ISEN-ASTC-L is a service of the Association of Science-Technology Centers
Incorporated, a worldwide network of science museums and related institutions.
*****************************************************************************

I would check on a few things first: The IRS has rules on how gratuities are handled (they will count it as income) and maybe check with the folks that do your audits about how they suggest handling this. I agree it really gets tricky as to who should get the benefit. As the guy who often fixed or cleaned up exhibits after an event I was really happy just to get some cold pizza or a slice of cake on occasion.  And, not sure why (but have ideas), parties were often the roughest on exhibits. 


---- Craig Blower <[log in to unmask]> wrote: 
> ISEN-ASTC-L is a service of the Association of Science-Technology Centers
> Incorporated, a worldwide network of science museums and related institutions.
> *****************************************************************************
> 
> 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)
> 
> [log in to unmask]
> 
>  
> 
> 
> ***********************************************************************
> For information about the Association of Science-Technology Centers and the Informal Science Education Network please visit www.astc.org.
> 
> Check out the latest case studies and reviews on ExhibitFiles at www.exhibitfiles.org.
> 
> The ISEN-ASTC-L email list is powered by LISTSERVR software from L-Soft. To learn more, visit
> http://www.lsoft.com/LISTSERV-powered.html.
> 
> To remove your e-mail address from the ISEN-ASTC-L list, send the
> message  SIGNOFF ISEN-ASTC-L in the BODY of a message to
> [log in to unmask]

--
Erich Rose
Exhibit, Environmental and Industrial Design
807 The Living End
Austin, TX 78746
512-626-9930; [log in to unmask]

***********************************************************************
For information about the Association of Science-Technology Centers and the Informal Science Education Network please visit www.astc.org.

Check out the latest case studies and reviews on ExhibitFiles at www.exhibitfiles.org.

The ISEN-ASTC-L email list is powered by LISTSERVR software from L-Soft. To learn more, visit
http://www.lsoft.com/LISTSERV-powered.html.

To remove your e-mail address from the ISEN-ASTC-L list, send the
message  SIGNOFF ISEN-ASTC-L in the BODY of a message to
[log in to unmask]