Paying set percentages to each support role instead of pooling? Use the tip-out calculator.
Ways to split a tip pool
- By hours: everyone gets the same amount per hour worked.
- By points: each role has points (for example server 10, bartender 8, busser 5), and tips follow the points.
- Hours x points: the most common in restaurants. A busser working longer can still earn more than a server on a short shift.
Federal rules: employers, managers and supervisors may not take any part of employees' tips, and when the employer takes a tip credit, the pool may include only staff who customarily and regularly receive tips (DOL Fact Sheet 15).
Planning who works when? The restaurant schedule template has front and back of house on one sheet.
Worked example: three servers and a busser
A night's pool of 600: servers worked 6, 5 and 4 hours at 10 points, a busser 6 hours at 5 points. By hours x points the weights are 60, 50, 40 and 30 (180 in total), so the servers get 200.00, 166.67 and 133.33 and the busser 100.00, and the cents add up to exactly 600.
Sources: DOL Fact Sheet 15: Tipped employees. Rules checked . Found a problem? Tell us.
Questions
Can kitchen staff be in the tip pool?
Under federal rules, yes if the employer pays everyone at least the full minimum wage and takes no tip credit; not if the employer takes a tip credit. State law can be stricter.