Legal Question in Employment Law in Georgia
Bartender question: we do not receive any wages from the employer and work only for tips. The employer has just implemented a new policy to cover alleged losses from the bar... top shelf alcohol is now weighed before and after each shift and bartenders will be charged for any RETAIL losses over 10%.
- First, I can understand being fired for over-pouring, but is it legal to make us pay out-of-pocket for these alleged losses as a condition of continued employment? (*NOTE: The scale being used is pretty beat up and does not inspire confidence in the weighing method...)
- Secondly, is it legal to require us to pay the expected RETAIL sales amount?
- Finally, most nights there are 2 bartenders; how can you demand that they both split the loss equally?
1 Answer from Attorneys
You are aware of the terms of employment, so it is your decision to accept them or find employment elsewhere. As far as the details of how they do it, quite obviously if product is missing they are losing the retail value that someone should have paid for it.