to ask if my son is being ripped off?

[BlackBucketOfCheese]

My son has started his first weekend job (16) as a waiter in a local hotel.
Over the weekend he was given a lot of tips (over £120!!) for his hard work. He was told by his manager to put them in the tip jar, which he did assuming it would be divided up as he knows this is what happens where his friends and cousins work.

At the end of the evening he and the other new part time employees were told that actually all the tips were divided between full time staff only.

When they protested they were told that full time workers are salaried on minimum wage and stick around to clean up or lay tables, where as the part time staff were paid per hour, so the tips go to the full time staff (even those who don’t work the shift) as it is fairer.

This just seems so totally wrong!
Is my son being ripped off?
Are there any laws I can direct him to? I’ve tried looking but laws about tips all seem to be about credit card payments.

That’s awful. The customers who gave your son tips were intending them to go to him. The fact he doesn’t even get a percentage of the overall is appalling.
Very poor management.

Well YANBU but tipping is bollocks anyway, he gets paid for the work he does other low paid workers like retail don't get any tips and work just as hard

Oh yes I don’t agree with tipping culture in the U.K. - this isn’t America (I don’t think it should exist there either) where they get paid $2 an hour and make it up with tips.

But equally he was given the money for his service and didn’t receive it.

This thread is not about tipping culture, can we keep off that.

No it’s not fair. They should be divided on a pro rata basis between FT and PT staff.

I suggest he keeps his tips in future.

I don't know the etiquette of it from an employer's point of view but if ever I've tipped a waiter it was because they gave good service not for the tip to go to some random I've not met.

Absolutely not fair. I'd look for a job elsewhere. Tipping can make waiting tables quite lucrative so it's important to find somewhere that handles tips fairly.

I refuse to eat in Bills after finding out that the company keeps any tips made by card payment! They don't even divvy them out to the staff! It's disgraceful.

I’d be telling him to keep his tips to himself in future, if hes not even going to see any of it. People tipped him because of his good service, not everyone else.

I thought tips being used to make up minimum wage had stopped - i remember a wave of bad publicity for several major chains, but maybe not.
It's called the tronc system I think.
It has made me a lot less likely to tip than I did a few years ago.

I'd be careful of advising your son to simply pocket the tips though - last thing he needs is to be accused of theft.

He could deny the tips and explain why to the customers, then they can choose to tip him or not

I'm siding with the OP here, seems unfair to exclude part-time staff. Now that your son knows that he doesn't get a cut, I would pocket about 20% (so £20 or £24 out of £120) and declare the rest. I'd imagine the other part-timers would be (and should be!) doing the same. Pocketing all of it would obviously be suspicious.

As I've become older and wiser, I always ask my waiter/ess what happens with tips at this establishment, before I give it.
If it is not going to staff, I wouldn't leave one.
I have no issue with tips being shared among all staff - let's face it, we never get to see the poor devils who are sweating their bs off in the kitchen, making our food.
I think the system you describe OP, is very unfair.
I can see that it would maybe be unfair to give a part time worker as much, in tips, as a full time worker, but can see no reason why there couldn't be a pro rata system.
I would be tempted to do "one for the pot and one for me" in your son's shoes!

And this is why wait staff are by and large far worse here compared to the United States. You never have to chase a waiter around for a bill or a top up of water there, they’re on the case automatically.

I never tip on the card machine that asks if I want to leave a gratuity. I don't trust that the staff get them.
After this story, what I shall do in future when the bill comes is that I will ask the waiter if they personally get the tips or if they go in the pot. If they go in the pot - I ain't tipping.

When I tip and I do regularly, I mean it for the person only that I give it to. I suspect others are the same. Tell him to keep them .

That's effectively stealing his tips, how tight

tell your Son to keep his Tips.... and say nothing

I thought tips being used to make up minimum wage had stopped

I believe this is the case.

The hotel are saying the FT staff are min wage but on salary so occasionally work over their hours and the tips are their reward.
But yep it does totally sound like they are using the tips to bring their worked hours to a minimum wage level.

I also tip with the expectation that the person I am tipping gets it.
At the very least I would expect a fair system whereby the tips are equally split between staff.

Ooh, that seems very unfair.

I used to tip only in cash, which I presumed the staff member kept. (When I was young and did casual work I handed over the money to the head waiter, who kept it, but I thought that was just me being naive and getting ripped off.) Now I ask staff if tips added to a card payment are shared among staff, and if so I do that.

Your son is getting a bad deal. But sadly I don't think he has any comeback.

This thread is not about tipping culture, can we keep off that

The problem is the two are inseparable.

The hotel is using tips to subsidise its wage bill like pretty much all the hospitality trade where services charges or tips pooling are used. I'd rather pay more and leave actual tips for staff as happens in many other parts of Europe.

I did my stints on bars/waiting as did all the DC and all I can say is I always ask staff who gets the tips, I always leave cash rather than include it in the bill, I avoid places which automatically charge service other than for large parties and tell them why.

I advised the DC to check out tips policies before taking a job but at the moment that is easier said than done, especially in hospitality.

I tip in the UK when the person serving me is doing a good job so yes, I'd expect them to keep the tip.

I worked as a waitress at the weekends years ago and we all kept our own tips, regardless of how often we worked. I like the idea of the kitchen staff getting a cut, though - but in that case, all tips should be divided between all staff.

uggh. I own a large restaurant (198 indoor seating and a patio weather permitting that holds 80) Our servers keep ALL their tips with the exception that they tip out 2 percent of their sales each shift. It goes in a lockbox which a server takes care of (not myself as an owner..not my business to mess with their money). The tipout from them gets tallied every 2 weeks and is divided between the kitchen and hostesses based on the hours they work. Other than that, it is all theirs! Some restaurant owners are crooks, but some of us appreciate our staff

Part time staff cannot legally be treated less favourably than full time staff. I’d be surprised if tips were covered in his contract, but any custom and practice issues must not disadvantage part time employees.