‘Who gets that extra $400?’: Server says tip pooling is actually restaurant stealing tips—more than you realize
A restaurant worker dished the dirt on his company and accused them of possibly stealing tips on TikTok.
In the viral video that has amassed over 40,000 views as of Monday morning, user Katootsie (@I_cant_and_I_wont) made the allegations and questioned the restaurant's tipping policies.
"I think this is gonna become a bigger thing," the man began in the clip. "So I'm gonna get you on the ground floor of all this drama that has been unfolding."
He went on to say that during a training shift for a restaurant job, he asked about the company's tipping policy. The TikToker explained restaurants have various tipping policies that are not "always straightforward."
"There's tipping out and a lot of places do tip pooling, which is like everybody just puts all their tips into a big pool and then management disperses the tips amongst the servers, and the bartenders, and the barbacks and the bussers," he said.
Aware of this, the man questioned the restaurant's policy. He was shocked to discover what it was.
@i_cant_and_i_wont #serviceindustry #restaurantlife #serverlife #bartendersoftiktok #workersrights #wagetheft ♬ original sound - Katootsie
"The manager was like, 'We lump tips in with the sales and that all counts as net sales,'" he said he was told. "And then they disperse six percent of that total to everybody."
The worker said the explanation still left him confused.
"What happens if all the tips added up is greater than 6% of net sales?" he asked.
Allegedly, the restaurant's manager dodged the question and never provided an answer.
Instead, he said she focused on convincing new hires that they could make a lot of money with the company.
"I don't see any way that this is anything but this restaurant just taking tips," he said.
Still, the man said he would wait to get his first paycheck to figure out whether the arrangement was a scam.
"I'm gonna wait until I get that, then I'm gonna start asking some questions," he concluded.
In the comments section, many TikTokers expressed distrust when it comes to how restaurants handle paying out tips to their workers.
"I always tip in cash because I don't trust the restaurant to distribute tips left on credit card sales," user Craig commented. "Never have."
"100% of tips needs to go to employees," another user said. "Anything less is very illegal."
Other workers expressed outrage over the tipping policies at establishments where they worked.
"I worked at a place w/tip pool," user Smurphy said. "Your % was based on your hours worked. The Mgr got the biggest % cause they're there the entire shift! They didn't take tables! I quit! I'm not paying their salary."
Several states in the U.S. have entirely outlawed tipping: Alaska, California, Hawaii, Montana, Minnesota, Nevada, Oregon and Washington. There are 16 states that pay servers the federal minimum wage for employees who receive tips, which is $2.13. However, 26 states pay below the federal minimum tip wage.
There are no laws that govern the disbursement of tips.
The Daily Dot reached out to Katootsie via TikTok comment for an update and more information.
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