Proposed changes to restaurant regulations would allow owners to dictate where tips go
SOUTH BEND, Ind.— President Trump’s administration is hoping to rescind a rule put in place under Obama that consider it wage theft for an employer to control a server’s tips.
Changes to the Fair Labor Standards Act proposed on Monday would give restaurant owners the option of pooling their servers’ tips and redistributing them how they choose.
Katrina Snedaker waitresses full time at Taphouse on the Edge in South Bend. She says she averages around $300-400 per week in tips.
“It’s my income so it’s what I live by. You’re making your own commission off your tables,” says Snedaker.
As long as a server makes minimum wage, the rest of the tips could be redistributed to any non-tipped employee.
While the law makers say it’s their goal to ensure kitchen workers are paid enough, some critics have argue it should be the restaurants job to compensate for the pay difference, not the servers.
While Taphouse doesn't have plans to collect tips if the proposed change goes through, Snedaker says it should be up to the server to decide what to do with their tips.
She says her tips usually depend on how well she treats her customers—whether that helps or hurts, and it doesn’t make sense to share the scale with co-workers who aren’t interacting with her tables.
“If this happened, I might have to consider doing a different job,” says Snedaker.
The federal government is currently taking public comment on the proposal until January federal government is currently taking public comment on the proposal until January 4th, 2018. To speak your mind, click here.