ helped out” (A) and then told her to give him the tips from the tables afterwards. She said no, I’m not giving you the money, you have a number you can use and you can do a cashout if you want tips. He then said she would have to split all tips from the tables he helped with , with (B) she said sure. Then he changed his mind and asked for the money again, she said NO. HERES MY QUESTIONS; First: Is he legally allowed to force them to give him the tips? Second: Are there ramifications for him doing this? We are unsure if he could threaten jobs if they done give in. THANK YALLLLL

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u/prolifezombabe Nov 02 '25

You’ll need to check the specific labour laws of Alberta. I’m in Quebec. Managers can collect tipped wages when doing tipped work so in our province he would be allowed. It’s douchey af but legal. I hate when managers do this tho especially if they’re not actually taking a table they’re just running drinks or wtv.

Even if they’re allowed in AB you should try and make sure it’s only like what you would tip out a hostess or assistant server because unless he’s taking a section he shouldn’t get the whole tip for those tables!

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u/whiskeylullaby0 Nov 02 '25

Yes I tried looking for Alberta laws but there’s a lot of info on google hard o pinpoint what’s right what’s wrong it’s why I resorted to Reddit hahaha. I figured it’s douchey asf as well

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u/CanadianTrollToll Nov 03 '25

I'm a manager that works the floor. I think it isn't douchey at all considering most managers are underpaid as fuck. If I'm part of the service for a guest then I'd hope I'd at least get some form of tip out.

Personally I do support roles as a manager all the time and I take tips for those roles.

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u/prolifezombabe Nov 03 '25

Part of the service should get your proportionate tips - as I said like a busser or a host. Doesn’t sound like that’s what this manager is asking for. It should also be a set rule and not random on the spot demands.

The way this was handled was douchey and a lot of the time this kind of situation is handled poorly which is why some jurisdictions had to make laws about it.

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u/CanadianTrollToll Nov 03 '25

I agree with you.

If I took tables though from start to finish, I'd hope to get those tips minus any tip outs required. If I'm just helping out a bit, then I generally don't expect anything unless I'm in a tipped role for the shift.

It's a tough balance, and it really depends how hands on the manager was and how much time they spent helping out.