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jtmoney2k27
New member
Username: jtmoney2k27
Post Number: 1
Registered: 09-2009
Rating: N/A
Votes: 0 (Vote!) | | Posted on Friday, September 11, 2009 - 02:35 am: | 
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So a little background info.
I currently work at a bar where we rely solely on tips. Just recently we were put on payroll (<2 months) and since then our employer has been taking 20% of our pooled tips at the end of the night to pay for "taxes" as he says. The only people tipped with this are the barbacks and bartenders as they as the only ones contributing to this tip pool. Is this right? I have a feeling this 20% is paying for our hourly wages.
Thanks in advance. |
jtmoney2k27
New member
Username: jtmoney2k27
Post Number: 2
Registered: 09-2009
Rating: N/A
Votes: 0 (Vote!) | | Posted on Friday, September 11, 2009 - 02:35 am: |
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I'm also in Florida if that matters. |
teleburst
Senior Member
Username: teleburst
Post Number: 3100
Registered: 06-2003
Rating: N/A
Votes: 0 (Vote!) | | Posted on Friday, September 11, 2009 - 10:40 am: |
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Perhaps you could clarify.
First, are you saying that you didn't receive any hourly wages at all until 2 months ago?
Second, are your tips totally pooled? In other words, you do take 100% of your tips and pool them together? Do you then distribute them according to the number of hours in a shift that the bartenders work (i.e. openers often work less hours than closers, so they get a smaller percentage of the tip share?)
When you say that "The only people tipped with this are the barbacks and bartenders as they as the only ones contributing to this tip pool", what do you mean by this? It seems contradictory - maybe you didn't phrase it correctly.
I'm confused in that you say that this 20% not only tips you but comes from your own tip pool (I'm assuming that you're not talking about servers tipping you out). This seems strange.
If your employers are taking 20% from you and aren't distributing it to other tipped employees, then they are definitely in the wrong. They are not allowed to use tips for any reason other than to pay for credit card fees (and in some states, this is even not allowed). This isn't true for autograts or service charges though.
They were also wrong if they didn't pay you any hourly wage.
Bar tip pools can be confusing sometimes due to the tip pooling/shift differential thing. One thing that has just occured to me is that they might be taking a percentage of the nighttime pool and throwing it to the lunch crew to compensate them for less business. Could this be what is happening? If it is, then yes, it's legal and no, it's not paying for "hourly wages". |
gbowen99
Intermediate Member
Username: gbowen99
Post Number: 515
Registered: 06-2007
Rating: N/A
Votes: 0 (Vote!) | | Posted on Thursday, September 24, 2009 - 10:21 am: |
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Ohh this is a tough one.
If you agree to work for this restaurant then you agree to their terms, conditions, and operations as an employee. So if you don't agree with management operations voice your opinion and wait for the outcome. Or simply quit and find something more appealing. |
teleburst
Senior Member
Username: teleburst
Post Number: 3126
Registered: 06-2003
Rating: N/A
Votes: 0 (Vote!) | | Posted on Thursday, September 24, 2009 - 12:48 pm: |
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And perhaps a lawyer is in order because it could very well be illegal. There might be some tomfoolery with the tax account as well. One thing that brings down a few otherwise decent restaurants is messing up the tax payments. That will get you padlocked quicker than you can say IRS. |