It can sometimes be hard to tune-in to politics, especially when you've got your own worries and a full work schedule. However, if you're on wait staff, and you're grateful for the current policy that says a tip belongs to a waiter and not to the restaurant owner, then you might want to catch-up with the conversation. Because among many other changes the Trump administration is trying to make is the repeal of this Department of Labor policy that says when wait staff receive a tip, that tip is theirs and theirs alone.
Do You Want To Share Your Tip With The Rest Of The Staff?
According to coverage from both CBS and The Hill, there is a lot of tension regarding the Trump administration's move on saying who does and doesn't own a tip. The Obama-era regulation was put in place to protect workers, and to make sure that those who work largely for tips are not subject to having their wages stolen from them by their employers. If the rule is rescinded, though, then that security goes along with it.
One thing that could happen, if this policy is done away with, is employers pooling employee tips to distribute them among the entire staff, rather than every server taking their personal earnings home at the end of the night. It's also possible that employers could just keep the tips for themselves, as long as all staff are paid the federal minimum wage at the end of the day.
That may not be probable behavior, but if this rule is taken away, there is nothing that could prevent that kind of employer exploitation of workers. And, if it did happen, well, it wouldn't be illegal. Which is precisely why workers who depend on their tips need to make sure they're paying attention, and to make their voices heard on this subject.
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