I’ve been out of the tipped sector for a few years so I think there are some new interpretations to the rules I’m behind on.
I live in Minnesota. Our state rules specified that “employers” couldn’t take from the tip pool. Businesses owners and managers would be considered employers. Assistant managers, shift leads and other titles would only be considered employers based on their percents of duties (it seemed to lack clarity). For example at a chain coffee shop or pizza shop the manager during the day couldn’t take from the tip pool but the assistant manager or shift lead at night could take from the pool, because they had less responsibility than the day manager. It always seemed a little sketchy but the owners save money by paying assistant managers less by subsidizing their pay with tips.
It looks like a few years back the Federal rules were better clarified by specifying “supervisors” can’t take from the tip pool.
https://www.dol.gov/agencies/whd/flsa/tips
Sometimes I come across posts on here from supervisors about their tips being stolen or partially withheld. It sometimes seems like a situation where the person posting is a supervisors that shouldn’t be taking any tips from the tip pool in the first place.
I understand that these problems are created by the business and I shouldn’t be too hard on people for accidental tip theft.
On the other end if someone works for tips long enough to become a supervisors of tipped workers and posts about tip theft on Reddit they should maybe know that as a supervisor they shouldn’t be taking from the tip pool in the first place.
TLDR; Why are supervisors still taking from tips pools and making complaints about the tips they shouldn’t be taking?