Legal Question in Employment Law in California

Tipping policy in restaunts.

Can the owners and management of a restaurant legally take and dispurse tips from

one employee to another and state the percentage of the tips they are taking regardless

of the amount tips the tips the employee may have made? Can they hold tips to be

paid at a later time from the same employee? Where I work, the servers must count

all monies with management and turn in all sales. No problems there, but they are

required to turn over 7% of their sales in tips to management for "dispursment to the

untipped employees". At customary 15% standard tip that employee loses nearly half of

his/her tips per shift. Management is also not paying charge tips at the time they are

turned in. They are held til "later". Do these people have any recourse? Thank you

for your site and your time.


Asked on 11/23/99, 11:38 am

1 Answer from Attorneys
Thomas Pavone Pavone & Cohen

Re: Tipping policy in restaunts.

Tips are the property of the employee. The employer may require reporting of tips for tax purposes, but the employer may not require tipped employees to supplement the wages of non-tipped employees. The Labor Commissioner's Division of Labor Standards Enforcement is the proper place to make a claim

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Answered on 11/24/99, 4:02 am


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