Tip-Pooling – Can My Employer Take My Tips and How? (2023)
Some History
Some HistoryFor better or worse, tipping has become an accepted part of American commerce. It is a practice that first emerged in the late 1800s. In 1917, the California legislature passed a law for the first time prohibiting employers from taking any portion of employees’ tips. However, the courts struck down the law as a violation of constitutional due process. The legislature tried again in 1929 and this time succeeded. However, now the law permitted employers to credit tips against employees’ wages, i.e., use tips in place of wages. It wasn’t until 1975, after repeated failed attempts, that the legislature was finally able to pass a law that prohibited the practice of “tip credits”.
Labor Code § 351
California Labor Code § 351 now reads:
No employer or agent shall collect, take, or receive any gratuity or a part thereof that is paid, given to, or left for an employee by a patron, or deduct any amount from wages due an employee on account of a gratuity, or require an employee to credit the amount, or any part thereof, of a gratuity against and as a part of the wages due the employee from the employer.
Every gratuity is hereby declared to be the sole property of the employee or employees to whom it was paid, given, or left for.
An employer that permits patrons to pay gratuities by credit card shall pay the employees the full amount of the gratuity that the patron indicated on the credit card slip, without any deductions for any credit card payment processing fees or costs that may be charged to the employer by the credit card company. Payment of gratuities made by patrons using credit cards shall be made to the employees not later than the next regular payday following the date the patron authorized the credit card payment.
Interestingly, the federal law – the Fair Labor Standards Act – continues to permit “tip credits”, though with restrictions. As usual, California laws continue to offer greater employee protections than their federal counterparts. While federal laws usually trump or “preempt” state laws, courts have ruled that this is not the case with the FLSA and the California Labor Code. Tidewater Marine Western, Inc. v. Bradshaw (1996) 14 Cal.4th 557, 567; Skyline Homes, Inc. v. Department of Industrial Relations (1985) 165 Cal.App.3d 239, 250-251.
Section 351 seems pretty simple and straightforward. However, it also left open some important unanswered questions that the courts took it upon themselves to answer.
Can My Employer Take My Tips?
Yes. . .
Many industries, particularly the restaurant industry, have a “house” practice of mandatory tip-pooling, in which the employer takes employees’ tips, pools them, then allocates the money to its employees as it sees fit. Tip pooling is nowhere mentioned in section 351 and that would therefore seem to make it an illegal “taking” of the employee’s “sole property”. However, the courts engaged in some fancy analysis to conclude it is permissible, so long as the distribution is “fair and reasonable”. Leighton v. Old Heidelberg, Ltd. (1990) 219 Cal.App.3d 1062. So to that extent, yes, your employer can take your tips away from you.
. . . and no
But the employer can’t take any part of your tips for itself either. Even if your employer sets up a mandatory tip pool, it and its “agents” (meaning any employee with managerial/supervisory functions) are prohibited from getting any of the money from that pool. That is clearly stated at the very beginning of section 351: “No employer or agent shall collect, take or receive any gratuity or part thereof . . .”.
So Who Can Participate in the Tip Pool?
Here is where things get tricky because the courts seems to be all over the place. Section 351 makes it clear that employers and their supervisory/managerial agents cannot get any of the money from a tip pool. But it is unclear what other employees can. Can the tip pool monies be allocated to dishwashers? Busboys? Sushi chefs? Janitors? Accountants? Security guards? Etc. Where do you draw the line?
Since 1990, the bright-line rule was that only those employees who are involved in “direct table service” are entitled to participate in the tip pool. Leighton v. Old Heidelberg, Ltd. (1990) 219 Cal.App.3d 1062. However, that all changed recently.
In March 2009, a court held that employees who did not engage in direct table service could still participate in the tip pool, so long as they were in the broader “chain of service”. Etheridge (Brad) v. Reins International California, Inc. (2009) 172 Cal. App. 4th 908. So, for instance, bussers who clear away plates after a customer has already left might not qualify as having engaged in “direct table service” but would qualify as having been involved in the “chain of service”, and so could participate in the tip pool. Another court held that bartenders could participate in tip pools, even if they never directly brought drinks to the customer’s table (although there the court stuck with the old model and ruled that this was “direct table service”). Budrow (Aaron) v. Dave & Buster’s of California, Inc. (2009) 171 Cal. App. 4th 875.
In June 2009, a court reversed an $86 mil. judgment when it held that supervisory/managerial agents could share in “collective tip boxes” because they were not “tip pools” but “tip allocations”. Chau v. Starbucks Corp., 174 Cal. App. 4th 688 (Cal. App. 4th Dist. 2009). I call this one the “Starbucks exception” because it only seems to apply if you work at Starbucks.
In February 2016, there was a major development. The Ninth Circuit Court of Appeals overruled several federal judges and sided with the US Department of Labor in saying that tips can NOT be shared with cooks and dishwashers since they are not “customarily” tipped by customers. Oregon Restaurant & Lodging Assoc. v. Perez (9CCA, Feb. 23, 2016,
So the question of which specific employees can participate in a tip pool remains up in the air, to be answered on a case-by-case basis. The key for the courts is the intent of the tipping customer. If the tipper (arguably) intended that a type of employee share in the tip, then they are participants in the “chain of service” and/or “direct table service”. An accountant or security guard probably would not qualify under this standard, but a bartender and busser probably do.
My Employer Has Violated the Tip Laws, Can I Sue?
Yes you can. At the moment, it is unclear whether you have a private right of action under section 351. The California Supreme Court is considering that question at the moment. Lu (Louie Hung Kwei) v. Hawaiian Gardens Casino, Inc., 2009 Cal. LEXIS 5505 (Cal. May 26, 2009).
However, as your lawyer can explain to you, you can still probably bring a claim for violation of the California Unfair Competition Law (California Business & Professions Code 17200 et al.) and/or for penalties under the California Private Attorney General Act (California Labor Code § 2698 et al.). But I recommend you leave that to your lawyer.
Im a cashier at a cafe and we get credit card and cash tips but must split them up with every employee working, which includes baristas cooks dishwashers and what we call runners. what are the laws on credit card tips and cashiers?
So I’m a server at a fine dining restaurant and we share tips. There are servers bussers, a dishwasher, a food runner, and a bartender (he takes tables). We all split. All my tips go in my check, and none of us can see what we made a day, all we see is what’s in the check every two weeks. It’s now October and since April I have been asking to see a tip report sheet. I have mentioned it to the owner and my managers, they have had multiple manager meetings since..nothing has happened. What should I do?
I work at a Sushi restaurant as a waiter and the tips are in a pool service. I’m supposed to get 25% of the tips made while I’m on clock and all tips are recorded in a book on how much everyone makes every day. Sushi chefs are getting 65-85$ every day and they are literally only giving me 4$ a day in tips when I serve at least a minimum of fifteen tables a day, and theres no busboys. What do I do? An how do I go about it?
I work in a card room in California as a server.
I serve food, drinks and run chips. When I was hired, I had the option to self claim my tips at 25% of my total sales for each day or have 20% deducted from my wadges bi weekly. My question is, do Casino/card rooms have a different tipping law from the state law on tips claimed?
As a waiter, at my work place we have never agreed to tip pooling policy. They take a porcentage of out tips base on our sales to pay kitchen and dishwasher. Also they don’t disclose the information of the payment to them.. It’s illegal? What to do??
I work at a new restaurant and they are taking half of our tips for tip out and the other half is split evenly among the other servers. Is that legal?
I’m not sure what you mean by “tip out”. Supervisors and managers are NOT allowed to take tips, even if they are serving customers. Tip pools are legal in California, though, so long as those participating in the tip pool are acting in roles that are customarily tipped by customers.
I own a small restaurant and am also the server. On weekends, I have a hostess/waitress who shares in the responsibility and we split the tips because we are both taking orders, bussing, answering phones, etc. At this point, am I still considered a manager/supervisor and therefore not able to participate in splitting tips?
yes you are the owner. so you shouldnt get tips at all
My employer won’t let me see how much I made on tips in a day. Is that legal?
I am a nail tech at a salon. I get hourly pay plus tips. My employer does not give us our tips daily as there is never enough cash in the till ( lots of credit cards). Is that legal? She waits for no monthly pay period and then puts it in our checks, and its taxes. Is that right?
Can my restaurant start taking our cash tips and add them to our paycheck without employee consent? We have received a paycheck with CC tips for 6 years and our cash weekly.. they changed without telling us why or asking
Did u ever get an answer for this?
I work at a small community food place as waitress I recieve twenty dollars for eight hours I was told this was temporary it’s been 3going on 4 years I make tips sometimes good sometimes bad I do all my own tables there’s a cook dishwasher and owners now tier selling and I’m without any socail securitybenefits etc and a job with nothing no paychecks anything to show I even worked! Thier walking away I want to say something but am I just as guilty because I knew they weren’t paying taxes or following laws?
They seem a bit dodgy. I would find another place to work.
I work at a dairy queen & the owner takes a part of our tips for herself at the end of each shift.
Just this morning before I arrived at work she made food for a family which came out to $27. They complained & asked for their money back. When I came in she was angry yelling saying no more tips until we make up the money we lost for the food SHE made this morning.
That is illegal. Complain to the California Department of Labor Standards Enfoecement. They will collect your losses, and a penalty for you.
My employer in the transportation industry demands a specific amount each day from the drivers and uses that amount to compensate his dispatchers. Is this permissable under California law?
I’m actually a cafe owner vs an employee and I have an interesting question. We pool our tips. I work ~102 hours/wk with employees filling about 25 hrs. Can I split out tips from the hours that NO employees are working? (i.e. separating out the tips from the 77 hours that I am working solo and take those tips) The CA law seems to state that I could separate out those tips because the tip was not “paid, given to, or left for an employee by a patron” since the employee(s) were not even to working during those times. The wording seems to be specific enough to allow for that, but you never really know with the law.
oops
We have been open for over a month and haven’t received any of our cash tips! We have received credit card tips that have 3% taken off the top and are taxed in our paychecks, but not one dollar of the cash tips. Is this legal?
See answer to Dani above.
My daughter was just “fired” from a restaurant in Los Angeles (evidently b/c she wouldn’t sleep with the owner/mgr). He still owes her tips from the last 2 weeks of work – and isn’t answering phone calls or emails. What should I tell her to do? It would be difficult to afford an attorney, as she has no job now. Would we report him to the Department of Labor?
See answer to Dani above
the restaurant I work a only takes a portion of my tips to give to the bar tender that made my drinks, and only from the amount of the liquor sales. that’s ok. but just recently, they decided to give some of the waiters a shared section of tables and they are to share the tips with the other waiter by half. this is no matter what amount if any the other waiter helped with that table. but its only some of the waiters that are having to do this. some of the favored waiters still have their normal section that they serve themselves and of course keep all their money. is this a fair practice?? can some waiters be forced to share their tips and others aren’t??
I was wondering if it’s illegal for a manager to decide/calculate the amount to tip a foodrunner/busser using the total sales instead of food sales and force you you tip that amount to them??I always thought it was 3% of your food sales to the foodrunner/busser.
I have been employed in a restaurant for almost a year that utilizes tip pooling. The tips are pooled at 25, 50, 75 and 100 percent and hours. I took an exam to move up to 75% of tips and due to recent shift mess ups my supervisor wants to demote my percentage to 50%. I interact with patrons just as much as all other servers and receive good tips most of the time, however I am being penalized by getting tips cut back. Is it legal for my employer to do that? He did not write me up or make me sign any paperwork to allow it, and from my perspective it is unfair tip pooling.
I have worked appox 6 parties for a licensed Mobile Margarita Truck that travels to private events. Sometimes i have been sent as a mobile bartender without the truck to events. I have seen invoices because i have been handed them from the owner. I see he has an 18% gratuity included, 15% service charge, 75.00 truck fee. He also will set out a pity tip jar. He sometimes works events. He takes the money from the pity jar and gives that to us. Never seeing any of the 18% gratuity on the invoice. Sometimes clients even add more on follow up calls concerning service etc. One party was for Linkedin. The Bill was $6000. gratuity was 1080.00 service charge was 900.00. we got $6 each from the Pity jar and $150 standard 6 hour shift. 4 Servers. Owner walked with Approx $7400. 6 partys all like this. Is this legal and what are the options for recovery. Thank you very much.
My employer (CA) forces the servers at the restaurant to claim 10% of all our sales as tips, even if we did not receive 10%. They also force us to give 3% of sales to the cooks, bussers, hosts, and manager on duty who is “hosting.” This 3% is increasing to 4% on Jan. 1, 2016, and they have stated this will go only to the cooks, who make more per hour than I do, plus tips. This 4% will raise my forced contribution from 20% of my daily tips, to 27%. Minimum wage will increase to 10/hr on January 1. This forced contribution will give the cooks a raise (servers will raise cook’s income, not the restaurant owners), but essentially my raise will be going to the cooks and then some. Is there any way to stop my restaurant from doing this? Example: Customer buys dinner 60.00. They leave a 10% tip (a-hole, but common). I have to pay out 4% of that. From that, I take home 6%, but my employer taxes me on 10%. I have now lost 4%, which will be taken from me out of my wages, through taxes.
See response to Dani above
I work for a catering company that has an 18% gratuity in all of its contracts. However none of the servers see any of it, rather the sales girls that set up the contracts take all of it… can this be legal?
If a guest leaves a big tip by mistake (eg: $70 tips on a $34 bill) and does the math right in the credit card slip so it shows the right amount added with that tip ($104 written by the guest) and then this guest calls in a few days later saying she made a mistake and would like a refund on that tip, can managers ask the server involved to return those tips even if several days had passed already? Thanks.
Does an employer have to provide a report of how tips are disbursed in a pooled tip situation? I only receive 43% of my credit card tips and want to know where the rest are going.
Tip pooling and tip taking will have a social policy and cause of reducing or making tipping less common place. Having read all of this, it seems to me that the purpose and nature of a tip has been forgotten by the author, and the cited sources. The purpose or uses of tipping has most definitely grown beyond the comprehension of the legislature and courts as well. All these articles, comments, and laws all talk about tips from the point of view of the tip receiver. However, the tip giver(s) are the ones whom should be most upset.
Remember tips are not mandatory! If you fail to tip, a restaurant can’t call the cops and state “This guy is refusing to pay!” Tips are meant to be a reward PERSONALLY to the tip receiver, from its giver, as a thank you and reward for outstanding service!!! As a tip giver, I may now begin abstaining from tip giving. Why? Because “I tipped the girl that waited on my table, and made sure everything was fast and perfect! NOT, her lazy co-worker sitting in the booth behind mine, talking loud, and ruining my meal.” That example hits home what I am saying, because most people will give no money to any one to avoid even dime one going to some one they don’t want it to go to!
My current employer has a 21% mandatory “service charge”. Out if that 21% we see a 4 dollar tip per hour leaving us with a 24 dollar tip. Maybe that doesn’t sound bad at all, but when doing the math and looking at the bigger picture, it seems as though something fishy is going on here. A $10,000 event comes with a $2,100 service charge, or the tip. The banquet manager has their set salary plus 1% of that said tip, the banquet sales coordinator sees 3%, and $24 each server that works that event while the remaining balance goes to the owner. I want to know if this is considered tip pooling and if just because we are seeing a $24 dollar tip Max, nothing can be done. I mention the $24 dollar tip Max because there are many times where we work multiple events in one shift and only see “tips” from one.
I’m a commission esthetician at a salon and my employer is deduction a dollar off from every tip transaction over a credit card machine. This is illegal right?
See answer to Dani above
I work at a japanese hibachi restaurant, and the waitress tips are taken at the end of each night, and 55% of my tips are given to the hibachi chefs and sushi chefs. is that legal?
I have this exact same question. I take 2% for my bar and 8% to the bussers off the top and 50¢ per sushi roll to the sushi chef and the 50% of what’s left goes to the chef.
I also work at a hibachi restaurant and the server has to tip out the chef a percentage of their sales not their tips. So that could result in the server giving the chef money out of their own pocket if it was a bad tip. Servers also have to tip bar, sushi, bussers and the line cooks all off of sales, not tips. Is that legal?
Question I work at a private restaurant and they raised our hourly wage higher than what it was but we are not allowed to receive tips is that legal. Also when we give the customer the check it also states on the ticket no tipping allowed is that legal?
My daughter works in a food diner, tips are pooled and divided among the staff. she doesn’t receive any of the tips because she has been in “TRAINING” for over four months since being hired.
Then with the pooled tips they receive $1.15 hour that they work, which I have read on here but what about the rest of the tips that are left over? If they keep them and not dispurse it isn’t that illegal because the company/owner is taking tips?
I work in a dive shop in Hawaii (realize it’s a different state, but our resources here are limited). The tips from the dive boat and pool instruction are pooled and distributed to all employees monthly, based upon the hours worked. Shop owners, supervisors, office staff, counter staff, and maintenance, as well as instructors, dive guides, and boat captains, are all included in the pool. When questioned, shop management maintains that this is legal, although the response is defensive. The policy is posted, but at the same time, apologized for in advance as part of any employment interview. It is a constant source of concern among the emplyees who actually receive the tips (captains, dive guides, and instructors), believing it to be illegal at worst, inappropriate at best) and the shop loses personnel because of it (affecting overall performance). Aside from this issue, the shop is a great place to work. First, is this policy legal? Second, is it affected by a 2013 Ninth Circuit court opinion that tip rules in Hawaii only apply if the employer is applying tip credits?
I have a, question I live, in austin, tx and, work as a cashier for local owned restaurant and jut found today that the owner is wanting to deduct my tips from my paycheck is this right can she, do this? ???
I work for a small wine/beer bar & restaurant in California. It is typically the owner and one employee working each shift. As an employee I am required to serve drinks & food, bus tables, wash dishes, and cook. The owner is usually behind the bar serving drinks. At the end of the night he split the tips between us. Under the California Labor Code 351 is it legal for the owner to collect tips for himself? He is serving patrons.
Yes, employers, managers and supervisors can NOT participate in tip pools, even if they are serving customers. That is considered tip theft.
I work in Waba grill for 3 weeks and I noticed that the tip jar is always the owners to take. No one argued so I never bother to ask, but I know one time some customer gave dollar to one specific cashier but the owner kept it. Is it regal?
See response to Dani above
I worked for American Golf Corporation for a year. And never got a tip from corporation; A amazon gift card for 10.00 and a twenty dollar bill once . I was a banquet server along with a team of others .And seldom , only received maybe $34.00 combined for the entire year. I still feel that company was pooling the tips. We all would question the supervisor and never really got a direct answer . For the major events of more than a 80 the party alone would cost around $2,000-$4,000.00 for full service . That company was making bank on its banquet staffing. Later towards the end of the year prior to them firing me. They gave us a raise to $12.00 and basically didn’t work us at our normal $10.00an hour 4 days tops shifts /with 1-2 being the least. Another thing I did find out was that I would only be paid 9.00 for table flipping on non event days. Not even the full amount i was hired on. Nope, I went to working 12.00 an hour for only 1 -2 days. Try raising a family on that. So it won’t matter how much a person makes, or the lenght of time they work. Business’s in California will always make it impossible to gain .
I work for a restaurant and we also have a tip jar in front of our registers as well. But for the past 3 months our employer hasnt given us any of our tips. One of the other girls that works with us took a fake 100 dollar bill so the owner took it from our tips is that legal? Can they take it from everyones tips like that?
See response to Dani above, please
I work at a local restaurant apart of a small franchise. When we have “mess-ups” our boss/owner threatens to take those meals out of our paycheck. Though I never thought he would it was questionable when one of my coworkers noticed his paycheck did not add up to his hours. When my boss was approached by my coworker he deemed the reason to be the mess up. Is he allowed to do that without us knowing so? Also recently tips were taken by our boss/owner. He did that to another coworker of mine due to the fact that there were “mess-ups”. But it did not seem fair. Please help I need answers. Does this violate the code #351?
First, your boss can’t deduct “mess-ups” from anyone’s paycheck without written consent from you. That is an illegal deduction. Also, employers, supervisors and managers cannot participate in tip pools or take tips. That is tip theft.
I have worked for my employer for 5 years, I was hired as a server/waitress. I work for a small business owner, it is a 1 location restaurant + procedures there very different from restaurant chains Ive previously worked for. Over the last few years, I have become proficient as a cook as well and most days I am required to juggle cooking and serving tables. Recently business became very slow and my boss, the business owner and myself, were the only staff, putting in 10-14 hour days. Wont get into rest + meal breaks… But about 4 months ago, she/boss started including herself on tip pool and she would split tips between us, at business close. However this last week, she changed the way wages will be paid, to a weekly salary wage that would have tips calculated into our pay and tips would be educted from that weekly rate? Is that legal? She claims it is. Also, can employer/owner include themselves in the tip pool, if they do occasionally help w/ table service?
What your boss is doing its illegal. She can’t add herself in the tip pool nor can she add your tips to the weekly rate. You better talk to a lawyer
I work as a server and they want to start taking 30% percent of our tip on every pay check is this legal ?
I work in a restaurant in Hawai`i all of our customers pay a 20% gratuity not a tip that they decide how much to give but they can choose to give more. Recently they’ve been discussing that they will not give the waiters tips anymore. But instead the company will keep it. In return they will raise the wage. But we don’t know by how much. I am the hostess, I currently get about half of the tip a waiter gets. I get $12 an hour and when I calculate my tip average into it. I am get roughly $17 an hour. I don’t think they will raise out wages that much. But even if they do or not, is that illegal to charge gratuity but not give it to us at all? Don’t all customers assume that it’ll go to the staff? And not the company?
My employer at my restraurant wants to deduct 3% of our individual sales ( each waitress ) to help pay more for a cook. Is this legal?
i work in a restaurant, and the owners take our credit card tips, and deducts out what they want and they take out a percentages for the credit card use, is this legal
How about an employer taking all the tips, and donating them. Giving the customers no way to tip the employees. In return reduces her taxes.
I woek in a restaurant as a waitres …Can my employer take tips away from us?….for example.. there is a tip jar in front of the register and those tips dont go to any of employees ..the boss keeps them..is that legal?
Not at all. Managers, owners and supervisors cannot take tips. The law treats that as theft.
I work at a semi-fancy restaurant in California. I have, over the years, accumulated several “regular” customers who continue to come in to the restaurant and request to sit in my station. They know I have kids and go out of their way to leave nice tips for me and my family. Consequently, I often make more money than my colleagues. Recently, on several occasions, and during the entire Christmas season, when tips are the highest, the manager has made us ‘pool’ our tips. I immediately stated that I didn’t want to pool tips, especially with the newer servers who are not as good at selling as the ones who have worked at the restaurant for years. The manager stated that if we didn’t like it we could go home. And then we would also, consequently, be taken off the schedule. Is this even legal? Can a manager ‘make’ us pool tips at his/her leisure? I even had to put cash side tips in to the pool that I would receive from customers who would tell me to buy something nice for my kids..! Please Help.
Generally speaking, the answer is yes, an employer is allowed to implement (i.e., impose) a tip pool on its employees, so long as the tip distribution is reasonable (though what that means exactly remains open for debate).
I am a dog groomer and work in a grooming shop that pools my tips and 3 other groomers tips. The bathers get their tips included in our pool.
I don’t want the pool…..I want my own tips
The owner buys our lunch with our tip money and then keeps the rest.
Can I regain any of this money back? Or how do I moving forward get my tips instead of pooling?
I work at a restaurant where an employee was recently promoted to manager, however they are still scheduling themselves for serving shifts and taking tips? is that legal? while they are scheduled as a server/cashier they are still performing managerial duties.
can employees insist on an employer allowing patrons to tip on credit card slips?
My employer does not give me detailed info on how much we are paid from service charges. It is just lumped in with our regular gratuities on our checks. I would like to get detailed break down on how I am getting paid, is that a reasonable request?
im a waiter, we pool our tips and receive cash and credit tips on our check every 2 weeks. we share 30% with the chef and prep cook and on the check it only says credit tips. but they say they add them up and put it like that. also the owners sons who pretty much run the place every day also receive tips when he’s working. this all legal?
What is the maximum percent that can be required for you to “tip pool” from your sales as a server?
i work at a frozen yogurt store. Recently, our store manager has been receiving part of our tips and says she is entitled to receive them because she is working on the clock. The thing is that she hardly ever comes out of the back to assist customers, only when the person up front goes on their 10 minute break. Is she allowed to do that? And if not, how can i go about fighting against this with the upper management?
Because they are technically part of the working staff, yes, I think they can.
No they can’t. This is illegal in California