Is it legal for bar owners to accept tips?
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Is it legal for bar owners to accept tips?
Asked on October 31, 2011 under Business Law, Oklahoma
Answers:
SJZ, Member, New York Bar / FreeAdvice Contributing Attorney
Answered 12 years ago | Contributor
The issue is not ownership, but what job is the owner doing when he gets the tips. If he is acting as bartender or waiter when his tipped, that is legal, the same as it would be legal for any bartender or waiter to be tipped.
If he is not acting in a capacity which is normally tipped (like bartender or waiter), but instead has other staff doing those things, then he might be violating some of the wage and hour laws to accept tips or take tips that would more properly go to the actual bartender or waiter.
So again, the issue the capacity he is acting in when the tip is offered, not whether or not he is the owner as well as, say, the bartender.
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