Any servers here or those with restaurant experience? Tip question.

[Anonymous]

I was never a server/waitress. DS is working as a server this summer while home from college.

DS came home from work a bit ago upset. Two coworkers called off so he was working solo from 11:00 am to 1:30 pm. The owner/manager let him know that he'd called help in, but the soonest someone could get there was 1 pm. So DS handled it, including an unplanned corporate lunch of 12. That particular check left him quite a sizeable tip because he did so well running the register, taking orders, and delivering food & drinks solo. That table came in at 12:10 pm and cashed out at 1:17 pm. The coworker that was supposed to show up at 1 clocked in at 1:32 pm. When the owner showed up at 2 and was reviewing the sales for the day, he told DS that his big tip still went into the tip pool. DS argued that wasn't fair because he worked solo until 1:30. Why should the coworker who came in (late) and after the big party left get to share in that tip or any of the tips he made while working before 1:30. The owner/manager told him tough, that's how it is with tip pool.

Is that correct? This is in VA.

[Anonymous]

What ever the tip pool rules are. Next time something like that happens the should tip him in cash and he can pocket it on the downlow

[Anonymous]

Should quit.

[Anonymous]

Tip pool also goes to bar, cooks, etc. Unless he cooked the food, made the drinks and washed the dishes after he needs to tip out.

[Anonymous]

Sounds like you only want the tip pool to be split up when your son is the one not getting a big tip. What if someone else gets a big tip, should your son refuse to take it?

[Anonymous]

I thought the pool was for people who work in the kitchen and clear and host. Does he know who the tip pool goes to?

[Anonymous]

Geez, people are terrible at reading comprehension. A first grader could do better. The issue that OP has raised is whether a server who comes in late should get to share tips from tables that came in before they arrived for work. The OP's kid isn't complaining about sharing with the cooks and dishwashers.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:What ever the tip pool rules are. Next time something like that happens the should tip him in cash and he can pocket it on the downlow

Tipping in cash will never happen for a corporate lunch. Tip was big because it goes on a corporate credit card and gets reimbursed so the workers don't mind going big.

[Anonymous]

I don't know your tip pool rules. We took the total tip for the day and divided it up by every person and every hour they worked.
Maybe the server who came in later had 20 people for dinner at 7 pm leaving him $80 while your son was home chilling already.
Why don't you tell me how much he makes an hour or usual lunch/dinner, how many hours he works, and I will tell you if he should continue working there.
And make sure he opens a Roth, maxes it to $7k if he makes that much, buys top 10 individual stocks, rinse and repeat. He can retire at 30 and laugh about having to share tips.

[Anonymous]

Next time something like that happens the should tip him in cash and he can pocket it on the downlow

So, you want him to screw over his co-workers, as well as the taxpayers of the Commonwealth of Virginia? Nice.

[Anonymous]

I don’t think
It’s fair from a fair standpoint. So in general I agree with your son.
But there are always going to be times when one server works harder than another, or has more tables than another. It’s hard to make it completely fair.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:I was never a server/waitress. DS is working as a server this summer while home from college.

DS came home from work a bit ago upset. Two coworkers called off so he was working solo from 11:00 am to 1:30 pm. The owner/manager let him know that he'd called help in, but the soonest someone could get there was 1 pm. So DS handled it, including an unplanned corporate lunch of 12. That particular check left him quite a sizeable tip because he did so well running the register, taking orders, and delivering food & drinks solo. That table came in at 12:10 pm and cashed out at 1:17 pm. The coworker that was supposed to show up at 1 clocked in at 1:32 pm. When the owner showed up at 2 and was reviewing the sales for the day, he told DS that his big tip still went into the tip pool. DS argued that wasn't fair because he worked solo until 1:30. Why should the coworker who came in (late) and after the big party left get to share in that tip or any of the tips he made while working before 1:30. The owner/manager told him tough, that's how it is with tip pool.

Is that correct? This is in VA.

Sort of. Thats really unfair and as long as they are consistent with the policy thats what a tip pool is but he should be getting total tips per hour worked. However the manager should make exemptions for when one person is solo. And that should be the only exemption.

[Anonymous]

It seems like it would be a lot of work to calculate how much pf the tip pool should go to each individual worker depending in exactly what hours they worked that day and exactly when the tips came in. It seems far more practical to split the tips pro rata by hours worked if one is going to pool tips that way. Of course your son might be misunderstanding what is happening and they are instead taking a percentage of his tip and splitting it out to the hostess, bartender, etc.

[Anonymous]

Of course your son might be misunderstanding what is happening and they are instead taking a percentage of his tip and splitting it out to the hostess, bartender, etc.

That is illegal in some states. Check your local laws.

[Anonymous]

OP, have tip pool rules been clearly explained to your son?
If yes, have such rules been followed?
If no, he should ensure that he clearly understands the rules. If he does not like them, he can try and change them or quit/not return next summer.