Home > Research Legal Advice > Employment / Labor > Can my employer take money from my tips for lost silverware?
Asked 10 months ago - Palatka, FL
FlagI work in a restaurant. Recently there has been a lot of silverware that has been thrown away. To discourage the waitress' of practicing this the managers have charged every server a dollar at the end of every shift. This dollar comes out of our tips. Is this allowed? It seems wrong to me.
This sounds like a violation of dipping into tip pools. Management or the company are not permitted to share in tips. I would recommend you seeking counsel in your area that specializes in the Fair Labor Standards Act. You can also contact the local office for the Department of Labor and report your employer.
Cost of doing business is the employers. He can write up employees for throwing away silverware, and even fire them, but he cannot force you to pay for the silverware out of your tips. Checkout his article on the issue of breakage.
http://legacy.americanpayroll.org/pdfs/pc2008/P...
Don't speak legalese? We define thousands of terms in plain English.
Browse our legal dictionary