Proposed rule would protect employers who steal workers hard-earned tips

[workinclasszero]

Proposed rule would protect employers who steal workers’ hard-earned tips
By Heidi Shierholz • December 4, 2017

Today the Trump administration took their first major step towards allowing employers to legally take tips earned by the workers they employ.

The Department of Labor released a proposed rule rescinding portions of its tip regulations, including current restrictions on “tip pooling”—which would mean that, for example, restaurants would be able to pool the tips servers receive and share them with untipped employees such as cooks and dishwashers.

But, crucially, the rule doesn’t actually require that employers distribute pooled tips to workers. Under the administration’s proposed rule, as long as the tipped workers earn minimum wage, the employer can legally pocket those tips.

And what we know for sure is that, often, they will do just that. Recent research suggests that the total wages stolen from workers due to minimum wage violations exceeds $15 billion each year, and workers in restaurants and bars are much more likely to suffer minimum wage violations than workers in other industries. With that much illegal wage theft currently taking place, it seems obvious that when employers can legally pocket the tips earned by their employees, many will do so.

http://www.epi.org/press/proposed-rule-would-protect-employers-who-steal-workers-hard-earned-tips/

[CrispyQ]

1. They want to steal all our money, but they want us to buy their goods & services.

They aren't too bright & it's all about to implode from the rot of their greed.

[Leith]

2. Employers Have Already Done That for Decades

The server has no way of knowing when the tip has been added to the check if the customer pays at a cashier.

I was a waitress one summer and it happened to me.

Please do not ever ever add the tip to the check and pay with your credit card. Your server will probably not see it because the restaurant keeps that money for itself. All you did was to stiff your server and allow the owner to pocket it.