Working in customer service in a position where a professional receives tips can be lucrative. Servers, bartenders and other professionals who receive tips from customers can potentially earn very competitive wages. If they work at an upscale establishment or provide a high standard of service, they might earn more through tips than they could earn working for a higher hourly wage at other businesses.
Typically, tipped workers have the right to receive whatever gratuities customers provide for them. However, there are some limits on that right. Employers can require that workers pool their tips in some cases. Tip pooling is theoretically legal under the Fair Labor Standards Act and Florida employment statutes. However, employers might violate workers’ rights with tip pooling if they engage in one of the practices below.
Violating minimum wage rules
Tip pooling involves providing a portion of gratuities to other employees who provide support to service professionals. The need to provide a portion of every tip received to bussers, bartenders or hosts can significantly reduce the take-home pay for the tipped server. In some cases, tip pooling might pull their average hourly wage below the current minimum wage. Employers can apply a $3.02 tip credit to the wages of workers who receive gratuities. The business can pay the employee as little as $8.98, which is below the minimum hourly wage of $12 that currently applies to most hourly workers.
Charging a fee
Maybe management intercepts all tips and then hands them out evenly among the workers who served during that shift. Perhaps they simply require that each worker tip out other employees at the business. In either case, management might charge a handling fee for the tip pooling or might try to assess a fee when customers leave tips on credit cards. Claiming a portion of the tip as a charge to cover payment processing or managerial costs is an inappropriate practice.
Including the wrong people
Finally, employers could violate wage laws by forcing workers to tip pool with inappropriate coworkers. Managers and business owners who receive salaries should not participate in tip pools. Management should also not use tip pools as a way to augment the wages of back-of-the-house staff, including cooks.
Wage violations may lead to litigation against companies that have not fulfilled their financial obligations to employees. Learning more about what constitutes a wage violation can help workers react appropriately when companies violate their legal rights.