I was hired at the Neon Museum as a tour guide. I was told I could accept tips.
Last week the entire staff had a meeting. The CEO put a clear box on the counter and told us we could not accept tips and if we were offered tips, we had to put them in the clear donation box.
The Museum admin says we are “education” so we don't deserve tips. However we are a tourist attraction on the Las Vegas Strip and we see hundreds of tourists a day.
For reference we get paid very little and no tips puts us below living wage. In fact, this is about a 40 percent pay cut for us.
They brought this up in a meeting that actually was embarrassing for our staff because for us to advocate, many people had to disclose their finances and that they can't make it on the wage alone.
The people in the organization who do not have anything to do with tour guides spoke out against us receiving tips. At one time, I saw someone who works in the office tell a guest that her tour guide can't have tips. She took the tip from the lady and put it in the donation box. Never told the guide either.
What is our job? Extremely involved and we are required to study on our time off and learn new material. We are required to write our own tours, do the tours as a performance. We are required to work security, weddings, deal with customers, run light shows, work expensive events and more. We are the face of the Neon museum and the front line to the guests. Our team is one of the best and our tours are very popular with Las Vegas.
Most of us there have degrees and many in history. This entire situation is disturbing for such a beloved tourist attraction and gem of Las Vegas to treat it's FOH like this.