If you work in a tipped position of any kind whether it’s being a server, a waiter, a waitress or any other kind of tipped position it’s always worth asking the question of whether those tips that you worked hard for should, in fact, be shared with other people.
Now, sometimes it is perfectly proper for tips to be pooled or otherwise shared, however, there are a couple of different ways that employers will often get it wrong.
The first situation comes when you’re required to share your tips with somebody like a manager or an owner or somebody in that kind of authoritative position. Generally speaking, that is a big no, no you should not be required to share your tips with those kinds of people.
The other situation is that when there is a tip pool it should always be with people who are regularly and customarily tipped employees. So, if you are required to share your tips with people who are not assisting you in getting your job done very immediately or would not be tipped by a customer in the real world you should at least ask the question and make sure that your tips that you’re earning should, in fact, be shared with those people so it’s always just a good idea to talk with a lawyer or somebody that knows about these issues so that they can advise you as to whether it is in fact proper for you to have to share your tips.