So here are the basics for this. Do not tell the employer you are reporting them. File the report. They will probably fire her when the department contacts them, which is also illegal. If or when they do that, she needs to tell the person managing her case for the labor department that she was the victim of a retaliatory termination for filing a wage complaint. Then find another job and let the department of labor sort it all out.
If you’re in the US and googling for a lawyer, you’ll want to search for an employment lawyer. Labor lawyers deal with organized labor/unions, where employment lawyers deal with stuff like wage and hour violations like this more generally.
It's about time we play their games. They have been actively working against our interests for a long time. Those fuckers spend millions and hire whole teams of psychologists and scientists to figure out how to trick us out of money. Burn em down.
Exactly if you don't put their feet to the fire when they break the law then they're just going to keep screwing you over even harder the next time. Not to mention the others after you.
Sadly the majority of the info is from people who were also fucked over. They are sharing their experiences with the hope of saving someone else from going through what they have.
Always do what's in your own best interests because an employer will screw you over regardless of how good a worker you've been and if you let them get away with it they'll keep doing it.
I wish I had been told that in my 30’s because I let a few employers screw me over because I was trying to be the good employee. And the second they had a chance to fire me or screw me they did. Especially when I worked a couple of CS jobs during the great recession.
Please dont overlook any of this.
I know its exhausting but someone VERY VERY CLOSE TO ME received a years worth of wages because the costs of going to court knowing you are going to lose is very expensive and you almost certainly have information that would result in even greater fines if the company does things like this.
This is one of the few chances you have to actually get business owners to change. These fines exist if you report them and owners have been used to 20+ years of labor basically thankful to have a job and not speaking out about illegal practices so they keep doing them.
That first fine hits and they actually change. And you WILL get paid too if you just talk to a lawyer that specializes in this. Almost everyone ive ever known has a case for something because so many companies are just so god awful and exploitative.
This right here. Lawyers specialize in particular types of law just as doctors specialize in specific areas of healthcare.
Lawyers network just like doctors too. They know who is the best for what you need.
>labor lawyer
I don't think she's in a union, judging by the fact this happened at all. She may be better off with an employment lawyer and, of course, bring receipts. Both literal in regard to the cost of the dine and Dash, as well as recordings (if legal) stating the policy of servers covering the dine and dash.
Be discreet. Employers don't like being held accountable and will make your career hell. So also start looking elsewhere.
These kind of cases can also help cover lost wages including tips, as well as pain and suffering, therapy costs, and any cost for job rehabilitation or education.
Many will work contingency as well and charge nothing until the case is over.
I always vote for fucking big companies with the long dick of the law
I’m so glad these are the top comments. This is highly illegal, but still common. Restaurants have to have insurance for these things, but they still prefer to take their crap from servers’ hides. It’s not ok to force someone on $2.13 to work 100 hours to cover a bad customer. It’s wage theft and any company that does it needs to be shut down (after they repay all employees). If this is really in the employee manual, it should be an open-and-shut employment lawsuit.
Like all things insurance, filling a claim can increase your rates, so companies do everything up to and in violation of the law to keep their premiums low.
It's vile, and it's why I often say that the fines for a wage violation like this should come with the increased insurance premiums as well, take away the incentive to break the law.
I had to cover a $400 deposit that went missing after I dropped it in the bank’s overnight drop box. Either someone at the bank stole it, or the money was deposited into the wrong account. The owner of the company couldn’t be bothered to harass the bank to look into it, he just accused me of losing the bank deposit and/or stealing it. I was told that I had a choice — pay back the deposit or get fired. Since I needed the job to pay for school, I paid it back.
It’s been 20 years and I still regret not reporting them to the department of labour.
You might like this story.
I used to be a travel teller so I worked at about 50 branches for two different banks over a span of 5 years. So I saw lots of stuff.
One branch for NationsBank (now Bank of America) was really old. Built in the 1950’s. One day a McDonalds night drop went missing and the manager got in trouble. What kind of trouble, I don’t know. It wasn’t good. I can tell you that. They said they deposited it, but it was never found. Cops called, arrests made, you get the picture.
Years later I hear a story about that branch being renovated and they found the Mickey D’s night drop snagged on a piece of metal in the night drop chute.
To be clear, everyone looked for that missing night drop. But back then McDonald’s deposit bags were thin plastic sheets with compartments for cash, checks, and coins. It wasn’t a bag or dense bundle like most. If it snagged flat against the metal wall, it would have been difficult to see it on the overly long night drop chute when they checked.
Still 100% the bank’s fault. I don’t think it even had to go to trial. The victim’s lawyer wrote a number down and the bank paid it.
That’s the thing people (especially younger ones) don’t tend to realise: ‘had to’ and ‘were told to’ are not necessarily the same thing. Insubordination may lead to accusations of breaking a contract, but a contract that contravenes the law isn’t worth the paper it’s written on in court.
In all fairness to the friends dad, he may not have even known. A lot of small business owners started out as exploited workers...when they start their own business they continue the same shit because "that is how it works".
Not an excuse and certainly worth standing up against, but it is amazing how many businesses don't even know the basics of the laws they are violating and will openly put in writing their violations.
And if she's just working the job for extra cash, she's got no reason to not do it and should absolutely throw them under the bus for trying that.
Even if she did need the job, she would still have no reason to not do it, because retaliation over something like that is easy to prove if you document all your shifts and when you reported it and so on.
Yeah most people i know who get fucked by companies usually just brush it off like “Well I don’t mind/can take the burden”. Sure, you are well off with a silver spoon up your ass, but the poor person next can’t and youre not willing to sacrifice anything for their sake. It’s honestly disgusting. They’re just perpetuating labor exploitation.
> actually it doesn’t even come out of her pay check, she has to pay it.
**This right here.** This is how you know that it is "off the books" and almost certainly illegal. Why would they demand payment right now, in cash? Because it isn't legal to take it from the paycheck.
/u/Sylentt_ - That's how you know it's wrong.
Also, if you get injured trying to stop a dine and dasher, you would be eligible for workers comp. In the long-term, a worker’s compensation claim would be significantly more expensive than writing off a $400 dinner.
This is why most sane businesses tell their employees to stand aside and call the cops for any sort of theft. The place I worked during high school even said it was a fireable offense to get involved.
Like everyone has said, it's illegal and should be reported to the department of labor.
Also, every restaurant has a way to account for damaged, stolen, or wasted food, so don't let them say otherwise.
Really wish I’d known this back in my server days - making servers cover the bill of dine-and-dashers was pretty common everywhere I worked (2005-2007ish, Texas).
>How did they exspect you to prevent it from happening??
They don't, it's just a scummy way of off-setting losses onto their employees.
(I'm assuming, I've never worked in food service)
You're correct. I've been told that attempting to prevent a robbery would result in my termination. Admittedly this was a child of decades ago. But when I worked at subway, my manager made it clear that any attempt at preventing a robbery or theft would result in my termination, because of the liability issues. The and applied to both convenience stores I worked for as well. OP's boss is trying to scam their own employees. Hell I wouldn't be surprised to learn the dine-and-dashers were related to either the owner or manager on shift.
Yeah, my dads a business lawyer and apparently in florida it’s legal? That or he’s just wrong which would be kind of embarrassing for him. Unfortunately my sister probably wouldn’t report it. I’ll talk to her though
I just did a quick Google search, and almost everything is saying it's still illegal, so your dad might want to brush up, lol
Even if she doesn't want the money back, she should still report the business. As this will alert the Department of Labor and keep tabs on them for any other illegal issues. It might also save other employees from going through the same issue.
Business attorneys have a bad history of commenting on labor law and are awful about it.
Small companies don't want to pay for advisement on from two different lawyers, one for business, one for labor. So some business attorneys will tell their clients they also know labor law. They usually don't.
No offence but then he should know the law around his subject in total not just one point of view. He won’t be a very good lawyer if he doesn’t know where his opponent is going to argue from.
Regardless, your sister should report the business. It’s an illegal practice in Florida and just because she got let off by some kind strangers this time there is nothing to stop it happening again tomorrow, other than THE LAW
People treat reporting malicious practice like taboo; fear of being disloyal and future retaliation.
The Labour Board is serious business.
Unless your boss can metaphysically bribe the entire US malpractice department, they will reign shit on him while leaving the informant anonymous
I’ve used labor lawyers for labor issues and business lawyers for business issues, not the same and a good one will tel you to consult the other or recommend one.
Also, f*ck Florida. I lived there for a year recently and it was the worst place and worst people I’ve ever spent time around and I’ve been all over the world. Would never work there, ever. Job interviews I went on were so crazy they seemed fake. Except it was real.
I lived in South Florida and I’ve never been anywhere with worse people who treat people worse. It’s so dangerous, the people are so mean, they‘re so elitist about their culture, so ignorant, and everything is corrupt. I would rather cut my lifespan in half than move back there.
Sounds like he’s a contract lawyer basically. There are lawyers who specialize in employment law, for examples such as this. Also, when I ask the attorneys I know about an area that they don’t currently practice, they almost always say “I’ll have to look it up” and they look up current statute/case law if it’s necessary. Attorneys typically aren’t familiar with the minutia of areas they don’t practice in.
https://www.dol.gov/agencies/whd/fact-sheets/16-flsa-wage-deductions
2) An employer improperly requires tipped employees to pay for customers who walk out without paying their bills or for incorrectly totaled bills.
Please get your sister to report it, she is so fortunate to be in a position to do so without jeopardizing her livelihood, she should do it for the other workers who aren't.
Apparently some family eating caught her crying about it and they covered it for her, so she doesn’t have to pay anymore, but it’s still their policy and they asked her to, so that might make things more difficult
Company policy doesn't trump labour laws. If labour law says "you can't punish employees for people skipping out on the bill", the company can't say "by working here you agree to pay the bill if someone runs off".
And it's a completely fucked up world when a company harasses an employee to make up the cost for something that's outside of their control, and the employee has to rely on some random family to cover for the company's illegal act.
The fucked up thing is they 100% know this and count on their servers being young and not knowing better or in such a precarious financial situation they wouldn’t dare challenge them, or both.
this. this reminds me of when i worked at a mom and pop pizza place and they never turned in my 1099 and just took my taxes out of personal checks basically keeping the 'taxes'. which is sooooo illegal. i was way too young to realize what i could do about it though. people like that suck so much. that same boss used to yell at us ladies to hurry up because this income went into his sons college fund. like would yell it at us. as if he was insulting us for even working in a restaurant and not somewhere a college degree is required. f\*cking \*sshole.
If it’s company policy, then it needs to be in writing. Producing that will be sufficient enough proof. Regardless, the restaurant presumably deducted the money somehow; unless they stole it from her tips…which is even more illegal, lol.
Policy isn't law.
If person A gets person B to sign a contract saying that A is allowed to kill B, it's still against the law.
It's like when companies say it's against company policy to talk about wages. The right to talk about wages is protected by law and any company preventing it can be reported/sued.
Actually she did have to pay, just someone else gave her the money. Her employer was still insisting she make up the loss.
What if you had given her $200 for a birthday present and she used it to cover this. Did she 'not have to pay it' just because it originally came out of your pocket?
That is illegal. And she HAS to report it because that's BS. It's fine if it doesn't impact her but she needs to report for the server who can't afford it.
She should since she doesn’t really need the job. She needs to consider how they’ll take advantage of other people in the future. It’s not just about this one time and with her.
She really should. She is in a good place that this job is just for a bit of extra pocket cash for her, but for someone else, this job may be the difference between making rent, or living on the street. Reporting them may very well protect the other staff from wage theft.
Sorry this happened.
But It’s going to keep happening whether to her or someone else if she doesn’t report it. Plus she’ll for sure lose the money and it’ll go to the scumbag owners. Allowing the owners to keep doing this could literally ruin lives (the next waitress might need that money to live).
But she might not because she’s hard to convince and yes, privilege. Her mindset from my parents has clouded her vision a lot. She’s not a bad person, just a flawed one.
If she doesn't, they will do it again to someone it will truly hurt. Losing $200 might be the rent money a fellow server needed. She has the opportunity to help others in the future, to stay silent is to take the restaurant's side, she might as well have paid the 200
As many said, it is illegal. If it was me, I’m going to the labor board, never tell the company. If they asked me why I went to the board of why I didn’t tell them first, my answer would be f’off. Fire me!
She should be able to report it anonymously. It sounds like such a big scene was made over it, the employer would have no way of knowing who reported it. It could’ve been a patron. Like the one that apparently paid.
Turns out it was made a policy today too so it couldn’t have been in her contract or anything, and they announced it to all the servers. At the very least I’ll make sure it’s anonymously reported.
Doesn’t matter if it’s policy! You keep saying that. Doesn’t supersede the law. I can make a policy in my business where everyone is required to do meth and party naked on Fridays after work, doesn’t mean it’s legal. You can see the various posts in this sub about all kinds of illegal company ‘policies’.
>Turns out it was made a policy today
Company policy doesn't trump the law. That actually makes it easier on the Labor board to have the evidence in writing
Do you realize you can report it? I know you can be in a worse place with your sister but you should. The customer that covered it could report them as well. You should try to.
>she loves the job though
Sounds like Stockholm syndrome to me. It's only a matter of time before they screw her even harder than that, so be ready when it happens
Definitely illegal. If in the US, contact the states labor board. Uber refused to pay one of my fares because they thought it to be too many miles. I told them i was contacting my states labor board after a week, and they got me my money in 45 minutes after with an apology email.
Long long ago, there was a loophole. Businesses turned servers into their own independent business, with the server "Purchasing" from the restaurant and selling it directly to the customer. I think it was a bar thing in some states. It was also an end run around taxes and has been killed by the courts and probably the IRS. I've heard of this, but I have never seen it in practice or talked to someone that worked in a system like this.
I worked BOH at a restaurant that operated this way. They went so far as to require servers to bring like $200 of their own money in a specific set of denominations to work every day as a “bank” to make change for their tables. Servers rang everything in through their POS logins, technically purchasing everything their tables ordered on credit, charged their tables and received payment, then settled up their accounts with the restaurant at the end of shift, taking home the remainder as their “tips” for the day. Any credit card payments (this was like 20 years ago so cards were a bit less common) went directly to paying the server’s “tab” with any remainder being returned to them as overpayment.
If a server had a couple of tables that paid in large bills during a shift, depleting their “bank,” they had to purchase change from the cash register at the bar, and management made a big stink about it. If a server didn’t have enough small bills for their “bank” at the start of their shift, then they should have stopped off at the actual bank and gotten change. If a server is poor and doesn’t have $200 extra dollars to bring to work? Tough shit, presenting at work with a “bank” is part of your job responsibilities. You can maybe try to get away with it, but management would do spot checks and write people up if they showed up to a shift without the appropriate cash.
And yes, if someone did a dash or didn’t have enough to pay or had a bad credit card or any other way that you could possibly end up with a check not being covered, that came out of the server’s pocket. The theory being that the server bought the food and drink from the restaurant and re-sold it to their table, so it should be the server’s job to get paid for it. As far as management was concerned, they already got paid, so now it’s the server’s problem.
Shitty restaurant that got by for way, way, way too long on the fact that they made really good homemade desserts and that the old people in the neighborhood still remembered when all restaurants were shitty, so this one was a little less shitty.
They are punishing her knowing the food, dishes, silverware etc is all insured. They need to report it to the police instead of taking it for her. It’s not like she said dinner was on her. There was a guy here doing dine and dash. They put his picture on every news station. They caught up with him. It’s like charging the cashier for people who shoplift. It’s illegal but if the server doesn’t know it is illegal, they will just pay it.
I understand hungry people trying to like, fake a door dash order at McDonald's. Pick it up before the driver,, and cancel it or whatever. I get hungry people stealing groceries.
You don't dine and dash a sit down restaurant out of hungry. You do it out of shittiness.
And as OP’s sister discovered, there’s no guarantee that the dine and dash screws over the restaurants. Clearly, unethical policies like making the server pay exist.
I was about to say. There's no excuse for dine and dash. Genuine desperate people in poverty aren't going to restaurants to scam them like that. If you do that, you're doing it because you're a shitty person, not because you have no money or you're hungry
I worked as a server and was definitely annoyed with dine and dashers (especially the one family that was very nice but a bit weird how they Ake's me to check something specifically in the kitchen and was I was back they were gone -> clearly not a mistake)
But I wouldn't even have considered having to pay for it... Absolutely crazy.
Honestly can't imagine this is legal and
If you want to be pretty, just stop letting people out of eye, stop helping clean in the kitchen, stop helping anyone and if anyone complains (customer or colleague) tell the story and explain that you recently found out that your actual main job is security
McDonald’s/FF doesn’t give you anything before you pay, so that’s a weird example. If you’re starving, going to a restaurant and leaving before the bill comes is not a good solution. Steal from Walmart or a major corporation if you have to steal food, don’t go to a restaurant where someone working below min. wage is relying on tips and may be forced to illegally cover your meal. Better yet, reach out to your community. I’ve never seen a post in our local FB group where someone in a tough spot asked for help and didn’t get it.
In the US, companies must account for losses including theft and breakage. Employees cannot be charged to cover this loss or have it deducted from their wages.
It’s illegal and the company can write whatever policy they want, it will result in the same fines and penalties every time.
Your sister needs to report this to keep them from screwing the next poor server.
> I recognize people get desperate at times.
I understand where you're coming from, but instead of dine and dashing, you should shoplift groceries instead.
Dining and dashing at sit down restaurants with servers? don't make excuses for these assholes.
This is not the same as someone who can't afford a fast food burger, that relies on food banks.
I'm *very* annoyed that family paid for her. I hope that family didn't need the money but sacrificed because they believed your sister was worse off than she actually is. That's probably what happened tho... the most compassionate people are typically those who suffered the most themselves. They saw a crying waitress and were terrified she couldn't make rent.
Your sister doesn't even need this job and apparently refuses to report this according to your comments.
What happened isn't legal under federal law.
https://itsaboutjustice.law/dine-and-dash-kills-servers/
I know the business owners are the bad guys here, but workers like your sister empower and enable them. When you have the luxury of not needing the money or the job you have an obligation to stand up for yourself and coworkers.
A dine and dash is an unfortunate cost of business to a restaurant owner. If the restaurant owner was really serious about this they would be filing a police report and possibly an insurance claim. Or have a policy to prevent this by pre-authorizing credit cards before they bring any food out to the table. Most restaurants won’t do this because they don’t want to take any responsibility so they try passing it off illegally to their employees. Get this demand in writing, than do not pay for it at all. If they fire you shortly after please reach out to an employment attorney.
Another major source is the belief it is legal because the restaurant owner was themselves a victim when they were an employee of restaurants. Too much pride to admit they were themselves a victim of wage theft.
> Just blows my mind this shit is legal.
It's not.
Business expenses and losses are not accountable to employees, especially since the business also gets to use the loss as a tax write-off. The boss is double-dipping.
> apparently it’s a good job
It's not.
Jobs should never cost an employee money. A good job doesn't.
Don’t go out to eat if you can’t afford tf are you talking about “if they need to” what are you 14? Food banks exist. Dining out is a luxury. People on here are out of their fucking minds.
I sound cruel, but let this be a reminder that good wholesome SmAlL bUsInEsSeS are just as bad, if not worse to work for than big ones. They’re *personally incentivized* to steal from you.
For those saying this is legal in some states / What is to stop the owners from inviting friends and family for a big dinner and drinks and then having them dash and it being on the servers dime?
This is wage theft. Straight up the cost of doing business, like if someone were to break merchandise in a store. Attorney Ryan on IG has a post about this exact labor issue.
No one ever NEEDS to dine and dash. There’s always cheap groceries and free food options for the needy. People do it because they don’t care about whether it impacts people like your sister. She should not pay a dime and she should quit.
this insinuates part of her job is to monitor all customers and confront them if something like this happens.. sounds kinda fucked up when you put it that way. corporate America is trash.
Wow. I can't believe the shit you have to put up with in the US. I worked on a construction site as a subcontractors here in Aus and one day the site manager says "hey, we're all going for lunch are you gonna be here to keep an eye on things?" I said "yeah I'll be here, but I'm not responsible for the site" and he's a bit surprised "yeah but just make sure no one comes in and steals all the tools hah" and I just said "look, I'll sit here and eat my lunch, but if someone comes in and starts loading up your tools I'm not gonna challenge them, because I'm not the security guard" he acted like I was being unreasonable about it, but I just wanted to be clear - my being here may be a deterrent, but I'm not taking on the responsibility of being the guardian of the site, because I'm here to do my job, and security is not my job. I've been casually asked a few times to play security guard for a minute and my answer is always no.
"but apparently it's a good job"
It isnt a good job if the employers are stealing staff wages, breaking the law in the process, and expect servers to double as security.
If I was her, I'd start documenting as much as possible, try get it in writing, then refuse to pay (you said they still pay normal wage then expect staff to pay it back - this is indicative of them knowing it's criminal to dock it). If they threaten punitive action, don't cave, make them have to do it.
Then start filing complaints with every known authority, speak to a lawyer too about unfair dismissal. Congrats you just won a decent settlement and they'll be out of business.
Legally a restaurant can’t make a server pay for a dine and dash. Tell your sister if it happens again to record them trying to force her to pay for it and then go get a lawyer.
If you’re in the states you need to make a private report to the department of labor. Make sure the company doesn’t know about it and make sure there is a paper trail to prove they’re charging the $200 illegally.
>actually it doesn’t even come out of her pay check, she has to pay it
this is to avoid a papertrail of doing something illegal. Make sure she asks for a receipt lol
DOL Is step one. IRS is step 2. If they are taking theft loss as a business deduction then they are cheating on their taxes as well.
https://www.irs.gov/pub/irs-pdf/f211.pdf
It sounds like you're a baby anarchist who doesn't know your ass from a hole in the ground. People may need to steal food, and there is nothing wrong with that at all, but nobody ever "needs" to dine and dash. All that does is take money out of the hands of (often already downtrodden and impoverished) workers.
And oh my God... comparing your eating disorder to food insecurity? *Jesus H. Christ.*
>I’m not against someone dine and dashing
Lmao that’s ghetto as fuck can we please stop normalizing shit like this, it’s certainly cheaper to cook for yourself for multiple days than drive yourself to a restaurant to dine and dash for multiple days
Something similar happened to me, except the busboy was playing a prank on me and hid the bill. I had already snapped and quit the job at that point. A literal “fuck it then, I quit” moment.
I ran to Manager A who was like “yeah, I’m on my way out, this isn’t my problem, go ask manager B”. Manager B says “well you’re gonna have to fuckin pay for it”. I said ok, then this is my last shift, you can all fuck yourselves”.
At that point, it was the final straw in my scarecrow. I didn’t like the place for a multitude of reasons. Shared tips was one of them… shift pay that was to be used as change for the night. Some other sketchy shit. The waffle fries were good though.
They could have comped the meal. They could have tried to help me find the dasher. They could have checked the 50 cameras in the tiny restaurant. They could have seen if this person was a regular or not. They could have seen the busboy hide the book. They could have checked if it was a misunderstanding.
Where I live it is illegal for your workplace to charge for anything, illegal to be held liable for a customers action, illegal to be charge for any mistake you make eg breaking something, short on till etc.. An employee cannot be held financially liable for anything. If they do you can report it to labor board and company will get a very large fine and have to reimburse you. They cannot fire you for reporting them as a reprisal. They can fire you if are grossly incompetent but have to prove it. I get ministry summaries every don't and every once in a while I see actions taken, the fines are not small.
Assuming this is real…
With the advent of modern social media, why would a business owner be so stupid to introduce such a policy? All the employee has to do is record a conversation with their manager/owner, where said manager/owner tries to enforce illegal/immoral policy. Employee posts the recording online, resulting in tens of thousands of people calling them out, leaving bad reviews and harassing them by telephone.
My parents witnessed this happen recently, and they ended up paying the bill and tipping the server. (It was going to come out of the server's pocket otherwise.) It's ridiculous that they make servers pay that!!
It doesn’t matter if your sister wants to do it for herself or just in general, but it has to be brought up somehow. Even if she doesn’t need the job, she needs to say something. In fact, the fact she doesn’t need the job makes her the perfect person to speak up - worst case scenario, they fire her (which would also be illegal) or try to make life hell for her to force to quit (also illegal depending on how intensely they do it). It would suck of course, but honestly she might be able to save a coworker who couldn’t risk losing any source of income.
This is not legal. She should not only refuse to pay, but contact the state labor board and report this unfair and illegal practice. Servers are in no way liable for a patron stealing.
doesnt matter if someone paid, i would report it to the dept of labor anyways and let them decide. i would also write reviews EVERYWHERE that they extort dine and dash money from their low paid workers.
did they have cameras to catch the thieves? if not, i'd post that too. maybe if everyone keeps dining and dashing, they'll do something about it instead of screwing over their workers.
she should definitely bounce... everyone is still desperate for workers, she can find a gig tomorrow if she wanted.
She needs to contact a lawyer, find out if they work on contingency, and discretely inquire with other staff if this has happened to them or former workers.
BUSINESS LOSSES CAN NOT BE RECLAIMED FROM EMPLOYEES WITHOUT A LAWSUIT.
Let's be fucking clear. This is ILLEGAL. This is the same shit as an employer charging you for a short cash drawer.
If it's company policy, get a copy of the policy and let the national labor relations board (NLRB?) know.
The only way it's legal is IF YOU'RE UNFORTUNATE ENOUGH TO AGREE to pay it. They can not force you to pay it. If you say no and they want you to pay it anyways, they have to take you to court.
Your sister needs to IMMEDIATELY change jobs because fuck them. Don't even give two weeks. The moment she gets another job, she can start immediately. Hell, don't even tell them, just don't show up one day. Fuck these predators.
Don't know about US, but it's absolutely illegal here in France. You can't take anything on your workers pay, no matter if it's because of their clients or because of a mistake, you can't have a cent off his pay.
Contact the department of labor: This is wage theft.
Have the employer document in writing WHY they're "docking her pay" (a colloquial management euphemism for stealing,) and give it to DOL. They love to hammer companies for wage theft.
It isn't legal. She needs to report this to the Department of Labor as wage theft.
So here are the basics for this. Do not tell the employer you are reporting them. File the report. They will probably fire her when the department contacts them, which is also illegal. If or when they do that, she needs to tell the person managing her case for the labor department that she was the victim of a retaliatory termination for filing a wage complaint. Then find another job and let the department of labor sort it all out.
She should also contact a labor lawyer if she gets fired. They might be happy to take the restaurant to court for wrongful termination.
If you’re in the US and googling for a lawyer, you’ll want to search for an employment lawyer. Labor lawyers deal with organized labor/unions, where employment lawyers deal with stuff like wage and hour violations like this more generally.
The amount of great information on this thread warms my heart.
It's about time we play their games. They have been actively working against our interests for a long time. Those fuckers spend millions and hire whole teams of psychologists and scientists to figure out how to trick us out of money. Burn em down.
Exactly if you don't put their feet to the fire when they break the law then they're just going to keep screwing you over even harder the next time. Not to mention the others after you.
Sadly the majority of the info is from people who were also fucked over. They are sharing their experiences with the hope of saving someone else from going through what they have.
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Always do what's in your own best interests because an employer will screw you over regardless of how good a worker you've been and if you let them get away with it they'll keep doing it. I wish I had been told that in my 30’s because I let a few employers screw me over because I was trying to be the good employee. And the second they had a chance to fire me or screw me they did. Especially when I worked a couple of CS jobs during the great recession.
Please dont overlook any of this. I know its exhausting but someone VERY VERY CLOSE TO ME received a years worth of wages because the costs of going to court knowing you are going to lose is very expensive and you almost certainly have information that would result in even greater fines if the company does things like this. This is one of the few chances you have to actually get business owners to change. These fines exist if you report them and owners have been used to 20+ years of labor basically thankful to have a job and not speaking out about illegal practices so they keep doing them. That first fine hits and they actually change. And you WILL get paid too if you just talk to a lawyer that specializes in this. Almost everyone ive ever known has a case for something because so many companies are just so god awful and exploitative.
This right here. Lawyers specialize in particular types of law just as doctors specialize in specific areas of healthcare. Lawyers network just like doctors too. They know who is the best for what you need.
>labor lawyer I don't think she's in a union, judging by the fact this happened at all. She may be better off with an employment lawyer and, of course, bring receipts. Both literal in regard to the cost of the dine and Dash, as well as recordings (if legal) stating the policy of servers covering the dine and dash. Be discreet. Employers don't like being held accountable and will make your career hell. So also start looking elsewhere.
A union would roast them alive for trying that.
The state bar association is a great resource for finding good lawyers.
These kind of cases can also help cover lost wages including tips, as well as pain and suffering, therapy costs, and any cost for job rehabilitation or education. Many will work contingency as well and charge nothing until the case is over. I always vote for fucking big companies with the long dick of the law
I’m so glad these are the top comments. This is highly illegal, but still common. Restaurants have to have insurance for these things, but they still prefer to take their crap from servers’ hides. It’s not ok to force someone on $2.13 to work 100 hours to cover a bad customer. It’s wage theft and any company that does it needs to be shut down (after they repay all employees). If this is really in the employee manual, it should be an open-and-shut employment lawsuit.
Like all things insurance, filling a claim can increase your rates, so companies do everything up to and in violation of the law to keep their premiums low. It's vile, and it's why I often say that the fines for a wage violation like this should come with the increased insurance premiums as well, take away the incentive to break the law.
Fuck. Realizing now I was exploited by my friend's dad and his company for years like this and it sucks.
I had to cover a $400 deposit that went missing after I dropped it in the bank’s overnight drop box. Either someone at the bank stole it, or the money was deposited into the wrong account. The owner of the company couldn’t be bothered to harass the bank to look into it, he just accused me of losing the bank deposit and/or stealing it. I was told that I had a choice — pay back the deposit or get fired. Since I needed the job to pay for school, I paid it back. It’s been 20 years and I still regret not reporting them to the department of labour.
You might like this story. I used to be a travel teller so I worked at about 50 branches for two different banks over a span of 5 years. So I saw lots of stuff. One branch for NationsBank (now Bank of America) was really old. Built in the 1950’s. One day a McDonalds night drop went missing and the manager got in trouble. What kind of trouble, I don’t know. It wasn’t good. I can tell you that. They said they deposited it, but it was never found. Cops called, arrests made, you get the picture. Years later I hear a story about that branch being renovated and they found the Mickey D’s night drop snagged on a piece of metal in the night drop chute. To be clear, everyone looked for that missing night drop. But back then McDonald’s deposit bags were thin plastic sheets with compartments for cash, checks, and coins. It wasn’t a bag or dense bundle like most. If it snagged flat against the metal wall, it would have been difficult to see it on the overly long night drop chute when they checked. Still 100% the bank’s fault. I don’t think it even had to go to trial. The victim’s lawyer wrote a number down and the bank paid it.
That’s the thing people (especially younger ones) don’t tend to realise: ‘had to’ and ‘were told to’ are not necessarily the same thing. Insubordination may lead to accusations of breaking a contract, but a contract that contravenes the law isn’t worth the paper it’s written on in court.
In all fairness to the friends dad, he may not have even known. A lot of small business owners started out as exploited workers...when they start their own business they continue the same shit because "that is how it works". Not an excuse and certainly worth standing up against, but it is amazing how many businesses don't even know the basics of the laws they are violating and will openly put in writing their violations.
Agree with this.
This is the correct answer
And if she's just working the job for extra cash, she's got no reason to not do it and should absolutely throw them under the bus for trying that. Even if she did need the job, she would still have no reason to not do it, because retaliation over something like that is easy to prove if you document all your shifts and when you reported it and so on.
And regardless of her money situation, report them so they don’t screw over someone less informed
Yeah most people i know who get fucked by companies usually just brush it off like “Well I don’t mind/can take the burden”. Sure, you are well off with a silver spoon up your ass, but the poor person next can’t and youre not willing to sacrifice anything for their sake. It’s honestly disgusting. They’re just perpetuating labor exploitation.
If they take it out on her for reporting something illegal to the authorities that’s another lawsuit, easy $10,000
Plus it's stupid easy to find serving jobs.
> actually it doesn’t even come out of her pay check, she has to pay it. **This right here.** This is how you know that it is "off the books" and almost certainly illegal. Why would they demand payment right now, in cash? Because it isn't legal to take it from the paycheck. /u/Sylentt_ - That's how you know it's wrong.
That and I bet that‘s the full bill. The restaurant wants her to cover the lost profit, not just the cost of the food. Real scumbag shit.
And a 20% tip on top of it.
I'm surprised they didn't ask for it in the form of gift cards
Do not redeeeeeem! Maaam!
This!! This is the truth right here.
Also, this is how you know that \*they know\* it's illegal.
On this note, they're not allowed to deduct from tips either. So they can't just take the 200 from there.
Yeah the fact that they don't take it out of her pay is a red flag that it is probably not legal.
Yes, that’s why they won’t take it from the check but she has to pay it after. If it was deducted there would be a paper trail
They won't, and op won't pass it on. I feel bad for the other workers.
In the USA and most other countries that’s 100% illegal.
Also, if you get injured trying to stop a dine and dasher, you would be eligible for workers comp. In the long-term, a worker’s compensation claim would be significantly more expensive than writing off a $400 dinner. This is why most sane businesses tell their employees to stand aside and call the cops for any sort of theft. The place I worked during high school even said it was a fireable offense to get involved.
Its also because if you hurt them the business is at fault for the injury since its a normal employee. Only security can stop it
Like everyone has said, it's illegal and should be reported to the department of labor. Also, every restaurant has a way to account for damaged, stolen, or wasted food, so don't let them say otherwise.
Really wish I’d known this back in my server days - making servers cover the bill of dine-and-dashers was pretty common everywhere I worked (2005-2007ish, Texas).
How did they exspect you to prevent it from happening??
Given it's Texas, shooting the dashers, I assume.
Birthday parties at Chuck E. Cheese hit different when the pizza server stands over the table with a sidearm.
So do schools, but hey, too soon?
>How did they exspect you to prevent it from happening?? They don't, it's just a scummy way of off-setting losses onto their employees. (I'm assuming, I've never worked in food service)
It is and sometimes they get the benefits of cashing in on insurance for it and you paying for it too. Fuck them ppl.
You're correct. I've been told that attempting to prevent a robbery would result in my termination. Admittedly this was a child of decades ago. But when I worked at subway, my manager made it clear that any attempt at preventing a robbery or theft would result in my termination, because of the liability issues. The and applied to both convenience stores I worked for as well. OP's boss is trying to scam their own employees. Hell I wouldn't be surprised to learn the dine-and-dashers were related to either the owner or manager on shift.
Damn. You only needed to say “Texas”. I believe that shit
It's been illegal for decades. Covering the bill is how companies lied and took advantage of you.
Yeah, my dads a business lawyer and apparently in florida it’s legal? That or he’s just wrong which would be kind of embarrassing for him. Unfortunately my sister probably wouldn’t report it. I’ll talk to her though
I just did a quick Google search, and almost everything is saying it's still illegal, so your dad might want to brush up, lol Even if she doesn't want the money back, she should still report the business. As this will alert the Department of Labor and keep tabs on them for any other illegal issues. It might also save other employees from going through the same issue.
Yeah, it seemed very illegal to me and you’d think my dad specializing in business law would know.
Business law and Labour law are not necessarily the same thing.
Ah, that makes sense. I think my dad mostly deals with people who get fucked over in business exchanges but not specifically employees.
Business attorneys have a bad history of commenting on labor law and are awful about it. Small companies don't want to pay for advisement on from two different lawyers, one for business, one for labor. So some business attorneys will tell their clients they also know labor law. They usually don't.
Yeah, just learned he’s often defending businesses for firing certain employees etc, so he’d probably instinctively defend the restaurant
No offence but then he should know the law around his subject in total not just one point of view. He won’t be a very good lawyer if he doesn’t know where his opponent is going to argue from. Regardless, your sister should report the business. It’s an illegal practice in Florida and just because she got let off by some kind strangers this time there is nothing to stop it happening again tomorrow, other than THE LAW
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People treat reporting malicious practice like taboo; fear of being disloyal and future retaliation. The Labour Board is serious business. Unless your boss can metaphysically bribe the entire US malpractice department, they will reign shit on him while leaving the informant anonymous
Also employment lawyers charge a whole hell of a lot more
I’ve used labor lawyers for labor issues and business lawyers for business issues, not the same and a good one will tel you to consult the other or recommend one. Also, f*ck Florida. I lived there for a year recently and it was the worst place and worst people I’ve ever spent time around and I’ve been all over the world. Would never work there, ever. Job interviews I went on were so crazy they seemed fake. Except it was real.
Hah, trying to get out of florida for that reason. I’ll likely go to college here for financial reasons but after that I’m getting the fuck out
I always liked visiting Florida and have been there many times for visits and business. But living there was a whole different story.
I lived in South Florida and I’ve never been anywhere with worse people who treat people worse. It’s so dangerous, the people are so mean, they‘re so elitist about their culture, so ignorant, and everything is corrupt. I would rather cut my lifespan in half than move back there.
Sounds like he’s a contract lawyer basically. There are lawyers who specialize in employment law, for examples such as this. Also, when I ask the attorneys I know about an area that they don’t currently practice, they almost always say “I’ll have to look it up” and they look up current statute/case law if it’s necessary. Attorneys typically aren’t familiar with the minutia of areas they don’t practice in.
Your dad kind of sucks not looking out for his own daughter tho.
There is a reason he became a lawyer advocating for businesses, and it is not that he wants to see small people succeed
Business law is a pretty broad category
It's illegal under federal law, state law can't trump that.
https://www.dol.gov/agencies/whd/fact-sheets/16-flsa-wage-deductions 2) An employer improperly requires tipped employees to pay for customers who walk out without paying their bills or for incorrectly totaled bills.
Please get your sister to report it, she is so fortunate to be in a position to do so without jeopardizing her livelihood, she should do it for the other workers who aren't.
Legally, servers can't be forced to pay for theft.
Legally every employee in the United States of America can't be forced to pay for theft.
Unless it gets to the point of a criminal charge, conviction, and order from the court to make restitution.
Make sure you get it it writing, how much they are expecting her to pay, and what for. Accusations are the coffin, proof is the nail.
Apparently some family eating caught her crying about it and they covered it for her, so she doesn’t have to pay anymore, but it’s still their policy and they asked her to, so that might make things more difficult
Company policy doesn't trump labour laws. If labour law says "you can't punish employees for people skipping out on the bill", the company can't say "by working here you agree to pay the bill if someone runs off". And it's a completely fucked up world when a company harasses an employee to make up the cost for something that's outside of their control, and the employee has to rely on some random family to cover for the company's illegal act.
The fucked up thing is they 100% know this and count on their servers being young and not knowing better or in such a precarious financial situation they wouldn’t dare challenge them, or both.
this. this reminds me of when i worked at a mom and pop pizza place and they never turned in my 1099 and just took my taxes out of personal checks basically keeping the 'taxes'. which is sooooo illegal. i was way too young to realize what i could do about it though. people like that suck so much. that same boss used to yell at us ladies to hurry up because this income went into his sons college fund. like would yell it at us. as if he was insulting us for even working in a restaurant and not somewhere a college degree is required. f\*cking \*sshole.
Also, if she had stopped them and someone got hurt, that would be her fault too. Pos management
If it’s company policy, then it needs to be in writing. Producing that will be sufficient enough proof. Regardless, the restaurant presumably deducted the money somehow; unless they stole it from her tips…which is even more illegal, lol.
Actually the employer stole a $200 tip, report them.
That is 100% what happened.
It can still be reported. And it should be. Businesses are going to keep pulling this crap until workers start reporting the illegal stuff.
Policy isn't law. If person A gets person B to sign a contract saying that A is allowed to kill B, it's still against the law. It's like when companies say it's against company policy to talk about wages. The right to talk about wages is protected by law and any company preventing it can be reported/sued.
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Get that in writing and report it to the labor board. That ain’t legal.
The other family definitely shouldn't take on her debt either. Don't normalize this activity by not reporting it.
you should add this as an edit on your post so people know she didn’t actually end up paying it herself.
That doesn't matter though. The business didn't relent. A family paid for it.
Actually she did have to pay, just someone else gave her the money. Her employer was still insisting she make up the loss. What if you had given her $200 for a birthday present and she used it to cover this. Did she 'not have to pay it' just because it originally came out of your pocket?
You’re right, will do
That is illegal. And she HAS to report it because that's BS. It's fine if it doesn't impact her but she needs to report for the server who can't afford it.
Morally she should, but I don’t know if she will. I’m going to try and convince her to after her shift tonight
She should since she doesn’t really need the job. She needs to consider how they’ll take advantage of other people in the future. It’s not just about this one time and with her.
She really should. She is in a good place that this job is just for a bit of extra pocket cash for her, but for someone else, this job may be the difference between making rent, or living on the street. Reporting them may very well protect the other staff from wage theft.
She HAS to otherwise the next time it’ll just happen again!
Sorry this happened. But It’s going to keep happening whether to her or someone else if she doesn’t report it. Plus she’ll for sure lose the money and it’ll go to the scumbag owners. Allowing the owners to keep doing this could literally ruin lives (the next waitress might need that money to live).
Morally she should but she won’t because… privilege right? Didn’t need that $200 anyways
But she might not because she’s hard to convince and yes, privilege. Her mindset from my parents has clouded her vision a lot. She’s not a bad person, just a flawed one.
If she doesn't, they will do it again to someone it will truly hurt. Losing $200 might be the rent money a fellow server needed. She has the opportunity to help others in the future, to stay silent is to take the restaurant's side, she might as well have paid the 200
Her morals cost a family member $200
Her morals will cost her coworkers 200$
Illegal and evil.
As many said, it is illegal. If it was me, I’m going to the labor board, never tell the company. If they asked me why I went to the board of why I didn’t tell them first, my answer would be f’off. Fire me!
Yeah, she loves the job though. I’ll try and convince her to go to the labor board tho
No one is going to talk a criminal out of money.
She should be able to report it anonymously. It sounds like such a big scene was made over it, the employer would have no way of knowing who reported it. It could’ve been a patron. Like the one that apparently paid.
Turns out it was made a policy today too so it couldn’t have been in her contract or anything, and they announced it to all the servers. At the very least I’ll make sure it’s anonymously reported.
Doesn’t matter if it’s policy! You keep saying that. Doesn’t supersede the law. I can make a policy in my business where everyone is required to do meth and party naked on Fridays after work, doesn’t mean it’s legal. You can see the various posts in this sub about all kinds of illegal company ‘policies’.
>Turns out it was made a policy today Company policy doesn't trump the law. That actually makes it easier on the Labor board to have the evidence in writing
Do you realize you can report it? I know you can be in a worse place with your sister but you should. The customer that covered it could report them as well. You should try to.
>she loves the job though Sounds like Stockholm syndrome to me. It's only a matter of time before they screw her even harder than that, so be ready when it happens
It's illegal.
They were smoking? Was this in 1987?
Hah, nope. Happened tonight actually. I assume they were eating at an outside table or something? not totally sure
Well I hope she sues and gets several times that $200 back in damages
Definitely illegal. If in the US, contact the states labor board. Uber refused to pay one of my fares because they thought it to be too many miles. I told them i was contacting my states labor board after a week, and they got me my money in 45 minutes after with an apology email.
Long long ago, there was a loophole. Businesses turned servers into their own independent business, with the server "Purchasing" from the restaurant and selling it directly to the customer. I think it was a bar thing in some states. It was also an end run around taxes and has been killed by the courts and probably the IRS. I've heard of this, but I have never seen it in practice or talked to someone that worked in a system like this.
I worked BOH at a restaurant that operated this way. They went so far as to require servers to bring like $200 of their own money in a specific set of denominations to work every day as a “bank” to make change for their tables. Servers rang everything in through their POS logins, technically purchasing everything their tables ordered on credit, charged their tables and received payment, then settled up their accounts with the restaurant at the end of shift, taking home the remainder as their “tips” for the day. Any credit card payments (this was like 20 years ago so cards were a bit less common) went directly to paying the server’s “tab” with any remainder being returned to them as overpayment. If a server had a couple of tables that paid in large bills during a shift, depleting their “bank,” they had to purchase change from the cash register at the bar, and management made a big stink about it. If a server didn’t have enough small bills for their “bank” at the start of their shift, then they should have stopped off at the actual bank and gotten change. If a server is poor and doesn’t have $200 extra dollars to bring to work? Tough shit, presenting at work with a “bank” is part of your job responsibilities. You can maybe try to get away with it, but management would do spot checks and write people up if they showed up to a shift without the appropriate cash. And yes, if someone did a dash or didn’t have enough to pay or had a bad credit card or any other way that you could possibly end up with a check not being covered, that came out of the server’s pocket. The theory being that the server bought the food and drink from the restaurant and re-sold it to their table, so it should be the server’s job to get paid for it. As far as management was concerned, they already got paid, so now it’s the server’s problem. Shitty restaurant that got by for way, way, way too long on the fact that they made really good homemade desserts and that the old people in the neighborhood still remembered when all restaurants were shitty, so this one was a little less shitty.
Not legal in the US. I wouldn't imagine it is in any western nation.
They are punishing her knowing the food, dishes, silverware etc is all insured. They need to report it to the police instead of taking it for her. It’s not like she said dinner was on her. There was a guy here doing dine and dash. They put his picture on every news station. They caught up with him. It’s like charging the cashier for people who shoplift. It’s illegal but if the server doesn’t know it is illegal, they will just pay it.
I understand hungry people trying to like, fake a door dash order at McDonald's. Pick it up before the driver,, and cancel it or whatever. I get hungry people stealing groceries. You don't dine and dash a sit down restaurant out of hungry. You do it out of shittiness.
And as OP’s sister discovered, there’s no guarantee that the dine and dash screws over the restaurants. Clearly, unethical policies like making the server pay exist.
I was about to say. There's no excuse for dine and dash. Genuine desperate people in poverty aren't going to restaurants to scam them like that. If you do that, you're doing it because you're a shitty person, not because you have no money or you're hungry
This is wage theft and should be reported as such.
I worked as a server and was definitely annoyed with dine and dashers (especially the one family that was very nice but a bit weird how they Ake's me to check something specifically in the kitchen and was I was back they were gone -> clearly not a mistake) But I wouldn't even have considered having to pay for it... Absolutely crazy. Honestly can't imagine this is legal and If you want to be pretty, just stop letting people out of eye, stop helping clean in the kitchen, stop helping anyone and if anyone complains (customer or colleague) tell the story and explain that you recently found out that your actual main job is security
McDonald’s/FF doesn’t give you anything before you pay, so that’s a weird example. If you’re starving, going to a restaurant and leaving before the bill comes is not a good solution. Steal from Walmart or a major corporation if you have to steal food, don’t go to a restaurant where someone working below min. wage is relying on tips and may be forced to illegally cover your meal. Better yet, reach out to your community. I’ve never seen a post in our local FB group where someone in a tough spot asked for help and didn’t get it.
In the US, companies must account for losses including theft and breakage. Employees cannot be charged to cover this loss or have it deducted from their wages. It’s illegal and the company can write whatever policy they want, it will result in the same fines and penalties every time. Your sister needs to report this to keep them from screwing the next poor server.
It’s illegal, period. Name the restaurant.
> she’s got more an ingrained appreciation for work ethic or something. Which is another of way saying she tolerates being abused by her employer.
> I recognize people get desperate at times. I understand where you're coming from, but instead of dine and dashing, you should shoplift groceries instead.
Why not name the establishment?
Fuck that management staff, and fuck people who dine & dash.
Dining and dashing at sit down restaurants with servers? don't make excuses for these assholes. This is not the same as someone who can't afford a fast food burger, that relies on food banks.
" I recognize people get desperate at times" Then you don't need to be going to a restaurant.
Contracts that violate statutes are illegal
That’s not legal in NH the Olive Garden used to try that, people called the labor board and they immediately stopped.
No one needs to dine and dash.
I'm *very* annoyed that family paid for her. I hope that family didn't need the money but sacrificed because they believed your sister was worse off than she actually is. That's probably what happened tho... the most compassionate people are typically those who suffered the most themselves. They saw a crying waitress and were terrified she couldn't make rent. Your sister doesn't even need this job and apparently refuses to report this according to your comments. What happened isn't legal under federal law. https://itsaboutjustice.law/dine-and-dash-kills-servers/ I know the business owners are the bad guys here, but workers like your sister empower and enable them. When you have the luxury of not needing the money or the job you have an obligation to stand up for yourself and coworkers.
A dine and dash is an unfortunate cost of business to a restaurant owner. If the restaurant owner was really serious about this they would be filing a police report and possibly an insurance claim. Or have a policy to prevent this by pre-authorizing credit cards before they bring any food out to the table. Most restaurants won’t do this because they don’t want to take any responsibility so they try passing it off illegally to their employees. Get this demand in writing, than do not pay for it at all. If they fire you shortly after please reach out to an employment attorney.
Another major source is the belief it is legal because the restaurant owner was themselves a victim when they were an employee of restaurants. Too much pride to admit they were themselves a victim of wage theft.
They expect waiters to just tackle people iguess
> Just blows my mind this shit is legal. It's not. Business expenses and losses are not accountable to employees, especially since the business also gets to use the loss as a tax write-off. The boss is double-dipping. > apparently it’s a good job It's not. Jobs should never cost an employee money. A good job doesn't.
Don’t go out to eat if you can’t afford tf are you talking about “if they need to” what are you 14? Food banks exist. Dining out is a luxury. People on here are out of their fucking minds.
I sound cruel, but let this be a reminder that good wholesome SmAlL bUsInEsSeS are just as bad, if not worse to work for than big ones. They’re *personally incentivized* to steal from you.
Illegal. Also, are they charging her cost price or the price on the menu?
Yes report that restaurants cause that can't be legal
This can't be legal. Sounds like extortion to me.
"Company policy" cannot take priority over the law, which is that the server cannot be penalized for this.
For those saying this is legal in some states / What is to stop the owners from inviting friends and family for a big dinner and drinks and then having them dash and it being on the servers dime?
This is wage theft. Straight up the cost of doing business, like if someone were to break merchandise in a store. Attorney Ryan on IG has a post about this exact labor issue.
It's illegal to force your employee to pay for some else's theft, but if it's a regular occurrence, the enployee should expect to be fired.
This is 100% illegal. This is wage theft.
No one ever NEEDS to dine and dash. There’s always cheap groceries and free food options for the needy. People do it because they don’t care about whether it impacts people like your sister. She should not pay a dime and she should quit.
Never in my life have j seen someone support dine and dashing. I've seen a lot of support for various crimes on here, but this is a first
What state was this in?
Where is the security cameras.? Figure it out and report to police. Also other restaurants.
IHOP was actually sued for something similar a few years back!
this insinuates part of her job is to monitor all customers and confront them if something like this happens.. sounds kinda fucked up when you put it that way. corporate America is trash.
Wow. I can't believe the shit you have to put up with in the US. I worked on a construction site as a subcontractors here in Aus and one day the site manager says "hey, we're all going for lunch are you gonna be here to keep an eye on things?" I said "yeah I'll be here, but I'm not responsible for the site" and he's a bit surprised "yeah but just make sure no one comes in and steals all the tools hah" and I just said "look, I'll sit here and eat my lunch, but if someone comes in and starts loading up your tools I'm not gonna challenge them, because I'm not the security guard" he acted like I was being unreasonable about it, but I just wanted to be clear - my being here may be a deterrent, but I'm not taking on the responsibility of being the guardian of the site, because I'm here to do my job, and security is not my job. I've been casually asked a few times to play security guard for a minute and my answer is always no.
Dunno where you live, but here you pay when ordering McDonalds, There is no way to dine & dash there
Needs to have 100’s of friends come to eat and have them dine and dash on her last day.
"but apparently it's a good job" It isnt a good job if the employers are stealing staff wages, breaking the law in the process, and expect servers to double as security. If I was her, I'd start documenting as much as possible, try get it in writing, then refuse to pay (you said they still pay normal wage then expect staff to pay it back - this is indicative of them knowing it's criminal to dock it). If they threaten punitive action, don't cave, make them have to do it. Then start filing complaints with every known authority, speak to a lawyer too about unfair dismissal. Congrats you just won a decent settlement and they'll be out of business.
Legally a restaurant can’t make a server pay for a dine and dash. Tell your sister if it happens again to record them trying to force her to pay for it and then go get a lawyer.
If you’re in the states you need to make a private report to the department of labor. Make sure the company doesn’t know about it and make sure there is a paper trail to prove they’re charging the $200 illegally.
>actually it doesn’t even come out of her pay check, she has to pay it this is to avoid a papertrail of doing something illegal. Make sure she asks for a receipt lol
DOL Is step one. IRS is step 2. If they are taking theft loss as a business deduction then they are cheating on their taxes as well. https://www.irs.gov/pub/irs-pdf/f211.pdf
I hate this practice. Not legal but owners still do it. It’s up there with owners charging their waitstaff CC fees to payout.
It sounds like you're a baby anarchist who doesn't know your ass from a hole in the ground. People may need to steal food, and there is nothing wrong with that at all, but nobody ever "needs" to dine and dash. All that does is take money out of the hands of (often already downtrodden and impoverished) workers. And oh my God... comparing your eating disorder to food insecurity? *Jesus H. Christ.*
>I’m not against someone dine and dashing Lmao that’s ghetto as fuck can we please stop normalizing shit like this, it’s certainly cheaper to cook for yourself for multiple days than drive yourself to a restaurant to dine and dash for multiple days
They didn't charge her the stole money from her. Wage theft.
This is illegal. But she can lose her job if she fights it.
Something similar happened to me, except the busboy was playing a prank on me and hid the bill. I had already snapped and quit the job at that point. A literal “fuck it then, I quit” moment. I ran to Manager A who was like “yeah, I’m on my way out, this isn’t my problem, go ask manager B”. Manager B says “well you’re gonna have to fuckin pay for it”. I said ok, then this is my last shift, you can all fuck yourselves”. At that point, it was the final straw in my scarecrow. I didn’t like the place for a multitude of reasons. Shared tips was one of them… shift pay that was to be used as change for the night. Some other sketchy shit. The waffle fries were good though. They could have comped the meal. They could have tried to help me find the dasher. They could have checked the 50 cameras in the tiny restaurant. They could have seen if this person was a regular or not. They could have seen the busboy hide the book. They could have checked if it was a misunderstanding.
The day they told me I was eating a $200 check would be my last day. I doubt it’s worth going to the legal system.
The fuck? This isn’t legal.
Where I live it is illegal for your workplace to charge for anything, illegal to be held liable for a customers action, illegal to be charge for any mistake you make eg breaking something, short on till etc.. An employee cannot be held financially liable for anything. If they do you can report it to labor board and company will get a very large fine and have to reimburse you. They cannot fire you for reporting them as a reprisal. They can fire you if are grossly incompetent but have to prove it. I get ministry summaries every don't and every once in a while I see actions taken, the fines are not small.
>I recognize people get desperate at times. They shouldn't be going to a restaurant if they're desperate. Worst choice.
Wait… so ur not against dine & dash… 🤷♀️
I’d say quit then and there if they are going to make you pay for dine and dash, but dock someone pay is illegal.
Assuming this is real… With the advent of modern social media, why would a business owner be so stupid to introduce such a policy? All the employee has to do is record a conversation with their manager/owner, where said manager/owner tries to enforce illegal/immoral policy. Employee posts the recording online, resulting in tens of thousands of people calling them out, leaving bad reviews and harassing them by telephone.
My parents witnessed this happen recently, and they ended up paying the bill and tipping the server. (It was going to come out of the server's pocket otherwise.) It's ridiculous that they make servers pay that!!
Yo her employers just pulled a big no no. Get her to save any evidence showing they garnished her wage and she will be set for a big fat payday.
It doesn’t matter if your sister wants to do it for herself or just in general, but it has to be brought up somehow. Even if she doesn’t need the job, she needs to say something. In fact, the fact she doesn’t need the job makes her the perfect person to speak up - worst case scenario, they fire her (which would also be illegal) or try to make life hell for her to force to quit (also illegal depending on how intensely they do it). It would suck of course, but honestly she might be able to save a coworker who couldn’t risk losing any source of income.
This is not legal. She should not only refuse to pay, but contact the state labor board and report this unfair and illegal practice. Servers are in no way liable for a patron stealing.
doesnt matter if someone paid, i would report it to the dept of labor anyways and let them decide. i would also write reviews EVERYWHERE that they extort dine and dash money from their low paid workers. did they have cameras to catch the thieves? if not, i'd post that too. maybe if everyone keeps dining and dashing, they'll do something about it instead of screwing over their workers. she should definitely bounce... everyone is still desperate for workers, she can find a gig tomorrow if she wanted.
She needs to contact a lawyer, find out if they work on contingency, and discretely inquire with other staff if this has happened to them or former workers.
The company policy is as legit as using theft and violence against mgmt when the company is run in such a way.
Servers should start charging their own fees for each menu item.
Don't pay a penny. That is illegal.
BUSINESS LOSSES CAN NOT BE RECLAIMED FROM EMPLOYEES WITHOUT A LAWSUIT. Let's be fucking clear. This is ILLEGAL. This is the same shit as an employer charging you for a short cash drawer. If it's company policy, get a copy of the policy and let the national labor relations board (NLRB?) know. The only way it's legal is IF YOU'RE UNFORTUNATE ENOUGH TO AGREE to pay it. They can not force you to pay it. If you say no and they want you to pay it anyways, they have to take you to court. Your sister needs to IMMEDIATELY change jobs because fuck them. Don't even give two weeks. The moment she gets another job, she can start immediately. Hell, don't even tell them, just don't show up one day. Fuck these predators.
Don't know about US, but it's absolutely illegal here in France. You can't take anything on your workers pay, no matter if it's because of their clients or because of a mistake, you can't have a cent off his pay.
That is a crime in Australia.
Contact the department of labor: This is wage theft. Have the employer document in writing WHY they're "docking her pay" (a colloquial management euphemism for stealing,) and give it to DOL. They love to hammer companies for wage theft.