UPDATES

FACE TO FACE: THE ONLY OPTION
JON RALSTON

NEVADA SUPREME COURT HEARING : On April 7, 2008, the seven member court heard our case. We are still awaiting the outcome.

LABOR COMMISSIONER HEARING: Originally scheduled March 19, 2008, the hearing has been granted a continuance until the Supreme Court ruling.

Click here for the TWU form letter.

A complaint was filed six months ago regarding the 'illegality' of the new tip pooling policy at Wynn Las Vegas. The Labor Commissioner said: "The issues presented in the claim present a significant public policy question that needs to be resolved." The case will go to a hearing at the Labor Commissioner's Office on March 19 at 9 a.m.

We, the tip earners of Nevada, should be happy to have these issues officially being heard in the proper venue. No matter where you work in Nevada as a tip earner, this hearing concerns you.  If Wynn Las Vegas can take the tips from an employee without permission or an agreement and give them to other employees/managers, then any employer in the State of Nevada can do the same.

For more information, visit the lawsuit and legislation links on this site.  Also, read the information posted below regarding other states laws regarding tip pooling issues.

In general, the other states have found the following:

• Tips are the sole property of the tipped employee.
• Employees may only enter into a tip pooling agreement voluntarily and without coercion or condition of employment by employers.
• Employers and Mangers/Supervisors/"Team Leaders" cannot participate in tip pools.

California
Labor Code Section 351 prohibits employers and their agents from sharing in or keeping any portion of a gratuity left for or given to one or more employees by a patron. The law further states that gratuities are the sole property of the employee or employees to whom they are given. Tips belong to the employee, not to the employer. Additionally, tip pooling cannot be used to compensate the owner(s), manager(s), or supervisor(s) of the business, even if these individuals should provide direct table service to a patron. (See this site for more information.)

New York
In no event may the employer or his/her “agent” share in the employees’ tips; an employee cannot consent to the employer sharing in the tips; non-service employees may not share in tips.  To be acceptable under law, a tip pool “must be completely voluntary, initiated by the employees themselves with or without the knowledge of management, and not made part of the terms of hire or conditions of continuing employment.”  A restaurant owner cannot determine whether or not he wants to be a “pooled house” - it is up to the employees only.

New Hampshire
In 1999 the Department adopted regulations stating that “tips are wages and are the property of the employee and shall remain with the employee, unless the employee voluntarily and without coercion agrees to participate in a tip pool which is not required or controlled by the employer.” It further states that, “employers are not precluded from administering a tip pool as long as the employer does not control it other than for accounting or for bookkeeping purposes.”

Minnesota
Any gratuity received by an employee or deposited in or about a place of business for personal services rendered by an employee is the sole property of the employee. No employer may require an employee to contribute or share a gratuity received by the employee with the employer or other employees or to contribute any or all of the gratuity to a fund or pool operated for the benefit of the employer or employees. This section does not prevent an employee from voluntarily and individually sharing gratuities with other employees. The agreement to share gratuities must be made by the employees free of any employer participation. The commissioner may require the employer to pay restitution in the amount of the gratuities diverted. If the records maintained by the employer do not provide sufficient information to determine the exact amount of gratuities diverted, the commissioner may make a determination of gratuities diverted based on available evidence and mediate a settlement with the employer.

Massachusetts
These quotes were taken from a Wage and Hour poster: "Tip pooling in which tips are distributed to any person not a wait staff, service employee or service bartender is prohibited. Under no circumstances may management employees or owners receive any portion of their employees’ tips."