I read that waitresses have to keep an accurate log of how tips they earn and give that info to the restaurant so that it can be deducted from their check. But if the waitresses keep the tips (cash) and are earning minimum wage, how do the tips get deducted? Isn’t it likely that the amount received in tips would exceed the amount of the check (minimum wages)?
Or is the waitress supposed to give the tips to management so that they give her a check which includes all tips and minimum wages?
How does this work exactly in California?
Thanks
Don’t know about California but management deducting them here is illegal (UK) and would be theft. Gratuities are for the people intended. There are different systems though. Some places pool the money and share it out. It may be that the management manage them and the staff get it added to their wages (tips here are taxable). That saves the staff from having to work out the tax.
You’ll have to hope a lawyer or someone answers for more accurate details.
Haha! No. You heard that wrong. They report their tips so they can be taxed on it. Minimum wage is required by law – you can’t just deduct tips. They might deduct the taxes to balance out though.
Servers are supposed to report their tip income to their employer at the end of the night. The payroll department will include the reported tips when computing their tax withholding and the reported tips will be included in the wages reported on their W-2 form.
Additionally, if the reported tips are not high enough, the company will report "allocated tips." This will appear on the person’s W-2 form and they must report the allocated tips as income unless they have accurate records of every day they worked and can prove that they received less than the allocated tip amount.
The IRS is starting to crack down on restaurants that ignore tip income received by their waiters but there will always be waiters who slip cash tips into their pockets without telling anyone.
I agree with Kyle E. you have to pay taxes on the tips you earn. California is one of the few states in which waitresses and waiters must make at least minimum wage and then tips are added to the minimum wage. So, you shouldn’t have any tips deducted from your paycheck unless the laws have recently changed. It may be that the employer needs the information to update you check and to insure that they are paying proper taxes on you. I would discuss this with your employer to insure you understand.
ok 1st thing you do not get min wage you get 2.13 an hr and tips on top of that….i own a restautrant and know that my servers ( some of them ) just claim enough of there tips to make mim wage and pocket the rest…we auto claim credit card tips so most times that adds up to what they need to keep the gov off there butts. and you get your tips at end of shifts.
First, servers don’t get "minimum wage" its usually around $2.13, I think CA may be different though. Most restaurants when you clock out you have to claim you tips for the day, Credit card tips are automatically claimed and you are suppose to claim like 8% of your cash sales as tips too. So your total wages taxed are your tips plus hourly this is all deducted from the teenie tiny hourly pay servers get, so their paychecks are usually $0. Mine every 2 weeks varied from $0-$20, seriously. Thats why tipping (20%) is CRUCIAL!
**Tips are not deducted from paychecks, taxes are. Its the only way you can really take money from a tipped employee**