my boss takes over 50% of my tips to go toward other employees

[jstjames]

Please help!!!!

I am currently working as a Server, (waitress) as a resturaunt where you tip is a major part of your income, in Oscoda, Michigan. However, (due to the fact of lousy seating and few tables) i do not make a whole lot (not know). at the end of every shift, I am forced to tip out to busses, bar and food runners. here is the problem, these tip outs take over, 50% of my total tips. at the end of the tip out, I am not clearing 8% of my total sales. Is there a law where tipped employees are guarenteed to keep at least 8% of their total sales?
example: today i grossed $52.06 in sales, I earned $5.51 in tips, i was forced to tip out $3.00 of that. I was left with $2.51 for total tips, and i did not make minimum wage and lost 50% of over all tips. I did not even take home 8% of my sales which by law i have to claim.

 

[newmom]

I'm not sure how this all works, but when I was a waitress, I had to tip out a percentange of my tips (I don't recall the %) to the bar and cooks. I know that reductions to one's paycheck can not take them below minimum wage for total hours worked for the week. Example, if your tips outs for the ENTIRE week took you less than minimum wage for the hours you worked in that pay period. I don't know for sure how your situation is handled as I had no idea how to claim my working at the bar (which I didn't have to because i didn't work there long enough and didn't make enough money that year - Less then $600). I do hope someone can help you out though.

 

[dee whipy]

im on the other side of the fence, I employ waitresses and i am having the opposite problem. The waitresses who work for me average ten dollars an hour(thats with the tips)my husband and I just took over the business~since I had previously been a waitress at another establishment I think I am a reasonable boss since I know what its like. But my situation is this: I added an extra hostess to all the busy shifts, i added a host instead of a waitress so I wouldnt cut into their tip money~but I did ask that the waitresses tip out the hosts( hosts not only seat people but get drinks help deliver food, clean tables etc.) I think a host deseves an extra five dollars or so at the end of the shift(please keep in mind the waitresses are taking 60 to 100 in tips home) Am I being unreasonable? some of the staff thinks i am, and yet i don't think 50% would be fair. As an employer what are my rights regarding tips? is it legal for me to force them to tip the hosts?

 

[jrgentle]

Ok, this is to the original question and the last reply. If you make 5 bucks as a waitress. QUIT. The job is not worth it. Tipping out is just a part of the business. I have been on both sides. From my experience (over 10 years)The tips a server makes should be theirs to keep. Tipping out is just a way for restaurant owners to cut cost. As a restaurant, you HAVE to have cooks. Why should one member of staff pay another. If the kitchen messes up the order or cooks the food wrong, do the chefs compensate the server for the tip they didn't get? There is a lot of money to be made in restaurants for everyone. In some instances, tipping out is Ok. A lot of restaurants employ high school kids as bussers. They can actually help the server make more money. If they work as a team, then yes they should tip out. It works for both. But not the bartenders and the chefs. What do you plan on doing with that bar? Or with that kitchen. Pay people for the job you want them to do. As for the hostess, if they help out, then establish a "kitty" of say $5 a shift. That's not too much and at the end of the week divide it among the hostesess. Its not a lot, but it shows you appreciate the extra work they do. I have seen tipping out destroy the work environment beyond repair. This then trickles down to the customers. Some bartenders will make some servers wait longer for drinks, a host won't seat a section, etc. It can get pretty bad. With only your business losing out. The best thing to do is get a handle on it straight away. Manage it, before it manages you. (eg. Set up a rotation system, where the host can keep a track of how many tables each server has had over the course of an evening.) This helps you too by not "slamming" one server and putting them in the weeds. Let me know if you have any more questions. Be glad to help
J.R.