I request that you keep us posted on this one. This is a really interesting story.
-Kris
I think the way you like.
I’m thinking you should send some anonymous letters out to some of the customers of this place.
That would be fun.
-Kris
I agree wholeheartedly. I’d be furious-I mean, I’d be chewing neutronium-if the money I put down as a tip did NOT go to my server.
How would your employer react to you making their business practice known? Might they be willing to pay the tips to you, if you suggested such a disclosure might occur? Unless your regular wages are great, I’d start looking at alternative employment first though.
The situation kinda sounds like my pizza delivery boss. Ever since gas has gone over $2.00/gal, they’ve tacked on a $1.50/delivery delivery charge. We drivers still get our 3% commission (of pre-tax price of food and of the delivery charge), plus 25 cents per delivery. But the customers commonly assume that all of it goes to the drivers, when we only get 29 [sup]1[/sup]/[sub]2[/sub] cents.
But we’ve never been told not to tell the customers. If any ask me, I give them the breakdown.
If this is illegal, I bet that quite a few workers would be due a fair amount of backpay. How long has the club done this?
Ooooooh, that’s a good one, but you have to be SURE they aren’t paying the tax. It would be trivial for them to back into the tax amount, and add that to their check to the state.
I think the best option is the local newspaper. They would KILL to get a juicy story of consumer/tax fraud. If that doesn’t go anywhere, maybe try your state attorney general, but then your name will be attached to the complaint.
Sorry for the absence, fellows. Long, busy day. I’ll answer what questions I can. Sorry for no quote attributions, I’m not entirely sure how this BB system works.
I know one member, and I haven’t talked with him yet. I called the treasurer of the board, and she just cackled and said “well sue us!” I am not making this up.
Alabama doesn’t have any special labor laws, according to the dept of labor website. We follow the federal guidelines, and that’s it.
This is looking like my best option. The law seems to be a bit gray (which means lawyers are even more expensive), so if I get the customers riled up, they’ll listen, legal or not.
I thought of this, but I’m thinking it might not be a good idea. Maybe if I worked at Applebees or something, but there are some powerful people here. The president of Alabama Power comes in at least twice a week. A senator is a member. God only knows how powerful the board is, and they might have the power to stop publication if they catch wind early enough.
And given the amount of information you’ve shared, anyone on this board could now figure out where you work if they felt like making the right phone calls or are familiar with your local area.
Was that your intention?
I think the club might be covered on the 18% gratuity and the three dollar service charge. While must customers will assume that this money is going to their server, it’s not implicitly stated so. So the club can argue that this money was never yours to begin with.
On the other hand, while I’m not a lawyer, I think a strong case can be made that any additional tips the customers designate are the server’s. If the club is pocketing this money, it’s stealing.
Plus, you don’t (I hope) want to get into a situation you get paid extra to keep quiet but your coworkers are still getting the raw deal.
One more vote for the tipping off the press idea.
I admit, I’m not trying very hard to keep it secret. I’ve got another job lined up to start in a couple of weeks that will make just as much money, I just want any back pay owed to me, and I don’t want any of the other people working here to get screwed. One lady has been here for over 30 years and is the nicest person I have ever met.
These people are bastards, plain and simple.
I found something on the Federal Department of Labor web site that seems to apply:
Here’s an excerpt:
. . . employees must retain all of their tips, except to the extent that they participate in a valid tip pooling or sharing arrangement.
So according to DOL, the tips are supposed to go to you, not to your employer. My guess is they owe you a lot of money.
BTW, some years ago there was a similar case in Oakland, CA. A lawyer who worked near Chinatown found out that most of the restaurants in the area kept the tips that were supposed to go to the waiters. He took it on himself to represent a large group of waiters pro bono. With the lawyer’s help the waiters won their back pay. I don’t know remember whether they had to go to court.
And im sure a couple of your coworkers would happily chip in for you guys to have a visit with a lawyer specializing in these areas. Might be the best $250 you could ever spend.
Your lawyer could easily arrange to take a DA or two out to lunch. If they are reporting tips as paid to the employees rather than the business a call to the IRS could unleash an ass kicking of biblical proportions for the owners of the club.
Your customers are without a doubt, more powerful than your employer. They are judges, lawyers, etc.
They hold the highest card, not your boss.
If it were me, (storytelling, not instruction) I’d call up mr. Dickhead manager and say the following.
“I’m really dissatisfied with the way you pay me. Specifically, the way you keep the tips that our guests think are going to me. The people that write those additional tips, pay the included tips, pay the exorbitant buffet cost, and pay the “service charge”, are the people that keep this place funded.”
“The goal of this club, is to provide comfort, satisfaction, and luxury to our guests. The knowledge that you keep the “tips” written in on checks, as well as the built-in gratuity and the service charge, would appall most of our members. In fact, they’d probably demand that the person responsible for implementing such practices be fired immediately.”
“It’s above your head?” “I’m sure that the paying members of this club have no qualms about going to the top.”
“If you’d like to pay me my share of the tips, I’ll consider not disclosing the unfortunate practices that your office employed. If not, I see no reason that I should not inform the general population of our paying memebers that the money they think is being given to the staff, is in fact being kept by the management.”
“This would not be a defamatory statement. I’d neither slander the busines, nor issue libelous statements. I’d just be making clear the employee payment policies of the Club.”
“I have a new job lined up. Do you?”
“I’m willing to make this story public knowledge. Are you?”
[sub]Obviously there are many caveats, and a few issues which might be interpreted as being illegal. These points will come up. Please take my statement not as instruction, but as fiction, as I’ve stated. Thanks.[/sub]
Okay folks, lets get to work here. Which one is it? I’d be happy to send an “anonymous” note to local paper/tv. Just need the right name.
Cherokee Ridge Country Club Union Grove, AL
Cedar Creek Country Club Bessemer, AL
Lakeview Country Club Inc McCalla, AL
Golf Club at Cumberland Lake Pinson, AL
Cahaba Valley Country Club Trussville, AL
Marcum Country Club Empire, AL
Woodward Golf & Country Club Bessemer, AL
Assuming that the employees could be paid a lower-than-minimum-wage amount as a server, by paying higher than that the employee is passing on the tips, since the tip amount is steady as well as the wages in excess of minimum wage. It’s a roundabout way but the tips do get passed on (the employee can afford to pay more because of having collected the extra gratuity). The employee’s wages are taxed so that money is being taxed in one way.
gigi,
Your argument has some merit, but if you were to dine at this place, would you feel deceived if you found out the tips didn’t go directly to the servers, or at least a pool that went directly to the servers?
If you have to tell someone, “Shh! Don’t tell!!,” you’re usually doing something wrong.
I think I’d first look into report this to the IRS. I suspect these folks are indulging in some creative accounting. If that’s true, the IRS will pay a reward based on a percentage of any monies collected and I believe you may remain anonymous under whistleblower laws. After making an IRS complaint there’s nothing to stop you from going to the state AG and or the media. If there’s as much political influence as you imply, among the membership, it could work for you, or against you. It’s probably not likely, but you could be opening a real can of worms here, how vulnerable are you and/or you family if that should happen?