management stealing(?) tips

[juntjoo]

What is the name of your state (only U.S. law)? Fl

In my place of work the managers collect the tips given by the takeout customers rather than share them with the workers. A lot of the time the tips are included via credit card transactions which the managers just won't ever pay out to anyone, though in some cases I've learned about a customer will hand a counter person a cash tip which then will be taken from them. And the managers claim they use the money to pay for nightly drawer shortages which I find hard to believe the tips they collect do just that and not create a nice surplus in their pockets, but regardless of that issue I find it hardly justification to keep these tips for one's own interest when I believe the correct assumption is that patrons donate gratuity to benefit the staff as a whole more so than just the management. Anyway, so I'm wondering how legal this is if at all. BTW, I'm not one of these counter people I was writing about, though I work the register a bit. I work as a driver and get my share of tips on the road, but would like to give any tips I ever receive to the workers "in-shop" and hate to see this unfair practice that apparently all managers perpetrate. Sorry if this is in the wrong section. I made my best guess as to where this should go. Thanks

 

[cyjeff]

Duplicate post

 

[ecmst12]

I told him to post here since his question has nothing to do with Workers Comp.

If everyone is paid minimum wage, I don't believe there are any regulations regarding tips. Florida has very few employee protections and NO DOL.

 

[tranquility]

There may not be "regulations" per se, but there are things which cover this.

Employees get tips. Management does not.

That's rather what people think when they put the money in the jar.

What is the law?

It depends on where you are. There have been a few cases in the 9th and other circuits having to do with this. It is an area in general litigation that, up to this point, only has had class actions to resolve the issue. What a small independent shop's duties are would be far harder to enforce because of the factual issues most litigation involves.

But, even if there is not precedent against the practice in FL, it would be a risky thing for management to do. If the restaurant were large enough to make a class action worthwhile, I would think management would make a less risky choice.

 

[OHRoadwarrior]

I think it depends on company policy. Absent a policy to the contrary, I think it would be situational. In some places, "management" makes less than the workers. If they perform the assembly of take out orders (server functions) and process the sales, they are entitled to the money, IMO.

 

[FlyingRon]

Tranq is on the right track. First off, if the employer is using the tip exemption to not pay a base minimum wage, they need to be very careful not to siphon anything of the employee's tiips. Further it runs afoul of Florida restaurant law to divert tips to non-service employees. There ought not to be "drawer shortages." They need to address that theft/mismanagement separately. Further, it's probably a violation of their merchant agreement to misreport something as a service charge on the credit card bill when it is not going to the service employees.