Employer Takes Server’s Tip Money to Pay For Credit Card Fees
Tuesday January 29, 2008
A Michigan restaurant is charging its own staff for credit card fees. Gandy Dancers, located in Ann Arbor, is charging servers 1.5% of their credit card tips, to off set credit card processing fees. Apparently this act is legal in Michigan.
Now, I have weathered some pretty awful financial storms in my time as a restaurant owner. In fact, since 9/11, the economic outlook for rural Maine, where I am located continues to be pretty bleak. But that does not justify taking servers tip money. Ever.
What next? Is the owner of Gandy Dancers going to charge servers a percent of every meal they sell, to cover the their food costs? Perhaps they should charge servers every time they use the bathroom, to cover the cost of water and sewer. Nickel and diming your staff is not the way to save money during tight times. Look at your food costs, cut your payroll, work on promoting your business.
Read the entire story and share your thoughts in the forum.
My soninlaw works for Raffertys in memphis and they also practice this. It is bad enough that servers do not make minimum wage and often get no tip at all let alone the company having employees pay expenses. Does that mean that this is an expense for the employee?