Apologies if this is reads as rambling – I am just so deeply upset right now.
I work as a bartender for a staffing agency. I make $16.50 hourly and always get tipped out wherever I go. Usually I work weddings and private parties. Today I was staffed at a concert venue.
This was a cashless concert venue, and almost every customer tipped me on a register. The register was tied to my actual name, as they made a temporary employee account for me. At the end of the night, $428.00 in tips had been charged to my register. The customers were obviously under the impression that the tips was going to me.
At the end of my shift, I am told I will not be getting my tips because I am a temporary employee and I am making a “tip-exempt wage” aka not the poverty $3 an hour they pay their regular staff. And that my tips are going to cover the difference between what they usually pay their bartenders, and what they paid my staffing agency to send me there.
$428. For 5 hours of work.
What are my options here? Is this legal? I think a big concert venue like the one I was working at probably did find some loophole but it feels so wrong. My staffing agency manager was not aware of this. Even the beverages manager at the venue was not aware of this. I have her business card, as well as the number to HR at the venue.
Any advice would be deeply appreciated.