Barista new hire making $15 an hour at a small local Michigan coffee shop discovers that their boss has been keeping tips, which he insists is "to put into the business," and their coworker experienced retaliation when they confronted the boss about it

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  via Dan Smedley

  A steamer pitcher that has been turned into a tip jar sits neatly on the counter.

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  My boss keeps credit card tips, says it goes to the business..

  
  via Many_Minute6274
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  via Many_Minute6274
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  via Many_Minute6274
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  via Sam Dan Truong

  A tip jar sits on the counter. 
  
  _{Image is representative, not actual subjects.}

• "My coworker had told me that his whole scuffle began with a review from a customer complaining that the boss keeps card tips, and was told by the boss to not spoil the cafes name like that. It's a whole mess"

  But depending on where you live and the legalities concerned, it is not unlikely that your tip isn't going directly to the person who served you. It is commonplace in a lot of businesses to pool all tips, whether cash or electronic, and distribute them to staff based on hours worked.

  This practice has its roots in creating fairness. In jobs like some large or busy cafes where staff rotate amongst different positions and roles in the store within different shifts, it wouldn't really be fair for the person working the register or making the coffee to be the only one benefiting from customer gratitude while other staff members were taking care of other tasks. But, it can still create issues when customers learn that their money isn't going directly to the person intended, and create conflict and questions of fairness with customers and amongst the team members who might feel they have a right to a specific tip.

  When this barista took a job at a small cafe in Michigan for $15 an hour, they were told that they would be getting that pay plus tips for their total compensation. Some time after working there, they put two and two together and figured out that credit card tips were never included in their pay. When they asked their coworker about it, their coworker told them they had asked their boss about it the boss had told them that he was taking the tips in order to help the business's ends meet. The boss had then retaliated by reducing the coworker's hours in response.

  Whether true or not, this, of course, isn't legal or fair in a lot of places, but the idea of possible backlash from their boss left this worker feeling trapped and uncomfortable about the entire situation… Since discussing it with the boss isn't possible, really, the only thing they could do is secure another job and make sure the proper information is given to the proper places to get their money back and put an end to this practice.

  It seems this is what the barista intends to do, “I plan on working here for 3-4 more months to save as much as I can. Then I'll lay it on him.” They said in a follow-up to their original post. And when asked about the incident with their coworker, they said, "My coworker had told me that his whole scuffle began with a review from a customer complaining that the boss keeps card tips, and was told by the boss not to spoil the cafe's name like that. It's a whole mess."

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  via Many_Minute6274
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  via Lala Azizli

  A customer puts a tip into a tip jar.
  
  _{Image is representative, not actual subjects.}

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  via Many_Minute6274
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  via Many_Minute6274
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  via Many_Minute6274
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  via Many_Minute6274

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