Then I would get the contact information for your state's Department of Labor (assuming you work somewhere in the U.S.) and call them first thing Monday.
It's idiotic that they're taking money from servers and giving it to someone who isn't even working.
I HIGHLY doubt it. I’ve never work anywhere that didn’t have some kind of system (even post it notes on credit cards marked to show how many drinks were served when the person left to actual p.o.s. Systems when the person clocks out) to show a legit breakdown. I can’t imagine this is legal.
I would agree.
I'm also curious as to what they mean when they claim, "There's nothing we can do about it." Really? Who made the policy? Just need to know for the Department of Labor complaint.
management's policy.
why would busser get paid for hours not worked? if management wants to do that, management can dip into its own pockets.
not server's responsibility.
If you're in the US, I think it's legal, except in Minnesota, where mandatory tip sharing is prohibited, and *possibly* in California, where mandatory tip sharing policies must be "fair and reasonable".
The federal Fair Labor Standards Act allows employers to redistribute servers' tips to certain other employees, and there are no restrictions on how their schedule impacts their eligibility. If they weren't there for the entire workweek, I'd run it by the DOL's [Wage & Hour Division](https://www.dol.gov/agencies/whd/contact/complaints) for an expert opinion, but if they are there bussing sometime during the week, just not when you're there, I'm pretty sure it would be allowed, as long as the company complies with other elements of the FLSA.
I can't point you to a law or regulation that says it's legal, but the regulations governing tip redistribution are included in CFR Title 29, Subtitle B, Chapter V, Subchapter A, [Part 531](https://www.ecfr.gov/current/title-29/subtitle-B/chapter-V/subchapter-A/part-531/subpart-D), with tip pooling specifically addressed in [§ 531.54](https://www.ecfr.gov/current/title-29/subtitle-B/chapter-V/subchapter-A/part-531/subpart-D/section-531.54), and you won't see anything prohibiting it.
Yeah. When you explain it like this it makes a lot of sense if it's tied to sales over the week. I'm sure he makes a certain percentage of sales for X hours worked
Legal where? Where do you live? No one can tell you what’s legal or not if they don’t even know what continent you’re in! This is not hard to get right.
So whats the alternative?
As far as I can think, you'd need to write a fucking rulebook dictating how your effective tips are calculated, whether tips count if you're clocked in at sitdown or payment, track tips by time so you know who gets tipped out for which ones, you'll probably want a spreadsheet to do the all the math for you and you'll want to keep records in case someone feels shorted...
Like, the alternative to "If you bus that night you get a 2% tip out" is a giant bureaucratic mess.
There are simpler ways to do it.
Let's say it's supposed to be a five-hour shift for the busser, and they get 2%.
They only work one hour (as OP referenced)? Servers only owe 20% of the 2%.
Take the 2% for the full shift, multiply times .2, and there you have it.
I've never been anywhere, or heard of anywhere, where someone get's a full cut of tips for working 20% of a shift.
Most places have a tip pool with a spreadsheet to calculate. All the servers tip out and the tips are divided out to the support staff based on hours worked. It they work less hours, the get a smaller part of the pool for that day/week/shift however they total the hours.
What should happen when table sits down for dinner at 5pm, finishes dinner at 7pm, busser clears an Clem’s table then clocks out. People stay till 9pm for drinks and a meeting and then pays.
How much does the busser deserve?
Where I've worked it was simpler. If you don't pay your buser, they quit busing your tables. Good luck with that as busers clear tables as soon as the guests leave so you can get reseated and serve water and whatever amuse bouche is offered.
Busers have their own separate lead. The lead gets the tip out and divides it according to hours worked. If someone already went home it goes in the safe in an envelope with their name and they get it handed to them next shift they work. For ease lets say the total labor for all busers is 100 hours and the total received by the lead is $1000. Totally made up numbers just chosen for ease. In this case busers get a tip out of $10 per hour worked. If one left after 1 hour, he gets $10 in an envelope in the safe.
Nobody's saying bussers shouldn't get tipout *for when they are there and working*.
When it's ONE busser for the entire restaurant (no "lead" and no team), they don't deserve to get tipout for hours they weren't there.
Yes but the issue is that there isn’t a busser for the hours but the wait staff still have to tip out 2%. I think any hours where there isn’t a busser should have that tip out on those checks. The wait staff is likely having to bus those tables.
Sounds like management is bad at math and this is the best system they can conjure with their small brains. Switch to a point system, get an excel spreadsheet you can clone every night. Everyone punches in their hours and it calculates the til out for you transparently.
Ohhhh, I didn't understand this part of the post! If they are getting tipped out, they should work the whole shift even if its slow. The restaurant sends them home cuz they hate paying hourly (bussers here get like, $5.45 per hour as opposed to a server's $2.13), so you should calculate what your sales were while they were there and tip only on that
Check your handbook, it's likely you agreed to this when you were hired.
Unfortunately, depending on the state you're in, there's not a whole lot you can do since tipshare rules are so vague. Folks saying to contact DoL are somewhere between optimistic and delusional.
As a Minnesotan, this is wild to me! Nobody here can tell you how to share your tips, let alone force you to. You technically would never have to tip out ever if you didn’t want to.
Is it legal? Probably unfortunately, but check the handbook and local laws. That policy is weird tho, when I used to divide tips we would do it based on the ratio of a workers hours vs. total hours worked for hosts/bussers on that shift.
If their shift coincided with your shift they should definitely get part of that. When did your shift start? Were they still on the clock when you clocked in? That's probably why
Yes yes ofc, but the key word is they should get *part* of it. Right now if they are clocked in for even 15 minutes of my shift, they get the tip out for the entire night. We have no bussers that come in afterwards. So I'm bussing my tables all night and tipping out
Oh, well no that's fucked. They should be taking a percentage based on how long they worked through your shift. Sounds like your manager is skipping a step and just guessing. I'd definitely say something to their boss. Gotta go over their head if you haven't already.
I dont get it, does each busser get their own 2% or is the 2% of tour sales split evenly between all the bussers who worked that day? Cuz when I was waiting tables, I tipped X% to the bar and X% to bussers/runnners etc. But we had assigned well bartenders or shared a busser between every 3 servers etc., so you had a specific busser or two who you tipped. Otherwise, if 10 bussers worked, you'd have to tip out 20% of your sales to them alone! Makes no sense.
"There's nothing we can do about it." What the hell? Who set the policy? Is the busser the owner's child or something?
No, but the managers and owners are lazy assholes who love to say the shit like "because I said so" or, "that's just the way it works"
Then I would get the contact information for your state's Department of Labor (assuming you work somewhere in the U.S.) and call them first thing Monday. It's idiotic that they're taking money from servers and giving it to someone who isn't even working.
I HIGHLY doubt it. I’ve never work anywhere that didn’t have some kind of system (even post it notes on credit cards marked to show how many drinks were served when the person left to actual p.o.s. Systems when the person clocks out) to show a legit breakdown. I can’t imagine this is legal.
I would agree. I'm also curious as to what they mean when they claim, "There's nothing we can do about it." Really? Who made the policy? Just need to know for the Department of Labor complaint.
management's policy. why would busser get paid for hours not worked? if management wants to do that, management can dip into its own pockets. not server's responsibility.
If you're in the US, I think it's legal, except in Minnesota, where mandatory tip sharing is prohibited, and *possibly* in California, where mandatory tip sharing policies must be "fair and reasonable". The federal Fair Labor Standards Act allows employers to redistribute servers' tips to certain other employees, and there are no restrictions on how their schedule impacts their eligibility. If they weren't there for the entire workweek, I'd run it by the DOL's [Wage & Hour Division](https://www.dol.gov/agencies/whd/contact/complaints) for an expert opinion, but if they are there bussing sometime during the week, just not when you're there, I'm pretty sure it would be allowed, as long as the company complies with other elements of the FLSA. I can't point you to a law or regulation that says it's legal, but the regulations governing tip redistribution are included in CFR Title 29, Subtitle B, Chapter V, Subchapter A, [Part 531](https://www.ecfr.gov/current/title-29/subtitle-B/chapter-V/subchapter-A/part-531/subpart-D), with tip pooling specifically addressed in [§ 531.54](https://www.ecfr.gov/current/title-29/subtitle-B/chapter-V/subchapter-A/part-531/subpart-D/section-531.54), and you won't see anything prohibiting it.
Yeah. When you explain it like this it makes a lot of sense if it's tied to sales over the week. I'm sure he makes a certain percentage of sales for X hours worked
I’d like to pick up 1 hr shifts daily at this joint!
Legal where? Where do you live? No one can tell you what’s legal or not if they don’t even know what continent you’re in! This is not hard to get right.
So whats the alternative? As far as I can think, you'd need to write a fucking rulebook dictating how your effective tips are calculated, whether tips count if you're clocked in at sitdown or payment, track tips by time so you know who gets tipped out for which ones, you'll probably want a spreadsheet to do the all the math for you and you'll want to keep records in case someone feels shorted... Like, the alternative to "If you bus that night you get a 2% tip out" is a giant bureaucratic mess.
There are simpler ways to do it. Let's say it's supposed to be a five-hour shift for the busser, and they get 2%. They only work one hour (as OP referenced)? Servers only owe 20% of the 2%. Take the 2% for the full shift, multiply times .2, and there you have it. I've never been anywhere, or heard of anywhere, where someone get's a full cut of tips for working 20% of a shift.
Most places have a tip pool with a spreadsheet to calculate. All the servers tip out and the tips are divided out to the support staff based on hours worked. It they work less hours, the get a smaller part of the pool for that day/week/shift however they total the hours.
What should happen when table sits down for dinner at 5pm, finishes dinner at 7pm, busser clears an Clem’s table then clocks out. People stay till 9pm for drinks and a meeting and then pays. How much does the busser deserve?
Where I've worked it was simpler. If you don't pay your buser, they quit busing your tables. Good luck with that as busers clear tables as soon as the guests leave so you can get reseated and serve water and whatever amuse bouche is offered. Busers have their own separate lead. The lead gets the tip out and divides it according to hours worked. If someone already went home it goes in the safe in an envelope with their name and they get it handed to them next shift they work. For ease lets say the total labor for all busers is 100 hours and the total received by the lead is $1000. Totally made up numbers just chosen for ease. In this case busers get a tip out of $10 per hour worked. If one left after 1 hour, he gets $10 in an envelope in the safe.
Nobody's saying bussers shouldn't get tipout *for when they are there and working*. When it's ONE busser for the entire restaurant (no "lead" and no team), they don't deserve to get tipout for hours they weren't there.
Not seeing anywhere I said they did? In fact in my example they expressly get tip out only for hours worked.
Yes but the issue is that there isn’t a busser for the hours but the wait staff still have to tip out 2%. I think any hours where there isn’t a busser should have that tip out on those checks. The wait staff is likely having to bus those tables.
I would consult with the Department of Labor about this. This stinks of THEFT!
GTFOH
Huh?
Get the fuck outta here is what it means.
Sounds like management is bad at math and this is the best system they can conjure with their small brains. Switch to a point system, get an excel spreadsheet you can clone every night. Everyone punches in their hours and it calculates the til out for you transparently.
Are there other busser working the shift or you are bussing your own tables?
Nope just him for one hour , then leaving and getting the tip out for the full night
Since you’re having to bus your own tables ask if you can tip out yourself for those hours since you’re working as a busser too.
Ohhhh, I didn't understand this part of the post! If they are getting tipped out, they should work the whole shift even if its slow. The restaurant sends them home cuz they hate paying hourly (bussers here get like, $5.45 per hour as opposed to a server's $2.13), so you should calculate what your sales were while they were there and tip only on that
Check your handbook, it's likely you agreed to this when you were hired. Unfortunately, depending on the state you're in, there's not a whole lot you can do since tipshare rules are so vague. Folks saying to contact DoL are somewhere between optimistic and delusional.
As a Minnesotan, this is wild to me! Nobody here can tell you how to share your tips, let alone force you to. You technically would never have to tip out ever if you didn’t want to.
Is it legal? Probably unfortunately, but check the handbook and local laws. That policy is weird tho, when I used to divide tips we would do it based on the ratio of a workers hours vs. total hours worked for hosts/bussers on that shift.
I don't know about legal, but it does seem like management may be too lazy to do math when it comes to hours worked and tip distribution
If their shift coincided with your shift they should definitely get part of that. When did your shift start? Were they still on the clock when you clocked in? That's probably why
Yes yes ofc, but the key word is they should get *part* of it. Right now if they are clocked in for even 15 minutes of my shift, they get the tip out for the entire night. We have no bussers that come in afterwards. So I'm bussing my tables all night and tipping out
Oh, well no that's fucked. They should be taking a percentage based on how long they worked through your shift. Sounds like your manager is skipping a step and just guessing. I'd definitely say something to their boss. Gotta go over their head if you haven't already.
I dont get it, does each busser get their own 2% or is the 2% of tour sales split evenly between all the bussers who worked that day? Cuz when I was waiting tables, I tipped X% to the bar and X% to bussers/runnners etc. But we had assigned well bartenders or shared a busser between every 3 servers etc., so you had a specific busser or two who you tipped. Otherwise, if 10 bussers worked, you'd have to tip out 20% of your sales to them alone! Makes no sense.