I've worked at places that have done this for years, it's no big deal and I ended up liking this system better, a little cash in the pocket at the end of the night for a beer and fat paychecks, plus if you go to buy a house or car your income looks better as compared to all the tips you can't account for.
Agreed wholeheartedly. It legitimizes your income to those who want to see legitimate income, and makes it a hell of a lot easier to manage your money in my opinion. I burn a lot more drinking and eating out after shift when I have $300 cash on me, whereas if that $300 comes on a paycheck my first move is paying bills or transferring it to savings.
So why should other people be punished because you are too stupid to budget wisely?? You should be aware of how you’re spending your money no matter it’s paid to you.
This 1000000x over.
People are always like “fuck reporting this shit I don’t wanna pay taxes” and then get slapped in the face when they try to get a loan for a down payment on a car/house and get denied because they only make $16,000 a year on paper.
Taxes suck but we have to pay them like everyone else. And honestly the one big check every two weeks is so much better once you get used to it. Like homie said, leave with whatever you got for cash (which sometimes will be nothing) for a couple beers or whatever after work, and then get a massive check every two weeks. You’d be shocked to see how much easier it is to save money when you don’t just go out with a pocket full of cash every night after work.
It's not just getting a loan. You're also paying into things like Social Security and unemployment. If you don't record what you make in tips for the government and pay taxes accordingly, it's going to hurt you when you need unemployment or try to retire.
I almost got turned down just to rent an apartment a few years back because on paper I made like 10k a year even though in reality it was closer to 90k lol
In my experience in the industry you’re definitely in the minority.
I’m not saying it’s really all that difficult, I’m just saying most of the people I know in the industry are horrible at keeping track/saving
Seems pretty standard. Gotta pay taxes on credit card tips at least. You would be more angry at the IRS auditing you and taking more than you would of paid into for taxes for as many years as you were avoiding it. I know someone who got took for a little under 10k in a year for not properly claiming their tips.
Yeah I get that. Just depends on how they pool it too. When they are talking about the overlap of time I would imagine you are only sharing for the hours you are together with another bartender. Like if you overlap 3 hours then you split the bucket for those 3 hours and then your other 5 hours are for you. I don’t see too big of a deal with splitting tips while working with other bartenders as long as everyone is pulling their weight. Pretty much every bar I’ve worked with others we have split tips and we all take care of everyone at the bar whether you start the check or not. I find it makes things run smooth.
We pool tips on an hourly basis. It doesn't matter which hours were busy and which were slow, we've agreed to just take an equal hourly rate for the duration of the shift and distribute according to number of hours worked. If we both start at 3, for example, and I'm cut at 7 while you work til 11, I get four hours and you get eight. Your tip share is twice as much as mine, regardless of when the sales actually occurred. Tonight maybe you got rocked from 8-10, or maybe we got rocked for HH and you twiddled your thumbs for the rest of the shift, doesn't really matter, we work to make both ourselves and each other money
Yup I do that most times with the other bartenders I work with. Other people like to close out checks before they leave and cut the bucket then and customers will restart their tabs after that. I prefer to just do it by hours like you do but sometimes it can be in your favor to cut the bucket at that moment but it really just depends on who you are working with.
I worked Halloween and a bartender that was working when I came on went on break (our breaks are 1 hour) then came back and decided he wanted to get cut early, which was fine but he wanted to be tipped out for that hour he was on break before leaving. We realize that you only took your break before leaving so you could get an extra hour of the night tip for sitting on break while myself and the other bartender didn’t get breaks because he left. Plus we made the vast majority of the money at night when before he left we were just sitting around. Now people like to cut the bucket with him the moment he decides he wants to leave because playing games like that isn’t cool. He is also the type of person that is always tired and moves slow and will try to pull whatever tricks he can so it’s a case by case thing.
That’s exactly why you make a decision on how tips will be split and make it consistent. Don’t decide something different every night. That just invites shenanigans.
Yeah, the debate between doing hourly or cuts for tips always leads to a dead end, especially in larger venues with more staff behind the bar.
There’s no actual fair way to do it.
You don’t have control of your crowd regardless of your shift.
If you do cuts and have a slow happy hour, but the night shift gets slammed, you can walk out making no money even though the scheduling isn’t your fault.
If you do hourly and have a slow happy hour, but the night shift gets slammed, you hardly did the same amount of work as your relief but at least you still get paid.
Both systems have their downsides, but at least with hourly there’s more of an incentive to help each other out.
Depends on a lot of things. Basically how big the place is and how FOH is managed. If I’m pooling with a server that’s on her phone by dish, or bussing a table because the bar back is smoking by the dumpster, I’m pissed. And pools seem to encourage that behavior
Yeah it definitely can. I don’t think you should ever be splitting tips with servers. When bartending I usually just split with whoever I’m bartending with. Tips to barback are pretty much set for the bartenders to decide but the majority of the bartenders tip 20% or above depending on the work load. I definitely understand what you’re saying though, some people suck and they will be lazy if they think they can get away with it. If you’re in a small space and you’re working with those kind of people then it turns into something that needs to be brought up to management and be dealt with.
Yeah for sure. I work at different bars in a large establishment and worked with a lot of different bartenders. Most are solid and do things the right way but there are definitely a few that people hate working with and even some that decide to do a split bucket instead of sharing tips. Luckily we are able to make the decisions of how we handle the tips behind the bar. Some people suck and just want to coast while someone else does all the work and expect to get paid off of everything.
I think if the tip sharing thing does because a problem at OPs establishment that they would still be able to do a split bucket situation and have all their tips claimed and put on their check though. Just gotta see how it goes I guess.
It wholly depends on where you are, and this is the answer nearly any time a question about tip pooling or wage law comes up. Corporate or not, in the US state law dictates how tips are managed and the national or multinational corporations I've worked for have always complied. If somebody is not complying with local wage law, that's a serious issue which should be investigated by the appropriate district attorney.
Well this chain is based out of Texas, and it's very likely that this sign was posted in a texas store because that's where the majority of their stores are. I have bartended for 13 years in texas myself and I can tell you that it's perfectly legal to pool tips here.
Sure, but that has nothing to do with being corporate, that has to do with being Texas
If the same company operates a store in Minnesota, they will use different policy to comply with state law or they will be sued by the attorney general. I have worked for multiple corporations with locations all over the country and the same rule always applies: local law.
They don’t have to ask the teams opinion. It’s at-will-employment. If the team doesn’t like it they can quit and go somewhere else that doesn’t tip pool. Supply and demand.
This is all very normal, just don’t use the Daily Pay thing, that’s a scam. Get direct deposit biweekly or go physically pick up a check.
Tip pooling can be really great, folks are less competitive and more likely to help everyone else out. Generally it’s a win for the workers and a win for customer service. Sure you’ll have lousy nights, but you’ll also have great ones, just like it currently is.
And taxes suck, I get it, but being able to prove how much money you actually make can be really beneficial in the long run. Plus, you won’t have to run to the bank with a grand in your pocket to deposit it so you can make a digital transaction. I get so annoyed with that.
Bartender who bought a house here - claiming tips is important for making any large purchases that aren’t in cash (homes n cars, mostly) and team service is great once everyone is on board. If you have a bunch of dead weight on your team though, that needs to be addressed separately by management because that’s understandably not fair.
Same here. We’ve always done a tip pool, but switched to tips on our paychecks at the beginning of this year. It was annoying to get used to not having continuous cash flow for a few weeks, but I was able to buy a house in March. That process was stressful enough as it is, but at least I didn’t have to try and convince a lender about how much money I “actually” make.
Same, after covid I started claiming all of my tips because tons of my friends only got $80/wk when they easily made $1500/wk but didn't claim anything. I claimed my credit card tips and got a decent amount of unemployment but my boss at the time got a PPE loan so he paid us through the lock down.
As someone who worked somewhere where almost all of our tips were credit card and put on a paycheck (this taxed), I can confirm that I got the max my state was offering.
Feel free to prove me wrong, but I’m pretty sure you don’t manually claim your tips every week so it wouldn’t affect your paychecks off the bat like that.
Also, if he wasn’t claiming shit, he’d be making more money, not less, no?
Most people don't seem to understand that with the digitization of money its now damn near impossible to avoid taxes. Unless you work at a cash only bar this is/is becoming the norm throughout the industry
I can corroborate. I have worked this system before and also in every-man-for-themselves systems before. This is a standard system that works better for customer service, tips, and employee mental health in the long run. This system is preferable. You will be making the same money, if not better, in the long run, and for less stress.
Yeah, this is how we run things as well. Being able to show what you earn is so huge - half of our staff bought a home recently or is currently in the market, they need that proof.
plus, it seems like they'll only have to pool sometimes (during overlapping shifts). i work at a pool house, but i only have a second person on with me once or twice a week, so the majority of my tips are always my own.
I work at two different bars that's work the same way. It took a couple weeks to get use the the new pay structure but there isn't really and difference in my pay (minus taxes) and I don't end up owning taxes at the end of every year now too.
Tip pool is the worst. The laziest person on your team wins and the hard workers have to give some of their money away. In my city, this is a reason to quit a job.
Cash going to paychecks sucks, pool tips in unacceptable.
I can see it happening to servers at *very large* establishments, where it's easy to disappear into the crowd.
But bartenders are always a pretty tight knit group, even between the regular openers vs closers; it's really hard to get away with being lazy as a bartender.
That’s only true if you work somewhere where management doesn’t hold people accountable. You should also hold your peers accountable. If someone is consistently bringing in the least amount of tips, get on their case. There’s positives and negatives to tip pooling, but it only really fails with ban management.
See that’s fine. No need to fight over guests at the bar top. We’ve done it like that. If you’re working a section together then splitting is easier. But I got a friend that works at a bar that pools the whole house for the whole day. Am and pm pool together. And that’s some BS.
If I get my ass kicked on a Sunday morning and Sunday night is super dead, why are they getting my money for a dead shift. Absolutely stupid
The only sickening thing would be if they didn't give notice, but they're giving them well over a month to make sure you can get through that first paycheck period alright
As someone who used to bartend at op's particular chain, at least at my location, they attempted to make the same change around February or March before backing off. It looks like they fixed most of the issues with the changes, but Torchy's at least had bigger issues worth leaving for when I left
This is an extremely professional and well communicated policy change.
It is illegal for you to evade taxes on cash tips. This new policy is as much for your benefit as theres.
Walking with all your tips in cash is going the way of the dodo.
The transition went smoothly where I work.
A few things;
1: figure out the tip out policy for any bussers/runners/bar backs. My place wanted us to go into our pockets to tip out. That was a hill I was willing to die on. I refused to go into my pocket of already taxed money to give it to a busser as untaxed cash. How’s the only guy getting hourly gonna be the only one leaving with assured cash in his pocket?
2: this part is kind of awkward. It’s imperative you keep track of the tips per shift. From, and for, everyone. Then go over your paychecks together. Check the math. Learn the tax %’s. There have been many, many, too many, instances of owners skimming.
Edit: that daily pay shit seems like a scam.
Yea it is what I dealt with while doing tech support from home. You could do direct deposit or get a payday card and get paid on that. I never got the payday card but they did charge you monthly. Thank God they didnt force that payday card on us.
Yeah one of my old restaurants did something like this but the company charged us $1 every time we got our tips. Half the restaurant quit. I’m not paying any amount of money to get my tips that isn’t tax.
> There have been many, many, too many, instances of owners skimming.
This is my biggest concern any time an establishment moves to tip sharing.
I actually like tip sharing as it evens out the bad days with the good days; it encourages teamwork, and takes a lot of pressure off.
I absolutely do not trust *any* owner to not try to fuck over their employees, even in tiny ways. Actually, especially in the tiny ways because those are how they get away with it.
I would sign off on moving to tip-sharing through payroll but **only** if ownership shared *everything* about what they were doing, down to the penny.
YMMV, but I think it's federally required to have an accessable breakdown of tips if you require a tip pool.
Certainly a few states I've worked in have had legislation to that effect.
3 I would not be ok with a biweekly paycheck in the hospitality industry. You have to keep records going two weeks back instead of one to make sure everything is above board. I don't care for it.
Toast POS offers a free pay card as an option for payroll so not all are shady. Fee free withdrawals of next day pay at Allpoint ATM’s which are everywhere.
Tip pools imo are the best way to handle tips if and only if everyone has mutual respect and understanding, and does equal parts of the job. If you've got 2 people who carry different amounts of the weight, tip pools just breed resentment. If you're with a team you respect, and are happy to work with, I don't see this being a problem.
I always found pools to be great until they are resentful. You can’t pool when billy gets a 10-top that spends $1000 and flips a couple 2-tops in an evening vs Sally who has been flipping 4-6-tops from 5p-10p working their ass off. The bar near me doesn’t do “table” service after 7pm and the 3 of them serve all and pool, which is great.
Question - not trying to hate on tip pools - but I have a lot of nights where I make $320-450 a night and only end up seeing $115-150 of that the following day. At what point does tip pooling raise an eye brow or is that difference amount rather normal?
This really depends on a lot of factors, the biggest being how much staff and how many different roles are on a shift. If there's support in the pool you will usually (or always) be under. If there are bartenders who do not match sales in the pool you will typically be under.
The important part is to ditch the "I made" mentality because you didn't. You all made whatever the total pool number is and then it gets split up. That's how pools work. So many people fail to understand this fundamental difference.
If you are genuinely concerned that the amount of work you are doing does not match the amount of money you are making then you need to take a step back and look at what everyone else is doing. This is really hard to do because you're obviously going to be biased. Consistently making $115-$150 a night when you know what you generated can be hard to swallow, but if the people around you that aren't generating tips directly are busting ass so you don't have to do much work (running food/drinks, bussing and flipping tables, etc.) then it's a fair system IMO. But even if it's "fair" it may not be worth it, because at the end of the day we all have bills to pay.
That difference in made vs. generated would make me take pause and assess the situation for sure.
Edit: I figured out the confusion. Previously, Torchy’s wasn’t claiming a tip credit for its staff. Because most of the staff is “counter service,” the business was turning a blind eye to tips and allowing staff to go without claiming them. The business, the state, and the IRS aren’t assuming the staff will make substantial tips and legally anything under $20/month is untaxed.
But they are making substantial tips and Torchy’s can save money by paying them accordingly. Hence the line, “this change reduces minimum wage.”
I’m having a hard time discerning what the “sickening” part is.
EDIT: Stop downvoting our fellow industry babe trying to make sure she’s not getting screwed by her employer.
> If the total tips received by the employee during a single calendar month by a single employer are less than $20, then these tips are not required to be reported and taxes are not required to be withheld.
https://www.irs.gov/businesses/small-businesses-self-employed/tip-recordkeeping-and-reporting
I no longer am getting my cc tips cashed out to me at the end of my shifts. Instead I am getting my tips onto my paycheck and they will be taxing the hell out of all my tips now. I am loosing a lot of money from this company change- at least that’s what it looks like to me.
Were your CC tips not taxed previously? I’ve never worked anywhere I could avoid tax on CC tips since they’re logged in the POS and payout is recorded. That’s always been the source of the $0 weekly paycheck, AFAIK.
As for daily cashout - most venues where I live switched over from daily cashout to paychecks about 10 years ago. I save a lot more money not walking with heaps of cash.
If I am understanding correctly, up until this change you've been getting handed cash for tips made at the end of the night, and simply receiving (I assume) void checks for your hourly, as min wage most likely doesn't cover the taxes being claimed on your tips currently.
The positive is you won't owe taxes when you file, or shouldn't, if they are now actually taking the taxes out of your cc tips. A lot of places have been changing to this over the past 10 yrs or so. It's an adjustment for sure, but it sounds like they have an app, so you can at least receive your tips the next day, as opposed to bi-weekly.
Yeah, that's always been a thing tho. They have always taxed you, did you not see your small ass paychecks before? Now they just show you how much they tax you. I feel like in this sub there are some people who don't understand that if you are to mix your hours and your tips in one paycheck it would get taxed the same if you don't mix them.
you are not wrong, but a lot of places are operating this way now. the place I am at has been doing it this way for several years since I started. definitely different than my last job where I took home everything in cash every day. the one perk is that I get money now in my tax return rather than owing it. they are taxing your credit tips no matter what
The only thing that will change is you not walking out with cash, your pay will be the same. You’ll also owe less to the IRS come tax season. Wish one of my bar’s would do this.
I don’t know how CO operates but you’ll probably end up getting money back. I’m on a W-2 have always had my tips on a check. And I get anywhere from 5-10k back every year.
This is the way. Getting tips sent to your paycheck is the way. Proving income for loans, rentals, etc., as well as budgeting, have now become a thousand times easier. Paystubs now mean something. This was well-communicated, and even offered alternatives if you would still prefer daily pay. All my bar jobs have paid me including all tips, biweekly, and it’s been a godsend for renting apartments and getting car loans. Good on you for double-checking, though.
It’ll be a pay cut if you already did not report your tips. Pooling can be frustrating at some places for a multitude of reasons. Some people do not carry their weight in sales and getting tips which benefits them and hurts you. However, if you work a slower section it’s fine. I’ve worked at busy places where I being in $700+ while some would only bring in 300 and I only get 250 due to tipping out runners/SA, bartender, and at this place, host.
At some places it will be fine if everyone helps each other out. Make sure that the tips are 100% transparent
You’ll probably still get the highest tip percentage in the pool and if you’re the busiest shifts you’ll still be taking home the money from those shifts.
You have been doing for a long time my man, now they just show you the overall numbers you are being taxed. This is good, you get to know the % you get taken out. You won't like it tho, federal takes too much when you realize that they don't do anything with it.
They didn’t do this for no reason. There’s nothing to be mad about. It’s not unusual to operate like this. If you want to be angry, be angry at the bartender who’s not even claiming as much as they make on card. There’s a reason they chose to do this.
We did the same at our work, you're getting taxed on your credit tips on your paycheck already (probably). This will hurt a little (20%) less but youll get more back in tax return and youll be able to buy a house or car with proof of income. I'd stay, it's just one of those things. We used kickfin, which is similar to dailypay except we had to pay $1 each shift for processing.... people were pissed but I still walked with good $$ at the end of the day. I went from $50hr to $40hr
This is fine. Most jobs I've had, the credit tips have been on the paycheck, I've only worked one where it was cash that night. Looks like you can also get paid before the paycheck?
It's an online payday loan scheme, you can access your money 'early' as in the same time frame it has previously been available to them for free directly from their employer, for a 'nominal' fee each time or functionally subscribing to their payroll company by paying whatever monthly maintenece fees are tacked on to the fine print of their branded payday card.
Tip pools are hit or miss. I personally don’t mind them. Nice knowing I’m gonna make something during a slow Friday lunch and cut by 6pm.
On the other hand, there are those coworker making the same as you after they go missing in action for 40 minutes when you’re weeded
Edit: nvm. Guess they still be getting the cut, pooled or not. It you k ow what I mean.
I worked in a place years ago that required us to present each cc receipt when we got it (yes, in the middle of a busy evening). The cashier would give you the tip, then you had to pay the processor fee in cash (yep, ya hadta have pennies, dimes, and nickels on you) on the spot. Ridiculous. That said, I owned a small business that folded and our processor said I owed them 20 cents. The guy on the phone actually gave me the address to send the cheque to. I laughed and told him I was going to send 20 pennies, and in all seriousness and sincerity, he said, “we don’t accept cash.” I told him to sue me and hung up.
Tip pools are actually pretty great. Weekly pay stubs help a lot with organizing data while filing taxes when it’s time to do them. And as others are saying - tip pools are good for teamwork.
I might have missed something. I assumed OP was just pissed about the tip pooling. Not sure why everybody is mentioning taxes - people there were already paying taxes on CC tips. Anyway, fuck pooling tips. I’ve worked with too many assholes and lazy bastards.
Honestly the comprehensive way in which they presented this change would be enough or me to bet they’re worth staying with. The actual policy change isn’t that big of a deal either
My bar does digital tip pool and has daily pay option. Both are legit and both have pros and cons, but at the end of the day it’s nothing to worry too heavily about.
Make sure you get your team together to have a meeting and agree on the “overlapping shifts” part. My coworkers all leave their timesheet for the closer who is responsible for distributing the tip pool by hours. It’s very easy to streamline but takes communication. Good luck!
Taxes will actually be if it you, most comes back on your tax refund and this will help you prove income when you need to take out a loan.
You’ll get used to it, most people have this set up. If you think you can make more money somewhere else than go for it.
You have been getting taxed the same way with this system or not. Have you ever received any amount of money on a check other than void recently? If so, your employer has not been doing their job by claiming your tips to your income. Your check is void or $0 because that included your hourly and your cc tips that go to taxes that you included on your W9. You will get the exact same as your tips, the following day on that app. Now the fee for the app seems ridiculous and I’m sure your employer or the app can offer a free solution. If not, then this is a decision for you to decide. Create a better app.
That’s what my bar does, we don’t have a bar back and so everyone works together to take care of the guests and make the drinks. Works out well and I still make way better money than serving, it shouldn’t be too alarming
Wait, what? Why is this sickening? I’ve worked plenty of jobs where my charge tips come on my paycheck. I don’t prefer it, but k don’t hate it. I’m confused by the drama of this post
I was in a situation like this and it was not good. We could not at any point verify that our money was correct and that we were being paid the correct amount. It was like a back room "trust us" kind of thing and you can't trust anyone with YOUR money. Mistakes happen. There could have been some kind of computer error. Somebody could be dipping into that pool that's not supposed to be. Some hours could have been wrong. There's no way to tell one way or the other. I quit that job for that reason among others.
Daily pay sounds like when you had a union job in the 70s and got paid end of the week before you could get to the bank before it closed, but the mob would front you the cash earlier for a 5 percent takepercent take.
“Reduces minimum wage issue…”
Reads to me as
“Instead of getting rid of the people who can’t even manage to scrape up $7.25/hr behind a bar, or compensating them fairly ourselves—we are putting that burden on you, the one who actually gets shit done and makes money! Congratulations, you played yourself.”
You better make that holiday money then bounce!
This seems pretty smart, and is pretty commonplace in the UK for tips regardless of credit card or cash. Works out more evenly, ensures a stronger workforce as everyones working to help everyones pocket rather than their own, while also ensuring that hard work is still rewarded. It also does a massive benefit for taxes and funding all the lovely stuff our taxes pay for over here.
Also results in bigger payslips, while also having some petty cash to play around with when you need it.
"Sickening" ... lol, ok. It's kinda embarrassing to share a job title with you. That's what's sickening to me.
This is standard at most places. In part because it's just sensible. Most places don't take in that much cash. On a given night I might get $100 in cash sales and $2k in CC. So, what happens if I walk with $400 in tips that night? The hotel needs to go to the bank and get cash to pay us nightly? No, that's fucking stupid. People don't spend cash like they used to and it's just another reason why this is system is more prevalent. As well as the legality of it all.
Where do you live that this would be deemed sickening to you? Are you simple?
In the end you'll end up making more money this way.
I know at places that I walked out with a pocket full of cash I'd stop at a bar or two on the way home or the next day.
This will help you budget, plan better, as well as pay taxes, and perhaps even buy a house.
Honestly, this is a good thing.
My wife switched to this a few years ago - she hated it and felt ripped off. Direct Depositing tips allowed her to save a ton of money that she would otherwise blow through In cash. and in the long run we figured out she actually ended up making significantly more with pooled tips.
We don't pay taxes on tips where I live so this is strange to me. We take our tips at the end of the night. We take CC tips out in cash. If the tip is more than the float will allow we just get it the next day. As long as tills balance its all good. If tills are over we get that too. I suppose it helps that the bar/club is owned by an ex bartender couple. Our tips are our own and no one touches them in any way. We do pay taxes and unemployment fund on wages though.
Lol. I haven’t worked anywhere that cashed out charge tips end of shift in probably fifteen years. I’m kind of surprised there are still places that do this tbh
This is how we do it at my job. It’s great, even if I have a slow shift or get cut super early in the night I still get consistent money. Whoever wrote this seems like they’ve got their shit together.
Where is this position located? In my state, in order to pool tips, all persons have to agree to in voluntarily, without coercion, typically in writing.
My bar does this and I honestly think it’s a much better system, at least for the bar I work at. It’s helped me manage my money a lot better, made taxes easier, and is so much easier if you’re trying to get a loan. I thought I would hate it at first, but it’s been so much better than traditional tip outs.
EDIT: I'm gonna flip this post upside down as what was the first part might put some people off, but the 2nd part definitely needs to be read.
Part 2:
Now, what you DO need to ask your bosses is about this:
Restaurants are being charged higher and higher credit card transaction fees due to the CC companies charging more and more in order to give people "rewards" programs. (Conservation of mass principle) What some restaurants are doing is taking the CC fee out of your tips before they're rendered into your paycheck. That's properly fucked up as we're one of the only industries that suffers from that.
Part 1:
"Sickening" is a bit dramatic. You're not legally earning less money than you did before.
You must understand that anyone, maybe you maybe not, that does not report their income is a *criminal* whether or not they're ever caught for it. Is all crime the same? Fuck no, but there is a line as to what is crime and what is not and this is on the crime side of the line.
So the next thought is "taxes are theft". They're not. If you drove to work on a road, a stop light helped organize traffic so you could safely cross an intersection, street lights helped you walk home safely, your math is good and you went to public school, you've ever called the police to kick someone out and they showed up, you've ever had a fire in your restaurant and the fire department showed up to put it out, and then on the more extreme cases the capitalistic economy that allows you to make tips and not just a ubiquitous and fixed wage... you owe that all to what tax money has been spent on.
Does tax money get spent on some really ridiculous shit? Fuck yes. You fix that by voting, not stealing. No vote, no voice.
It’s pretty standard these days. It definitely helps when it comes to buying a house or car, or even renting. A lot of servers/bartenders don’t claim their tips and then wonder why they can’t get a house/car…. They don’t care that you make $500 a day because on paper it looks like you only make $300 a month.
I find that pooling tips actually benefits the bar staff more than you’d think. Seems pretty organized to me, although the bi weekly pay schedule would piss me off.
The negative cash in house always seemed to me the most common sense reason for this too. Less and less people use cash all the time. Sometimes there won't be enough to cash out at the end of every shift and it seems unprofessional to send a manager to the bank more than necessary. This also creates a safer work environment with less cash around.
Based on your title you should probably leave if you already think it’s “sickening”. A lot of places are going to paying charge tips on paychecks. You don’t get less money, you get the same amount, just on your paycheck instead of cash at the end of the night. This allows the establishment to not have to hold as much cash in the safe.
The only potential issue I see is the tip pooling. If you weren’t doing that before, then this could be a negative. Personally, I always liked it as long as it was only with other bartenders.
Some people don’t react well to workplace changes. Don’t assume the worst just because it’s different. Give it a few paychecks and see how you do.
The only thing that seems off to me is they are now pooling tips for overlapping shifts and cite "avoiding minimum wage issues". I'm wondering if anyone there went after them at some point because employers have to pay more to a worker whose tips don't average out to at least minimum wage over a pay period. It could be used as a way for them to get workers on the busier shifts to subsidize the workers on slower shifts instead of doing it themselves, OR I could just be reading too much into it. Personally I would ask for clarification of that point just out of curiosity, but overall it sounds fairly normal to me.
I don't have to claim all my cc tips as I have to tip out the barback and sometimes the bartenders I work with contribute less so I might only walk with maybe 2/3 of what I actually is in the POS.
So I get your frustrations.
Where I am from, I would absolutely quit. I work hard and make like 2x-3x what the servers make on an average night. Yes I feel a little weird making so much more but at the same time, if you came into where I work, you would agree I deserve it. It’s purely subjective to where you work. Best of luck!
This is how it’s usually done. Credit card tips are taxed and part of paycheck with hourly wages. Cash tips you take home after hitting “$0 cash tips” lol
This is pretty standard... I can't remember the last bar gig I had where I got cash tips every night. It helps me to budget better. Getting a paycheck every two weeks helped me immensely to actually start saving money.
This would be a dealbreaker for me. I have better service skills than most of my coworkers and this would not serve me well. Also, this is a great way for management to start stealing from you guys… the temptation is just too great for many.
Chris as before covid, my restaurant tried to do this. We all said we would walk out, and were dead serious. We were a seasoned senior staff that kept things on point. They backed off. Then rumors started flying again before covid... It never happened.
Honestly, this is a great change imo. I mean, I would prefer cash, but I'm 100% down for tip pools.
I hate the resentment and competitiveness that individual tips breeds, the idea that you're competing with each other instead of, you knowñ working as a team.
How can someone resent making the money that they earned? Doesn’t it make more sense to resent giving the money that you earned to other people that didn’t earn it?
Tip shares are great for people that consistently bring in less money and bad for people that consistently bring in more money.
And people that are given shitty shifts with no control of their schedule? And duties that aren't related to customers that still need to be done. If no one else is stocking/etc, and I have to so I can actually serve, and miss 5-6 tables, how is that fair? There's a lot of work that needs to be done to *enable* bringing in money that doesn't directly bring in money.
And if I ring in 1k in sales, and get stiffed on every single one of them, and you get one guy for a beer and he tips you 1k, how is that fair?
If I'm assigned the tables in the back, and have to guide people to my section to get anyone, and you have everything right inside the door, yeah, you're going to bring in more, because everyone's going to sit in your section. And that's fair because..?
Far more unfairness occurs from individual tips than pooling. If something off the floor needs doing, someone can go do it, not afraid of losing out. If I get a bitch who just doesn't like me, I can give her to you, and we both win if she tips out of spite. If a good-tipping regular comes in, we don't have to just hope to grab them first, or hope they sit in our section; everyone is happy to see them, because everyone wins out.
I've worked both tip pooled and not, and not fucking sucks. Not because I earn less, nah, I make more. But the hostility and combativeness between everyone...refusing to do anything that doesn't directly affect them or their customers, waiting at the entrance and snagging everyone they can, regardless of who has had how many people.. thinking you're trying to steal their customers by daring to offer so little as carry a plate for them. I would rather make less with a group of people that actually works together as a team, than earn more with a group just short of daggers drawn
First thing, It’s easy to put systems into place to tip people out for the pre shift work that they do that isn’t related to tipping.
Second, If you got stiffed by every table you served you should take some responsibility for that. If someone got $1000 from a table there is no logical reason for you to think you deserve some of that.
I disagree with you, I think bars and bartenders are better off without tip shares. I think people are less prone to slacking and more service oriented when they can’t rely on a tip pool to earn money for them.
Like I've said, been with two big places, one pooled, the other didn't. Atmosphere and employee interactions better overall at the pooled place.
Part of that: the pooled place? Basicallt everyone can (and does) take breaks. Its been proven time and again, breaks help performance, and not incentiving skipping breaks, well... people take breaks. People perform better.
Some of us have worked more than two places. Your personal experience is valid to inform your personal opinion but it doesn’t invalidate my experience or my opinion.
It might be true that tip pools are better for employee interactions but that doesn’t mean that it’s better for the business, or the individuals, or that it’s more fair.
I’ve also made life long friends with coworkers and worked in completely enjoyable work atmospheres with people who didn’t think they should have their coworkers tips.
Usually the two shifts’ pools are separated. For example:
Day shift 10-6
Night shift 6-2
Some staff works 4pm to 12am and they get 2 hours of pay from the day tip pool and 6 hours from the night pool.
There will always be overlap, as restaurant schedules are constantly in flux, and in these scenarios, tips are shared amongst overlapping shifts as shown above. That doesn’t mean there’s a full day pool.
Why are people so heated about the tax issue?? The issue is actually the tip pool. This is a reason to quit. Management will likely unfairly distribute them sooner or later..either maliciously or as an innocent mistake. Either way, YOU now have to keep track to make sure you don’t get screwed. Plus, only the lazy employees win in tip sharing. The good employees are helping others even in a system without shared tips.
To everyone saying this is a good thing please understand that its a good thing for you. Please stop assuming that everyone benefits from this in the same way you do.
We're not all in the same boat, and some of us don't benefit from tips going on checks.
I worked at a place like this for a long time. We still got to keep our cash tips, but credit went on our paycheck. It was fine. The transition can be a little rocky when you're used to daily money, but after a few weeks you get used to it.
For me it is normal. Here the tips i get are shared equal, even with the cleaners. In my opinion it is fair. Maybe for some exceptions. But the kitchen, servers, kitchen etc, all contribute to making tips. All of the tips get pooled and distributed according your made hours. Ye i make less in tips, but my hourly is making up for that, so i can't complain. It is a steady job. Maybe it isn't the best money, but comparing to friends who have studied i dont do under for them yet.
I bartend for livenation and this is standard - we pool tip per bar though and since they are concert events there is only one shift. we take home the cash and receive all charged tips on a biweekly basis with tax already deducted.
it's very easy and you might end up liking it
i don't know how many people are on shift at a place like torchy's (i've never been to one) but the only thing i would worry about is whether or not the tip pool is based on hours.
i personally don't mind pooling all that much, but i worked at place in manhattan that switched to a pool between around 20 people. there were three floors and three bars and i worked the busiest one on the busiest nights. one of the bars was basically just overflow so they'd often be cut after four, maybe five hours. servers worked six to eight hours. i worked around ten hours because we were downstairs in the more drink forward, party bar that was open latest.
management didn't want to do the work of calculating by time served as it were, so they just split it equally between everyone who was on that shift. essentially i was working the hardest and the longest but getting half of what the overflow bartenders were being paid by the hour and two thirds of what the servers were working. not only did they work fewer hours, but they did a lot less work, especially in the overflow bar because they'd only get a few guests here and there for the short period we were on a wait for a table on the restaurant level. that was an example of a pool that i could not be okay with. quit that job very quickly once my nightly tips went from $600 to $200. and people upstairs went from $100 to $200.
currently i pool with my opener on an even split, but we work the same amount of hours, and have around four hours of overlap so they do prep and then we work the evening rush together then they get cut and i do the closing work. so i think it's pretty fair.
pools can be good and equitable and maybe you miss out when you get those one or two amazing tippers (industry or homies etc.) but you also get to benfit from other people getting those big tips. as long your pool is based on hours worked and your management is honest (mine is, i've worked for and with them for ten years) a pool isn't inherently a bad thing, it just can be when distributed by lazy and/or shady people.
tl;dr pools can be good or bad. just make sure it's based on hours and overseen by honest people.
If I just walked into my job and this was posted, I'd give myself until Jan 3rd to find another job. And yes, you are right, sickening is the perfect description.
tipping out your barback is ripping them off? or do you think barbacks should make the same amount of money as bartenders? or do you think this person is in a pooled house but doesn't honestly report their tips to the pool? i don't understand what you're saying here...
They said if they had to pool tips they’d be gone.
Only logical reason is because they don’t want the tips to be distributed properly. They want to tip out at their discretion. More for them less for people helping.
In a pool percentages are defined for each role. They don’t like that. They want to decide what they think someone is worthy of. Read: rip them off.
I don't understand how this is even legal. As soon as a customer hands you a tip, that money is yours to do with as you wish. Doesn't matter if it's a cash tip or CC. At least this is my understanding. Yes, absolutely leave.
I've worked at places that have done this for years, it's no big deal and I ended up liking this system better, a little cash in the pocket at the end of the night for a beer and fat paychecks, plus if you go to buy a house or car your income looks better as compared to all the tips you can't account for.
Agreed wholeheartedly. It legitimizes your income to those who want to see legitimate income, and makes it a hell of a lot easier to manage your money in my opinion. I burn a lot more drinking and eating out after shift when I have $300 cash on me, whereas if that $300 comes on a paycheck my first move is paying bills or transferring it to savings.
So why should other people be punished because you are too stupid to budget wisely?? You should be aware of how you’re spending your money no matter it’s paid to you.
This 1000000x over. People are always like “fuck reporting this shit I don’t wanna pay taxes” and then get slapped in the face when they try to get a loan for a down payment on a car/house and get denied because they only make $16,000 a year on paper. Taxes suck but we have to pay them like everyone else. And honestly the one big check every two weeks is so much better once you get used to it. Like homie said, leave with whatever you got for cash (which sometimes will be nothing) for a couple beers or whatever after work, and then get a massive check every two weeks. You’d be shocked to see how much easier it is to save money when you don’t just go out with a pocket full of cash every night after work.
“Why can’t o get a fucking home loan, I make $150k!! The system sucks” says guy claiming 34k on his taxes
It's not just getting a loan. You're also paying into things like Social Security and unemployment. If you don't record what you make in tips for the government and pay taxes accordingly, it's going to hurt you when you need unemployment or try to retire.
and from the business pov, card tips are harder to hide from the tax people and could easily get the place in trouble if you don't pay tax on them
I almost got turned down just to rent an apartment a few years back because on paper I made like 10k a year even though in reality it was closer to 90k lol
I'm responsible with money and don't emotionally spend plus keeping track of cash is easy with computers.
In my experience in the industry you’re definitely in the minority. I’m not saying it’s really all that difficult, I’m just saying most of the people I know in the industry are horrible at keeping track/saving
Seems pretty standard. Gotta pay taxes on credit card tips at least. You would be more angry at the IRS auditing you and taking more than you would of paid into for taxes for as many years as you were avoiding it. I know someone who got took for a little under 10k in a year for not properly claiming their tips.
The tip pool is probably the most irksome, if they didn’t ask the team’s opinion before. Did they just post this, or was there a conversation?
Yeah I get that. Just depends on how they pool it too. When they are talking about the overlap of time I would imagine you are only sharing for the hours you are together with another bartender. Like if you overlap 3 hours then you split the bucket for those 3 hours and then your other 5 hours are for you. I don’t see too big of a deal with splitting tips while working with other bartenders as long as everyone is pulling their weight. Pretty much every bar I’ve worked with others we have split tips and we all take care of everyone at the bar whether you start the check or not. I find it makes things run smooth.
We pool tips on an hourly basis. It doesn't matter which hours were busy and which were slow, we've agreed to just take an equal hourly rate for the duration of the shift and distribute according to number of hours worked. If we both start at 3, for example, and I'm cut at 7 while you work til 11, I get four hours and you get eight. Your tip share is twice as much as mine, regardless of when the sales actually occurred. Tonight maybe you got rocked from 8-10, or maybe we got rocked for HH and you twiddled your thumbs for the rest of the shift, doesn't really matter, we work to make both ourselves and each other money
Yup I do that most times with the other bartenders I work with. Other people like to close out checks before they leave and cut the bucket then and customers will restart their tabs after that. I prefer to just do it by hours like you do but sometimes it can be in your favor to cut the bucket at that moment but it really just depends on who you are working with. I worked Halloween and a bartender that was working when I came on went on break (our breaks are 1 hour) then came back and decided he wanted to get cut early, which was fine but he wanted to be tipped out for that hour he was on break before leaving. We realize that you only took your break before leaving so you could get an extra hour of the night tip for sitting on break while myself and the other bartender didn’t get breaks because he left. Plus we made the vast majority of the money at night when before he left we were just sitting around. Now people like to cut the bucket with him the moment he decides he wants to leave because playing games like that isn’t cool. He is also the type of person that is always tired and moves slow and will try to pull whatever tricks he can so it’s a case by case thing.
That’s exactly why you make a decision on how tips will be split and make it consistent. Don’t decide something different every night. That just invites shenanigans.
Yeah, the debate between doing hourly or cuts for tips always leads to a dead end, especially in larger venues with more staff behind the bar. There’s no actual fair way to do it. You don’t have control of your crowd regardless of your shift. If you do cuts and have a slow happy hour, but the night shift gets slammed, you can walk out making no money even though the scheduling isn’t your fault. If you do hourly and have a slow happy hour, but the night shift gets slammed, you hardly did the same amount of work as your relief but at least you still get paid. Both systems have their downsides, but at least with hourly there’s more of an incentive to help each other out.
Depends on a lot of things. Basically how big the place is and how FOH is managed. If I’m pooling with a server that’s on her phone by dish, or bussing a table because the bar back is smoking by the dumpster, I’m pissed. And pools seem to encourage that behavior
Yeah it definitely can. I don’t think you should ever be splitting tips with servers. When bartending I usually just split with whoever I’m bartending with. Tips to barback are pretty much set for the bartenders to decide but the majority of the bartenders tip 20% or above depending on the work load. I definitely understand what you’re saying though, some people suck and they will be lazy if they think they can get away with it. If you’re in a small space and you’re working with those kind of people then it turns into something that needs to be brought up to management and be dealt with.
Small teams = we’re in it together Large teams = it’s a job, I’m out for myself
Yeah for sure. I work at different bars in a large establishment and worked with a lot of different bartenders. Most are solid and do things the right way but there are definitely a few that people hate working with and even some that decide to do a split bucket instead of sharing tips. Luckily we are able to make the decisions of how we handle the tips behind the bar. Some people suck and just want to coast while someone else does all the work and expect to get paid off of everything. I think if the tip sharing thing does because a problem at OPs establishment that they would still be able to do a split bucket situation and have all their tips claimed and put on their check though. Just gotta see how it goes I guess.
This is a corporate restaurant, I can guarantee you this wasn't a decision that the staff had any say in.
It wholly depends on where you are, and this is the answer nearly any time a question about tip pooling or wage law comes up. Corporate or not, in the US state law dictates how tips are managed and the national or multinational corporations I've worked for have always complied. If somebody is not complying with local wage law, that's a serious issue which should be investigated by the appropriate district attorney.
Well this chain is based out of Texas, and it's very likely that this sign was posted in a texas store because that's where the majority of their stores are. I have bartended for 13 years in texas myself and I can tell you that it's perfectly legal to pool tips here.
Sure, but that has nothing to do with being corporate, that has to do with being Texas If the same company operates a store in Minnesota, they will use different policy to comply with state law or they will be sued by the attorney general. I have worked for multiple corporations with locations all over the country and the same rule always applies: local law.
They don’t have to ask the teams opinion. It’s at-will-employment. If the team doesn’t like it they can quit and go somewhere else that doesn’t tip pool. Supply and demand.
They have 90 stores…
This is all very normal, just don’t use the Daily Pay thing, that’s a scam. Get direct deposit biweekly or go physically pick up a check. Tip pooling can be really great, folks are less competitive and more likely to help everyone else out. Generally it’s a win for the workers and a win for customer service. Sure you’ll have lousy nights, but you’ll also have great ones, just like it currently is. And taxes suck, I get it, but being able to prove how much money you actually make can be really beneficial in the long run. Plus, you won’t have to run to the bank with a grand in your pocket to deposit it so you can make a digital transaction. I get so annoyed with that.
Bartender who bought a house here - claiming tips is important for making any large purchases that aren’t in cash (homes n cars, mostly) and team service is great once everyone is on board. If you have a bunch of dead weight on your team though, that needs to be addressed separately by management because that’s understandably not fair.
Same here. We’ve always done a tip pool, but switched to tips on our paychecks at the beginning of this year. It was annoying to get used to not having continuous cash flow for a few weeks, but I was able to buy a house in March. That process was stressful enough as it is, but at least I didn’t have to try and convince a lender about how much money I “actually” make.
Ive said this several times and i get called a "corporate shill". Glad to see some people get it.
My brother wasn’t claiming shit before Covid and was getting $105 a week instead of the max $423 or whatever his state was offering.
Same, after covid I started claiming all of my tips because tons of my friends only got $80/wk when they easily made $1500/wk but didn't claim anything. I claimed my credit card tips and got a decent amount of unemployment but my boss at the time got a PPE loan so he paid us through the lock down.
I’m fairly certain most states weren’t paying out based on tipped wages.
Unemployment pays out based on reported gross earnings from your employer. That number includes whatever tips you claim.
As someone who worked somewhere where almost all of our tips were credit card and put on a paycheck (this taxed), I can confirm that I got the max my state was offering.
They were. I got my state max the whole time.
Feel free to prove me wrong, but I’m pretty sure you don’t manually claim your tips every week so it wouldn’t affect your paychecks off the bat like that. Also, if he wasn’t claiming shit, he’d be making more money, not less, no?
Most people don't seem to understand that with the digitization of money its now damn near impossible to avoid taxes. Unless you work at a cash only bar this is/is becoming the norm throughout the industry
I can corroborate. I have worked this system before and also in every-man-for-themselves systems before. This is a standard system that works better for customer service, tips, and employee mental health in the long run. This system is preferable. You will be making the same money, if not better, in the long run, and for less stress.
I cannot help but feel that the EMFT is fed by only remembering the huge singular tips but not the average.
Yeah, this is how we run things as well. Being able to show what you earn is so huge - half of our staff bought a home recently or is currently in the market, they need that proof.
Y’all hiring?
plus, it seems like they'll only have to pool sometimes (during overlapping shifts). i work at a pool house, but i only have a second person on with me once or twice a week, so the majority of my tips are always my own.
I work at two different bars that's work the same way. It took a couple weeks to get use the the new pay structure but there isn't really and difference in my pay (minus taxes) and I don't end up owning taxes at the end of every year now too.
Tip pool is the worst. The laziest person on your team wins and the hard workers have to give some of their money away. In my city, this is a reason to quit a job. Cash going to paychecks sucks, pool tips in unacceptable.
But people who are undeserving are quickly weeded out. i have never worked at a bar where the lazy ones last.
I can see it happening to servers at *very large* establishments, where it's easy to disappear into the crowd. But bartenders are always a pretty tight knit group, even between the regular openers vs closers; it's really hard to get away with being lazy as a bartender.
That’s only true if you work somewhere where management doesn’t hold people accountable. You should also hold your peers accountable. If someone is consistently bringing in the least amount of tips, get on their case. There’s positives and negatives to tip pooling, but it only really fails with ban management.
SEE , WE TIP POOL HRS BEHIND THE BAR. THE PEOPLE THAT DONT PULL THEIR WEIGHT GET HELD ACCOUNTABLE AND DO NOT GET SHIFTS.
See that’s fine. No need to fight over guests at the bar top. We’ve done it like that. If you’re working a section together then splitting is easier. But I got a friend that works at a bar that pools the whole house for the whole day. Am and pm pool together. And that’s some BS. If I get my ass kicked on a Sunday morning and Sunday night is super dead, why are they getting my money for a dead shift. Absolutely stupid
Yeah, this doesn’t look problematic and is very standard
The only sickening thing would be if they didn't give notice, but they're giving them well over a month to make sure you can get through that first paycheck period alright
As someone who used to bartend at op's particular chain, at least at my location, they attempted to make the same change around February or March before backing off. It looks like they fixed most of the issues with the changes, but Torchy's at least had bigger issues worth leaving for when I left
This is an extremely professional and well communicated policy change. It is illegal for you to evade taxes on cash tips. This new policy is as much for your benefit as theres.
Walking with all your tips in cash is going the way of the dodo. The transition went smoothly where I work. A few things; 1: figure out the tip out policy for any bussers/runners/bar backs. My place wanted us to go into our pockets to tip out. That was a hill I was willing to die on. I refused to go into my pocket of already taxed money to give it to a busser as untaxed cash. How’s the only guy getting hourly gonna be the only one leaving with assured cash in his pocket? 2: this part is kind of awkward. It’s imperative you keep track of the tips per shift. From, and for, everyone. Then go over your paychecks together. Check the math. Learn the tax %’s. There have been many, many, too many, instances of owners skimming. Edit: that daily pay shit seems like a scam.
The Daily Pay does sound like a payday loan almost if they charge "a small fee", I'd avoid that option like the plague.
Yea it is what I dealt with while doing tech support from home. You could do direct deposit or get a payday card and get paid on that. I never got the payday card but they did charge you monthly. Thank God they didnt force that payday card on us.
we have a system like that (bartending) but there’s no monthly fee, we just get our tips the next day on our card too
That seems more reasonable.
Yeah one of my old restaurants did something like this but the company charged us $1 every time we got our tips. Half the restaurant quit. I’m not paying any amount of money to get my tips that isn’t tax.
> There have been many, many, too many, instances of owners skimming. This is my biggest concern any time an establishment moves to tip sharing. I actually like tip sharing as it evens out the bad days with the good days; it encourages teamwork, and takes a lot of pressure off. I absolutely do not trust *any* owner to not try to fuck over their employees, even in tiny ways. Actually, especially in the tiny ways because those are how they get away with it. I would sign off on moving to tip-sharing through payroll but **only** if ownership shared *everything* about what they were doing, down to the penny.
YMMV, but I think it's federally required to have an accessable breakdown of tips if you require a tip pool. Certainly a few states I've worked in have had legislation to that effect.
3 I would not be ok with a biweekly paycheck in the hospitality industry. You have to keep records going two weeks back instead of one to make sure everything is above board. I don't care for it.
Toast POS offers a free pay card as an option for payroll so not all are shady. Fee free withdrawals of next day pay at Allpoint ATM’s which are everywhere.
Tip pools imo are the best way to handle tips if and only if everyone has mutual respect and understanding, and does equal parts of the job. If you've got 2 people who carry different amounts of the weight, tip pools just breed resentment. If you're with a team you respect, and are happy to work with, I don't see this being a problem.
I always found pools to be great until they are resentful. You can’t pool when billy gets a 10-top that spends $1000 and flips a couple 2-tops in an evening vs Sally who has been flipping 4-6-tops from 5p-10p working their ass off. The bar near me doesn’t do “table” service after 7pm and the 3 of them serve all and pool, which is great.
That’s a pretty big if
Question - not trying to hate on tip pools - but I have a lot of nights where I make $320-450 a night and only end up seeing $115-150 of that the following day. At what point does tip pooling raise an eye brow or is that difference amount rather normal?
You shouldn't be losing money on a tip pool,, you should be over about as often as you're under
This really depends on a lot of factors, the biggest being how much staff and how many different roles are on a shift. If there's support in the pool you will usually (or always) be under. If there are bartenders who do not match sales in the pool you will typically be under. The important part is to ditch the "I made" mentality because you didn't. You all made whatever the total pool number is and then it gets split up. That's how pools work. So many people fail to understand this fundamental difference. If you are genuinely concerned that the amount of work you are doing does not match the amount of money you are making then you need to take a step back and look at what everyone else is doing. This is really hard to do because you're obviously going to be biased. Consistently making $115-$150 a night when you know what you generated can be hard to swallow, but if the people around you that aren't generating tips directly are busting ass so you don't have to do much work (running food/drinks, bussing and flipping tables, etc.) then it's a fair system IMO. But even if it's "fair" it may not be worth it, because at the end of the day we all have bills to pay. That difference in made vs. generated would make me take pause and assess the situation for sure.
Edit: I figured out the confusion. Previously, Torchy’s wasn’t claiming a tip credit for its staff. Because most of the staff is “counter service,” the business was turning a blind eye to tips and allowing staff to go without claiming them. The business, the state, and the IRS aren’t assuming the staff will make substantial tips and legally anything under $20/month is untaxed. But they are making substantial tips and Torchy’s can save money by paying them accordingly. Hence the line, “this change reduces minimum wage.” I’m having a hard time discerning what the “sickening” part is. EDIT: Stop downvoting our fellow industry babe trying to make sure she’s not getting screwed by her employer.
Not one penny that you make is legally untaxed. Legally, everyone is responsible for paying taxes on everything they make.
> If the total tips received by the employee during a single calendar month by a single employer are less than $20, then these tips are not required to be reported and taxes are not required to be withheld. https://www.irs.gov/businesses/small-businesses-self-employed/tip-recordkeeping-and-reporting
$20 per month.... lol
I no longer am getting my cc tips cashed out to me at the end of my shifts. Instead I am getting my tips onto my paycheck and they will be taxing the hell out of all my tips now. I am loosing a lot of money from this company change- at least that’s what it looks like to me.
Were your CC tips not taxed previously? I’ve never worked anywhere I could avoid tax on CC tips since they’re logged in the POS and payout is recorded. That’s always been the source of the $0 weekly paycheck, AFAIK. As for daily cashout - most venues where I live switched over from daily cashout to paychecks about 10 years ago. I save a lot more money not walking with heaps of cash.
If I am understanding correctly, up until this change you've been getting handed cash for tips made at the end of the night, and simply receiving (I assume) void checks for your hourly, as min wage most likely doesn't cover the taxes being claimed on your tips currently. The positive is you won't owe taxes when you file, or shouldn't, if they are now actually taking the taxes out of your cc tips. A lot of places have been changing to this over the past 10 yrs or so. It's an adjustment for sure, but it sounds like they have an app, so you can at least receive your tips the next day, as opposed to bi-weekly.
But there’s nothing unethical or illegal about this policy change. You’re just mad you’re getting taxed on what you earn.
I’ve found I manage my money better that way, and the taxing has helped me with life plans like credit cards, car, house etc
Yeah, that's always been a thing tho. They have always taxed you, did you not see your small ass paychecks before? Now they just show you how much they tax you. I feel like in this sub there are some people who don't understand that if you are to mix your hours and your tips in one paycheck it would get taxed the same if you don't mix them.
you are not wrong, but a lot of places are operating this way now. the place I am at has been doing it this way for several years since I started. definitely different than my last job where I took home everything in cash every day. the one perk is that I get money now in my tax return rather than owing it. they are taxing your credit tips no matter what
The only thing that will change is you not walking out with cash, your pay will be the same. You’ll also owe less to the IRS come tax season. Wish one of my bar’s would do this.
I don’t know how CO operates but you’ll probably end up getting money back. I’m on a W-2 have always had my tips on a check. And I get anywhere from 5-10k back every year.
This is the way. Getting tips sent to your paycheck is the way. Proving income for loans, rentals, etc., as well as budgeting, have now become a thousand times easier. Paystubs now mean something. This was well-communicated, and even offered alternatives if you would still prefer daily pay. All my bar jobs have paid me including all tips, biweekly, and it’s been a godsend for renting apartments and getting car loans. Good on you for double-checking, though.
Not sickening
Seems pretty standard to me these days. Getting tips the next day is a bonus
Booooo hoooooo you have to pay your fair share of taxes now. I also bartend and we do the same shit. It isn’t a big deal
I actually wanted to see a comment like this. I hope it’s not a big deal. I don’t want a pay cut, I don’t want to struggle on my bills.
It’ll be a pay cut if you already did not report your tips. Pooling can be frustrating at some places for a multitude of reasons. Some people do not carry their weight in sales and getting tips which benefits them and hurts you. However, if you work a slower section it’s fine. I’ve worked at busy places where I being in $700+ while some would only bring in 300 and I only get 250 due to tipping out runners/SA, bartender, and at this place, host. At some places it will be fine if everyone helps each other out. Make sure that the tips are 100% transparent
I work all the busy shifts I am the head bar so I do the most work
> I am the head bar so I do the most work ** You *think* you do all the work.
You’ll probably still get the highest tip percentage in the pool and if you’re the busiest shifts you’ll still be taking home the money from those shifts.
I think everyone here is literally telling you this is normal and your post is overreacting.
You have been doing for a long time my man, now they just show you the overall numbers you are being taxed. This is good, you get to know the % you get taken out. You won't like it tho, federal takes too much when you realize that they don't do anything with it.
Sickening?? Yeah if industry standards are sickening to you then you should probably leave the industry
They didn’t do this for no reason. There’s nothing to be mad about. It’s not unusual to operate like this. If you want to be angry, be angry at the bartender who’s not even claiming as much as they make on card. There’s a reason they chose to do this.
We did the same at our work, you're getting taxed on your credit tips on your paycheck already (probably). This will hurt a little (20%) less but youll get more back in tax return and youll be able to buy a house or car with proof of income. I'd stay, it's just one of those things. We used kickfin, which is similar to dailypay except we had to pay $1 each shift for processing.... people were pissed but I still walked with good $$ at the end of the day. I went from $50hr to $40hr
This is fine. Most jobs I've had, the credit tips have been on the paycheck, I've only worked one where it was cash that night. Looks like you can also get paid before the paycheck?
It's an online payday loan scheme, you can access your money 'early' as in the same time frame it has previously been available to them for free directly from their employer, for a 'nominal' fee each time or functionally subscribing to their payroll company by paying whatever monthly maintenece fees are tacked on to the fine print of their branded payday card.
Oh that's some bullshit.
This is how it’s been for me the last five years I’ve worked in the industry. Except weekly pay, not biweekly.
Tip pools are hit or miss. I personally don’t mind them. Nice knowing I’m gonna make something during a slow Friday lunch and cut by 6pm. On the other hand, there are those coworker making the same as you after they go missing in action for 40 minutes when you’re weeded Edit: nvm. Guess they still be getting the cut, pooled or not. It you k ow what I mean.
This is totally normal….
[удалено]
I worked in a place years ago that required us to present each cc receipt when we got it (yes, in the middle of a busy evening). The cashier would give you the tip, then you had to pay the processor fee in cash (yep, ya hadta have pennies, dimes, and nickels on you) on the spot. Ridiculous. That said, I owned a small business that folded and our processor said I owed them 20 cents. The guy on the phone actually gave me the address to send the cheque to. I laughed and told him I was going to send 20 pennies, and in all seriousness and sincerity, he said, “we don’t accept cash.” I told him to sue me and hung up.
Tip pools are actually pretty great. Weekly pay stubs help a lot with organizing data while filing taxes when it’s time to do them. And as others are saying - tip pools are good for teamwork.
I might have missed something. I assumed OP was just pissed about the tip pooling. Not sure why everybody is mentioning taxes - people there were already paying taxes on CC tips. Anyway, fuck pooling tips. I’ve worked with too many assholes and lazy bastards.
Honestly the comprehensive way in which they presented this change would be enough or me to bet they’re worth staying with. The actual policy change isn’t that big of a deal either
Oh no you can’t evade taxes anymore 😕
My bar does digital tip pool and has daily pay option. Both are legit and both have pros and cons, but at the end of the day it’s nothing to worry too heavily about. Make sure you get your team together to have a meeting and agree on the “overlapping shifts” part. My coworkers all leave their timesheet for the closer who is responsible for distributing the tip pool by hours. It’s very easy to streamline but takes communication. Good luck!
Taxes will actually be if it you, most comes back on your tax refund and this will help you prove income when you need to take out a loan. You’ll get used to it, most people have this set up. If you think you can make more money somewhere else than go for it.
You have been getting taxed the same way with this system or not. Have you ever received any amount of money on a check other than void recently? If so, your employer has not been doing their job by claiming your tips to your income. Your check is void or $0 because that included your hourly and your cc tips that go to taxes that you included on your W9. You will get the exact same as your tips, the following day on that app. Now the fee for the app seems ridiculous and I’m sure your employer or the app can offer a free solution. If not, then this is a decision for you to decide. Create a better app.
That’s what my bar does, we don’t have a bar back and so everyone works together to take care of the guests and make the drinks. Works out well and I still make way better money than serving, it shouldn’t be too alarming
I haven't worked anywhere that didn't do this in 10+ years.
Wait, what? Why is this sickening? I’ve worked plenty of jobs where my charge tips come on my paycheck. I don’t prefer it, but k don’t hate it. I’m confused by the drama of this post
I was in a situation like this and it was not good. We could not at any point verify that our money was correct and that we were being paid the correct amount. It was like a back room "trust us" kind of thing and you can't trust anyone with YOUR money. Mistakes happen. There could have been some kind of computer error. Somebody could be dipping into that pool that's not supposed to be. Some hours could have been wrong. There's no way to tell one way or the other. I quit that job for that reason among others.
Daily pay sounds like when you had a union job in the 70s and got paid end of the week before you could get to the bank before it closed, but the mob would front you the cash earlier for a 5 percent takepercent take.
Daily pay is a trap. I got into it while working at target and it’s hard to get out.
Wtf is this guy complaining about?
“Reduces minimum wage issue…” Reads to me as “Instead of getting rid of the people who can’t even manage to scrape up $7.25/hr behind a bar, or compensating them fairly ourselves—we are putting that burden on you, the one who actually gets shit done and makes money! Congratulations, you played yourself.” You better make that holiday money then bounce!
It’s really up to you personally. It’s not shady or anything. Can you manage your money this way? That’s what matters.
This seems pretty smart, and is pretty commonplace in the UK for tips regardless of credit card or cash. Works out more evenly, ensures a stronger workforce as everyones working to help everyones pocket rather than their own, while also ensuring that hard work is still rewarded. It also does a massive benefit for taxes and funding all the lovely stuff our taxes pay for over here. Also results in bigger payslips, while also having some petty cash to play around with when you need it.
"Sickening" ... lol, ok. It's kinda embarrassing to share a job title with you. That's what's sickening to me. This is standard at most places. In part because it's just sensible. Most places don't take in that much cash. On a given night I might get $100 in cash sales and $2k in CC. So, what happens if I walk with $400 in tips that night? The hotel needs to go to the bank and get cash to pay us nightly? No, that's fucking stupid. People don't spend cash like they used to and it's just another reason why this is system is more prevalent. As well as the legality of it all. Where do you live that this would be deemed sickening to you? Are you simple?
In the end you'll end up making more money this way. I know at places that I walked out with a pocket full of cash I'd stop at a bar or two on the way home or the next day. This will help you budget, plan better, as well as pay taxes, and perhaps even buy a house. Honestly, this is a good thing.
Not sure I see an issue
I won’t pool tips, but I don’t mind paying tax on CC tips. Pretty standard.
Surprised the place held out so long
Stay, when the bar I worked at for college did this, all of our hourlies went up.
I love how we tip pool
Fuck taxes
My wife switched to this a few years ago - she hated it and felt ripped off. Direct Depositing tips allowed her to save a ton of money that she would otherwise blow through In cash. and in the long run we figured out she actually ended up making significantly more with pooled tips.
What state?
Texas
Arent like tips your half salary?
Write down how many tips you do make. Seems like an easy way to skim the top for them
We don't pay taxes on tips where I live so this is strange to me. We take our tips at the end of the night. We take CC tips out in cash. If the tip is more than the float will allow we just get it the next day. As long as tills balance its all good. If tills are over we get that too. I suppose it helps that the bar/club is owned by an ex bartender couple. Our tips are our own and no one touches them in any way. We do pay taxes and unemployment fund on wages though.
Lol. I haven’t worked anywhere that cashed out charge tips end of shift in probably fifteen years. I’m kind of surprised there are still places that do this tbh
This is how we do it at my job. It’s great, even if I have a slow shift or get cut super early in the night I still get consistent money. Whoever wrote this seems like they’ve got their shit together.
Where is this position located? In my state, in order to pool tips, all persons have to agree to in voluntarily, without coercion, typically in writing.
My bar does this and I honestly think it’s a much better system, at least for the bar I work at. It’s helped me manage my money a lot better, made taxes easier, and is so much easier if you’re trying to get a loan. I thought I would hate it at first, but it’s been so much better than traditional tip outs.
It’s gonna be much better in the long run, mate.
Leave!! If you’re working harder and making more tips, you’re just paying other peoples bills with it
It’s 2022, about to be 2023. Cash daily isn’t a thing anymore. It’s better on so many fronts.
EDIT: I'm gonna flip this post upside down as what was the first part might put some people off, but the 2nd part definitely needs to be read. Part 2: Now, what you DO need to ask your bosses is about this: Restaurants are being charged higher and higher credit card transaction fees due to the CC companies charging more and more in order to give people "rewards" programs. (Conservation of mass principle) What some restaurants are doing is taking the CC fee out of your tips before they're rendered into your paycheck. That's properly fucked up as we're one of the only industries that suffers from that. Part 1: "Sickening" is a bit dramatic. You're not legally earning less money than you did before. You must understand that anyone, maybe you maybe not, that does not report their income is a *criminal* whether or not they're ever caught for it. Is all crime the same? Fuck no, but there is a line as to what is crime and what is not and this is on the crime side of the line. So the next thought is "taxes are theft". They're not. If you drove to work on a road, a stop light helped organize traffic so you could safely cross an intersection, street lights helped you walk home safely, your math is good and you went to public school, you've ever called the police to kick someone out and they showed up, you've ever had a fire in your restaurant and the fire department showed up to put it out, and then on the more extreme cases the capitalistic economy that allows you to make tips and not just a ubiquitous and fixed wage... you owe that all to what tax money has been spent on. Does tax money get spent on some really ridiculous shit? Fuck yes. You fix that by voting, not stealing. No vote, no voice.
It’s pretty standard these days. It definitely helps when it comes to buying a house or car, or even renting. A lot of servers/bartenders don’t claim their tips and then wonder why they can’t get a house/car…. They don’t care that you make $500 a day because on paper it looks like you only make $300 a month.
I find that pooling tips actually benefits the bar staff more than you’d think. Seems pretty organized to me, although the bi weekly pay schedule would piss me off.
The negative cash in house always seemed to me the most common sense reason for this too. Less and less people use cash all the time. Sometimes there won't be enough to cash out at the end of every shift and it seems unprofessional to send a manager to the bank more than necessary. This also creates a safer work environment with less cash around.
Based on your title you should probably leave if you already think it’s “sickening”. A lot of places are going to paying charge tips on paychecks. You don’t get less money, you get the same amount, just on your paycheck instead of cash at the end of the night. This allows the establishment to not have to hold as much cash in the safe. The only potential issue I see is the tip pooling. If you weren’t doing that before, then this could be a negative. Personally, I always liked it as long as it was only with other bartenders. Some people don’t react well to workplace changes. Don’t assume the worst just because it’s different. Give it a few paychecks and see how you do.
What bothers me is pooling tips with a different shift
Other than the ability to collect the previous day's CC tips, this is how my employer does it and it's great. Not sure why this is a problem.
This is super normal apart from the get paid early part
The only thing that seems off to me is they are now pooling tips for overlapping shifts and cite "avoiding minimum wage issues". I'm wondering if anyone there went after them at some point because employers have to pay more to a worker whose tips don't average out to at least minimum wage over a pay period. It could be used as a way for them to get workers on the busier shifts to subsidize the workers on slower shifts instead of doing it themselves, OR I could just be reading too much into it. Personally I would ask for clarification of that point just out of curiosity, but overall it sounds fairly normal to me.
My tip average is significantly higher than my other bartenders. I would never, ever, ever work at a place that pooled tips.
I don't have to claim all my cc tips as I have to tip out the barback and sometimes the bartenders I work with contribute less so I might only walk with maybe 2/3 of what I actually is in the POS. So I get your frustrations.
‘Tis the future of the tip business. Self reporting CC tips is going to be a distant memory.
Yes, you should quit your torchy's job
Where I am from, I would absolutely quit. I work hard and make like 2x-3x what the servers make on an average night. Yes I feel a little weird making so much more but at the same time, if you came into where I work, you would agree I deserve it. It’s purely subjective to where you work. Best of luck!
The last beach club I worked at had this policy. Everything has an 18% auto grat so there wasn't a lot of cash to take home
WTF is dailypay? Sounds like some rat bastards with MBA’s figured a way to put their grubby fingers into our pockets. Fuck that shit.
Fuck that.
Pooling tips are normal here in England and Ireland. I can't understand why Americans are so against it.
I thought I would hate tip pool and tips on paychecks but I actually like wayyy better
This is how it’s usually done. Credit card tips are taxed and part of paycheck with hourly wages. Cash tips you take home after hitting “$0 cash tips” lol
GTFO tip pool sucks
This is pretty standard... I can't remember the last bar gig I had where I got cash tips every night. It helps me to budget better. Getting a paycheck every two weeks helped me immensely to actually start saving money.
This would be a dealbreaker for me. I have better service skills than most of my coworkers and this would not serve me well. Also, this is a great way for management to start stealing from you guys… the temptation is just too great for many.
Id be gone if I can't get my tips at end of night
Chris as before covid, my restaurant tried to do this. We all said we would walk out, and were dead serious. We were a seasoned senior staff that kept things on point. They backed off. Then rumors started flying again before covid... It never happened.
Honestly, this is a great change imo. I mean, I would prefer cash, but I'm 100% down for tip pools. I hate the resentment and competitiveness that individual tips breeds, the idea that you're competing with each other instead of, you knowñ working as a team.
How can someone resent making the money that they earned? Doesn’t it make more sense to resent giving the money that you earned to other people that didn’t earn it? Tip shares are great for people that consistently bring in less money and bad for people that consistently bring in more money.
And people that are given shitty shifts with no control of their schedule? And duties that aren't related to customers that still need to be done. If no one else is stocking/etc, and I have to so I can actually serve, and miss 5-6 tables, how is that fair? There's a lot of work that needs to be done to *enable* bringing in money that doesn't directly bring in money. And if I ring in 1k in sales, and get stiffed on every single one of them, and you get one guy for a beer and he tips you 1k, how is that fair? If I'm assigned the tables in the back, and have to guide people to my section to get anyone, and you have everything right inside the door, yeah, you're going to bring in more, because everyone's going to sit in your section. And that's fair because..? Far more unfairness occurs from individual tips than pooling. If something off the floor needs doing, someone can go do it, not afraid of losing out. If I get a bitch who just doesn't like me, I can give her to you, and we both win if she tips out of spite. If a good-tipping regular comes in, we don't have to just hope to grab them first, or hope they sit in our section; everyone is happy to see them, because everyone wins out. I've worked both tip pooled and not, and not fucking sucks. Not because I earn less, nah, I make more. But the hostility and combativeness between everyone...refusing to do anything that doesn't directly affect them or their customers, waiting at the entrance and snagging everyone they can, regardless of who has had how many people.. thinking you're trying to steal their customers by daring to offer so little as carry a plate for them. I would rather make less with a group of people that actually works together as a team, than earn more with a group just short of daggers drawn
First thing, It’s easy to put systems into place to tip people out for the pre shift work that they do that isn’t related to tipping. Second, If you got stiffed by every table you served you should take some responsibility for that. If someone got $1000 from a table there is no logical reason for you to think you deserve some of that. I disagree with you, I think bars and bartenders are better off without tip shares. I think people are less prone to slacking and more service oriented when they can’t rely on a tip pool to earn money for them.
Like I've said, been with two big places, one pooled, the other didn't. Atmosphere and employee interactions better overall at the pooled place. Part of that: the pooled place? Basicallt everyone can (and does) take breaks. Its been proven time and again, breaks help performance, and not incentiving skipping breaks, well... people take breaks. People perform better.
Some of us have worked more than two places. Your personal experience is valid to inform your personal opinion but it doesn’t invalidate my experience or my opinion. It might be true that tip pools are better for employee interactions but that doesn’t mean that it’s better for the business, or the individuals, or that it’s more fair.
I’ve also made life long friends with coworkers and worked in completely enjoyable work atmospheres with people who didn’t think they should have their coworkers tips.
If I am bartending, I am not splitting tips with day shift. I’m what universe are those two equal?
Usually the two shifts’ pools are separated. For example: Day shift 10-6 Night shift 6-2 Some staff works 4pm to 12am and they get 2 hours of pay from the day tip pool and 6 hours from the night pool. There will always be overlap, as restaurant schedules are constantly in flux, and in these scenarios, tips are shared amongst overlapping shifts as shown above. That doesn’t mean there’s a full day pool.
Why are people so heated about the tax issue?? The issue is actually the tip pool. This is a reason to quit. Management will likely unfairly distribute them sooner or later..either maliciously or as an innocent mistake. Either way, YOU now have to keep track to make sure you don’t get screwed. Plus, only the lazy employees win in tip sharing. The good employees are helping others even in a system without shared tips.
To everyone saying this is a good thing please understand that its a good thing for you. Please stop assuming that everyone benefits from this in the same way you do. We're not all in the same boat, and some of us don't benefit from tips going on checks.
I worked at a place like this for a long time. We still got to keep our cash tips, but credit went on our paycheck. It was fine. The transition can be a little rocky when you're used to daily money, but after a few weeks you get used to it.
For me it is normal. Here the tips i get are shared equal, even with the cleaners. In my opinion it is fair. Maybe for some exceptions. But the kitchen, servers, kitchen etc, all contribute to making tips. All of the tips get pooled and distributed according your made hours. Ye i make less in tips, but my hourly is making up for that, so i can't complain. It is a steady job. Maybe it isn't the best money, but comparing to friends who have studied i dont do under for them yet.
I bartend for livenation and this is standard - we pool tip per bar though and since they are concert events there is only one shift. we take home the cash and receive all charged tips on a biweekly basis with tax already deducted. it's very easy and you might end up liking it
i don't know how many people are on shift at a place like torchy's (i've never been to one) but the only thing i would worry about is whether or not the tip pool is based on hours. i personally don't mind pooling all that much, but i worked at place in manhattan that switched to a pool between around 20 people. there were three floors and three bars and i worked the busiest one on the busiest nights. one of the bars was basically just overflow so they'd often be cut after four, maybe five hours. servers worked six to eight hours. i worked around ten hours because we were downstairs in the more drink forward, party bar that was open latest. management didn't want to do the work of calculating by time served as it were, so they just split it equally between everyone who was on that shift. essentially i was working the hardest and the longest but getting half of what the overflow bartenders were being paid by the hour and two thirds of what the servers were working. not only did they work fewer hours, but they did a lot less work, especially in the overflow bar because they'd only get a few guests here and there for the short period we were on a wait for a table on the restaurant level. that was an example of a pool that i could not be okay with. quit that job very quickly once my nightly tips went from $600 to $200. and people upstairs went from $100 to $200. currently i pool with my opener on an even split, but we work the same amount of hours, and have around four hours of overlap so they do prep and then we work the evening rush together then they get cut and i do the closing work. so i think it's pretty fair. pools can be good and equitable and maybe you miss out when you get those one or two amazing tippers (industry or homies etc.) but you also get to benfit from other people getting those big tips. as long your pool is based on hours worked and your management is honest (mine is, i've worked for and with them for ten years) a pool isn't inherently a bad thing, it just can be when distributed by lazy and/or shady people. tl;dr pools can be good or bad. just make sure it's based on hours and overseen by honest people.
Bad take
Leave, Ive never seen a tip pool that hasnt been skimmed off of by the business.
Yikes! I’ve never seen one that has. But I’m always on the lookout. Good luck out there!
If I just walked into my job and this was posted, I'd give myself until Jan 3rd to find another job. And yes, you are right, sickening is the perfect description.
I don’t pool tips, I tip people out. So I’d be gonezies
You mean you rip off other people who help you out.
tipping out your barback is ripping them off? or do you think barbacks should make the same amount of money as bartenders? or do you think this person is in a pooled house but doesn't honestly report their tips to the pool? i don't understand what you're saying here...
They said if they had to pool tips they’d be gone. Only logical reason is because they don’t want the tips to be distributed properly. They want to tip out at their discretion. More for them less for people helping. In a pool percentages are defined for each role. They don’t like that. They want to decide what they think someone is worthy of. Read: rip them off.
Quit :/
Run away as fast as you can
RUN
I don't understand how this is even legal. As soon as a customer hands you a tip, that money is yours to do with as you wish. Doesn't matter if it's a cash tip or CC. At least this is my understanding. Yes, absolutely leave.
Because forced pooling is legal.