Waitress - Tips - this feels unfair

[NoTipsForMe]

I'm a waitress on minimum wage, part-time, in a fine dining restaurant.

The business I work for does tip share in a weird way and I feel it's really unfair. If you work 6 hours or less then you don't get any tips at all. I'm consistently given 5.5 hour shifts (lunchtime) meaning I don't see a penny of the tips I get given by customers.

I'm good at my job, I have great feedback from customers. I get a lot of tips. Every other restaurant I've worked for tips are pooled and then shared out based on the number of hours you work.

It feels really unfair and I can't help feeling a bit bitter about it all and like I don't want to work as hard. that's unreasonable I know but tips in this job can make such a huge difference.

I do have Autism so I can be very black & white in my sense of justice? Am I being completely unreasonable to be annoyed by this?

It's sounds unfair to me.

That does seem really unfair, can you ask why?

Personally that would really piss me off.
You do a busy period and don't get tips cos you work 30 mins less then the cut off by management decision.
Ask for the extra 30 mins for your shift.

Or get a different job.

That is very unfair.

YANBU. That seems very wrong to me. Like a deliberate policy to screw staff who only work part time. Lunch shift being 5.5 hours but the rule being 6 hours is no accident.

I'd tell them they either include me in tips or I'd leave and get another job. Lots of jobs right now so you don't have to put up with this sort of treatment.

Who gets the tips you earn during 5.5 hours?

What happens to the tips you have brought in?
Who gets them? Do you have a contract? Were you aware of this arrangement when you accepted the job?

YANBU. Are you the only person who is affected by this or are there other staff regularly given 5.5 hour shifts?

Looks very much like you are being deliberately shafted on tips. If I tip then I expect money to go to the staff who’ve been looking after me, no matter how long the shift.

Part-time workers shoukd receive the same benefits as full-time workers on a pro-rated basis. It's unfair.

However, I'd raise it once and not die on a hill over it. It would be better to move to a better employer and not get too hung up on the unfairness aspect. Move on up, move on out.

Yeah that's not ok at all.

It’s completely unfair. I often ask before tipping on a card if the tip will still go to our server as sometimes the process is different to cash. I’m happy for it to be shared with everyone involved in serving us but in the situation you describe I would think was massively unfair and wouldn’t tip.

Tips get shared between the staff who work 6.5 hours or more. 6.5 - 8.5 hours means you get half a days tips, 9-12 hours means you get a full days tips.

The government is due to be putting an end to this which is good news for the longer term
www.gov.uk/government/news/all-tips-to-go-to-staff-under-government-plans-to-enhance-rights-of-2-million-workers

Agreed - it is unfair.

How many staff members have 6 hrs?
You are NBU. When I tip, it goes for good service, if I knew my waitress/ waiter were not getting my tip, I'd stop tipping altogether.

The Good Work Plan legislation stops employers keeping tips meant for staff. What happens to the tips you get left?

Is there anyone else with a similar issue to you (frequently gets shifts too short for tips) you can complain with?

Otherwise definitely just complain on your own, there’s a recruitment shortage especially in hospitality so don’t be scared to leave over this either

The tips get given to those who work full-time.

For example, yesterday there were 5 FOH staff working, 2 of us worked 5.5 hours, the other 3 worked 11 hours. Those 3 people will recieve ALL of the days tips. When I finished and I checked my card payment receipts for my tables I had over £100 on gratuity. None of it will be given to me.

It just feels a bit rubbish.

If you get tipped in cash you can keep the cash.

www.bbc.co.uk/news/business-58669632

That is massively unfair! I'd raise it.

I deliberately never tip because it annoys me so much that tips always go to the FOH staff when my son is working hard in a hot kitchen on minimum wage doing washing up and veg prep. he deserves those tips just as much as FOH staff who basically have an easier job!!

@izzywizzywont

I deliberately never tip because it annoys me so much that tips always go to the FOH staff when my son is working hard in a hot kitchen on minimum wage doing washing up and veg prep. he deserves those tips just as much as FOH staff who basically have an easier job!!

I agree kitchen wages are often unfair for those in lower positions and that BOH also deserve a share of the tips (they all need to demand that themselves, it's not my battle) but having done my time as a kitchen porter then commis chef when first starting out in hospitality I can say FOH is not easier, it is just different. I work incredibly hard for my tips and I deserve a fair share of them.

My son worked in kitchens and DID get a share in tips! It's so variable it seems.

That is disgraceful.

I highly doubt you'll get them to change their policy, but that's a shambles.

Leave. Go work somewhere else.

Are you contracted? If not, start turning down shifts that are less then 6.5 hours.

I'm still confused about how tips are split anyway, it would massively piss me off if someone else got a share of tips I had earned and I would feel uneasy taking a share of tips someone else had earned.
But then, I haven't worked in that industry in a long time and back then you got tips in cash and stuck it straight in your apron.