Can tips be pooled?
The answer, as it so often is with legal matters, is ‘it depends.’ With whom are tips being shared? The wait staff can share tips with busboys and busgirls. But they cannot do so with employees who don’t actually serve customers, such as dishwashers, prep cooks, chefs, or anyone else in the kitchen. Who says? The regulations are part of the Fair Labor Standards Act–the U.S.’s wage and hour law. In addition to actually serving customers, employees who receive tips, either directly or through a pool, cannot be what Cohen refers to as ‘agents’ of the employer. An agent is a manager, who can be identified by any or all of the following duties, called ‘economic realities’ in the law: They can hire and fire, control work schedules or conditions, determine pay rates and methods, or keep employment records. Starbucks was found in violation. The customer service employees called ‘baristas’ in Starbucks cafes were required to share tips with shift supervisors. The employer didn’t consider those
