In many service industry jobs, tips are given directly to employees. A waitress at a local bar may receive tips from her customers, which she gets to keep in addition to her hourly wage.
But in some cases, employees are told that they need to pool all of their tips together, which will then be divided at the end of the night. This can be somewhat controversial. If one employee feels that they earned a higher percentage of the tips than their coworkers, they may feel that they are actually losing money under a tip pooling arrangement.
Would it be legal for their employer to force them into an involuntary tip pool that they did not want to be part of?
Tip pools must be structured correctly
To begin with, yes, tip pools are legal. Employees do need to be informed about them upfront, but the employer can decide that tip pooling is going to be used, and it is not a violation of tipping laws in California.
That said, tip pools do need to be set up correctly so that only tipped employees are included. These are employees who directly work with customers and receive tips themselves.
In other words, if the tip pool includes a supervisor, a manager or a business owner, then it could be illegal. Even if people in these positions of power help the waitstaff at certain times, they are not allowed to be included in a tip pool, or it could be a form of wage theft.
Taking legal action
As an employee, do you believe you have experienced wage theft in regard to tips or other wages that were due? If so, it can help to work with an experienced attorney to explore your legal options.