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We are running into a situation that can get a bit sticky. Occasionally
we (or a specific  employee) are offered a gratuity by a patron. This
may be during a special rental event or now that we are doing a bit more
catering with our small cafe, the customer often expects (and we are
glad) to add the standard 18% gratuity to the cost. A buck or two here
and there is one thing but with this 18% deal, you can easily get into 3
figures. So what's the problem you say? 

 

Who gets it and how is it dispersed? It may seem simple but the more I
look into it, it can be a Pandora's Box of moral/legal/payroll/fairness
issues that gets muddier by the day. What if a front line employee
pitches in for 15 minutes to help set up? What about the phone rep who
booked the event but wasn't even in the building on the day of? I have a
list of about 20 "what if's" that seemingly make this a much more
complicated issue than I initially thought it would be. My HR Manager
has downloaded about a virtual inch-thick stack of documents about how
to handle tips in California. Yikes.

 

How do you handle this type of (good) problem?

 

Thanks. 

 

Craig Blower

Chief Operating Officer

Reuben H. Fleet Science Center

619-238-1233 (main)

619-685-5701 (direct)

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