See photo for text exchange between my manager and me.
I am not happy, I feel like it’s a way to basically steal our tips. I’m debating between sucking it up, discreetly telling customers we basically don’t get their tips so not to bother(probably not since it would affect other employees too but it’s tempting) , or putting in my 2 week notice. Thoughts?
I work at a chain/franchised sandwich shop for context. In case it matters I worked 48 hours last pay cycle and “received” $150 in tips (really $54 if calculating at $15/hr).
by carisa11
31 Comments
> I worked 48 hours last pay cycle and “received” $150 in tips (really $54 if calculating at $15/hr).
i’m not sure if you’re getting lied to, ripped off, or stolen from, but either way, that’s absolutely awful. leave.
Assuming you are in the US (mainly because tips are not as big a thing elsewhere), then how your manager describes it is how it works in many, but not all states.
Some states require you to meet minimum wage before tips. Some have a separate tipped minimum wage. And yet others have a tipped minimum wage BUT if your tips do not exceed normal minimum wage then the employer has to pay the difference.
It depends what state you are in.
Find a new job
Personally it’s a shitty way to do pay scale.
That’s BS. Tips are not guaranteed and should not be considered part of your hourly wage. Report them to the labor board or whoever handles that and find a new job.
I didn’t understand any of that and no give me my tips at the end of the shift or the next day and minimum promised hourly. That’s a no from me dog.
Depends on your local laws. In some places, there is a lower “tipped employee” minimum wage which employers may pay so long as tips make up the difference to the regular minimum wage.
For example, if the minimum wage is $15 and the tipped wage is $2.63, then the employer **must** pay all tipped employees at least $2.63 per hour *while they are in a tipped position*. If tips make up the other $11.37/hour, the employee gets to keep the rest on top and everything’s clear. If tips fall short, the employer must make up the difference.
This might not be universal, but to my knowledge, you must be paid your non-tipped wage any time you work in non-tipped positions. So if you do any cleaning, sidework, etc, make sure you are getting paid in accordance with your local laws. You might be entitled to a non-tipped wage any time you spend more than 30 mins cleaning or prepping.
This is illegal where I live
Taxes? Without a paystub it’s hard to tell. Tip pools are also difficult to gauge without context. $150 in tips could be divided by a dozen people am/pm and you only get $12.50 tips for a shift.
Your check should look something like 48 hr × $15 + $150 = $870 – $200 tax withheld = $670. If you believe you had $150 in tips heading your way.
But if you’re training you could have also been cut out of the tip pool.
They’re quite literally robbing your money. You should be paid your wage and the tips are YOURS. Find a new job
This is wage theft actually
I’m pretty sure that’s illegal. Doordash was doing that and had to stop.
he never explained why it’s $12 not $15. he’s talking like a politician
Why is nobody mentioning the fact that $15/$16 an hour for a MANAGER is asinine
Oh hell fucking nah. Bounce out that bitch. I’d be pissed
No good. Bounce immediately.
Just to clarify, since a lot of people here are not up to date on how the law works and just spouting stuff. I don’t know SC, but I do know my state very well, and this is totally legal;
1) Your employer must pay you above minimum wage
2) You must be eligible for the tip pool (I’m assuming this is true, but is more complicated to explain and very state/county dependant)
3) Your restaurant could choose to cover the difference if your tipped plus hourly are below the bar they set ($15 here) as long as the above 2 are met.
Its likely that your “true” hourly is the tipped minimum, and they are using tipshare to suppliment that and then covering the difference to hit $15. This is fully legal in *most* states as long as you are a non-exempt employee who legally can be included in the tip pool, since any other money they give you is *after* they have fulfilled their legal obligations. Maybe scummy, depending on who you ask, but they are still paying you legally.
I’ve gone over all the ins and outs of tipshare with the owners of the company I work for, which has ~50 locations across 5 states. The above is the *strictest* definition we have to deal with, and thus company policy. You don’t wanna hear what owners can “legally” do in Kansas, for example…
Run.
As long as they aren’t reducing your hourly rate without prior notice and are distributing 100% of the tips to eligible employees it’s legal but still shitty. I run a valid tip pool. When I hire new employees I tell them their hourly wage and the amount of tips per hour they can generally expect to receive. I have a spreadsheet going back four years so I can pretty reliable say what that amount will be based on time of year.
Hate that, should be base wage plus tips, not wage including tips
I worked at a place similar to this before going to culinary school.
Dude promised me an hourly pay, a tip split, meal everyday, blah blah blah.
I worked 2 weeks at this place and the last Friday I come into my shift and he hands me $40 and says “sorry this is all I got for this pay cycle”. Like, dude what the fuck.
Needless to say I walked out and immediately got a new job later that week. Best part is he could’ve stolen one more day of work from me had he paid me at the end of the shift instead of the start.
I still think about this often though. No yelling. No argument. Just took my $40. Turned around and never went back.
A $1/hr pay bump to be a manager is criminal.
Noooo, leave that’s disgusting. If your US than I have no idea how your rules work but Canada you make almost $16 a hour minimum plus your tips. Find a better job.
Your getting screwed.
Rule of thumb is if you already feel this way, about your current job it’s going to get worse.
Then if you continue to work their by “sucking it up” your perception of self worth will lower because clearly you already feel like you are worth more.
Hint, hint, you are worth more than 15 and cents. Keep the job while looking for a better resturant. You got this!
Yup ,its time to go.
On top of what everyone else is saying, if you have get a fucking abacus to figure out how much you’re paid every week, it’s pretty fucked up.
Do you live in a low cost of living area or smthn? How is manager position paying that little
15$ an hour ?! Holy god how do you live in this economy 😫
I wouldn’t stick around there if I were you….
Take your paychecks and your onboarding paperwork to the labor relations board. You can not have a floating hourly wage
🚩🚩….FIND ANOTHER JOB!!!………SKETCHY RESTAURANT MANAGERS ARE DANGEROUS…….SO IF YOUR CREW MAKES AN OBSCENE TIP DO YOU GET 20.00 PER HOUR….I AM BETTING THE HOUSE KEEPS A PERCENTAGE OF YOUR TIPS