I started working at a local restaurant/bar when I was in college. I started out as a server and worked my way to bartender. One of the nights that I was running the service by myself (we had really slow Tuesday nights), this couple came in and sat at the bar. They were super cool, ordered a ton of food and drinks, and we just fucked around and had a great time together. I walked to the back to take their dirty plates away, and when I came back like 45 seconds later, they were gone. Bailed on the tab.
The little money I had made that day was taken from me to cover their bill. Plus the owners demanded I pay the rest of it with my future tips - i.e. I wouldn’t get any money until it was all paid back. They paid me $2/hr, and they were going to take another $200 of my money. The place didn’t get a lot of business, so it would take me like 1.5 weeks to pay that back without making anything myself. It was a huge punch in the gut. I had worked hard for these guys for at least a year. Unheard of at this restaurant cause most people left after like a month.
I cried like a baby in the manager’s office when she told me what the owners said, and I quit that night.
Why are you liable to catch people who dine and dash? If the owners want to prevent this they need a dedicated guard and even if it does happen I don’t see how you’d be liable. 100% I understand why no one stayed at this place over a month. Good on you for not letting them take advantage of you like that.
In lots of places, they aren’t liable, but many people aren’t aware of this, and/or aren’t in a position to fight it. It’s one of those things that vary by state, but in NY, for example, it’s definitely illegal.
Employers are only allowed to deduct certain items from an employee’s wages, such as taxes, insurance premiums, union dues, etc. They are not permitted to charge employees for breakages, cash shortages, fines or any other losses to the business.
Restaurants tend to employ younger workers, and often hire undocumented immigrants, so it’s easier for them to pull one over on their staff who may not know their rights, or be scared of retaliation if they do try to insist on their rights being respected.
The exact protections will vary depending on your jurisdiction, but generally speaking employees aren’t liable for theft, damages, losses, spoilage, shrink, etc. Those are all the cost of doing business and that’s carried by the employer. Otherwise, arguably they’d have no claim on the profits from their business since the employees are the ones carrying the risk.
Imagine you work in a kitchen and drop an egg on the floor. Well that sucks, but accidents happen. The kitchen eats the cost and you get a fresh egg. If our legal framework allowed the employer to bill the employee for the cost of the egg, before you know it people will be scooping yolks off the floor to save money.
Know your rights. Even if you are protected by your labour board, that won’t stop an unscrupulous employer from intimidating you into waiving your rights.
If your employer is trying to intimidate you into preventing theft and that’s not your job, fuck them. Interfering with crime when you have no training to do so is a great way to incur personal injury.
From the owners point of view, if they didn’t make the servers liable they’d just let their friends eat free all the time. So they just make this illegal policy and bet on not getting caught because most employees, especially back before 2010 or so, weren’t aware the practice was illegal. Fuck that owner and fuck that manager too for not supporting OP.
American tip culture is so foreign to me. But holding tips should be illegal anywhere.
