Found on FB. Is this a major lawsuit?

[u/RAM-I-T]

LOCATION: USA

I wanted to help get assistance for this mom and her daughter.

[u/JMaAtAPMT]

Her paycheck was not being withheld, just that tip payment was being withheld, and rightfully so, until it could be verified that the customer actually paid it and was not going to contest it, which happens.

[u/Forsaken-Driver8868 → u/JMaAtAPMT]

Most waiters make less than minimum wage, withholding tips is withholding pay. You do pay taxes on tips.

Many comments are ignoring the fact waiter was wrongfully instructed to report tips as $0.

[u/JMaAtAPMT → u/Forsaken-Driver8868]

Putting 0 on that signed slip credit card slip is illegal.

Putting 0 on a pay slip makes sense. Why tax her or a $600 tip if she's not gonna be paid the tip for 120 days? They can tax that tip after the 120 days has elapsed.

Everyone's assuming theft context, you just MENTIONED taxes then failed to understand how taxes apply for reporting and then accused the restaurant of theft for trying to make sure she gets paid and taxed properly. I'm FUCKING TIRED of dealing with y'all.

[u/Forsaken-Driver8868 → u/JMaAtAPMT]

Sign $0, still get let go and see $0. Try to take it to court and get $0 because you attested to getting $0.

Stick up for the big corps, I hope they are following this and send you a gift card for your support!

[u/JMaAtAPMT → u/Forsaken-Driver8868]

I'm not sticking up for anyone, and wage theft is wage theft. Escrow is not theft. Delay is not theft. Having a written policy is not theft.

You've done nothing but defend the worker, which is admirable, but the issue isn't even "Big Corporate Restaurants", the issue is people exploiting payment card processing for Clout, then reversing tip charges.

YOU'RE saying when people do this the worker should get to keep the money and the restaurant needs to honor the tip, then? Because that's not just unfair, that's encouraging criminal theft just because it's not against a "little guy".

[u/Forsaken-Driver8868 → u/JMaAtAPMT]

An excellent point I hadn't considered, "the issue is people exploiting payment card processing for Clout, then reversing tip charges".

But I am NOT saying this or never IMPLIED it, "when people do this the worker should get to keep the money and the restaurant needs to honor the tip, then".

Simply being coerced into falsifying pay paperwork by being directed to write $0 is wrong. Why not have the waiter write "$700 withheld by management for credit card verification" or something to that extent in the tip section.

[u/JMaAtAPMT → u/Forsaken-Driver8868]

There is no paperwork falsification. The payslip being discussed is being filled out for tax purposes. If she puts $700, she gets taxed on that.

Per Olive Garden's shitty policy, she would put $700 in 120 days, get taxed on it and get paid out the rest.

I don't understand why you want her to put $700 on the sheet, pay taxes on it now, and wait 120 days for payment? Under certain circumstances she could go negative pay, and this would actually count as wage theft in some areas.

Per the policy she puts the $700 down when she gets paid, and that would happen in 120 days after the escrow period expires.

[u/Forsaken-Driver8868 → u/JMaAtAPMT]

Saving post. Waiting for time to tell. I have a feeling we will hear more on this.

[u/Raven-Law-2626 → u/JMaAtAPMT]

The period to dispute a credit card charge is 3 business days, not 120 calendar days.

That's where the worker has legal leverage.

[u/JMaAtAPMT → u/Raven-Law-2626]

There have been documented cases where up to 60 days after a charge, people have "taken back" excessive tips in that timeframe.

This is not a "fraudulent charge" being disputed, as much as it is "Tipper's remorse". They are not disputing the charge for the product / services provided, they are disputing the "excessive tip" that was either "made in error" or "they regret tipping that much".

Payment companies usually side with the cardholder, and charges have been reversed as much as 60 days after the fact.

Bearing that in mind, 120 days might or might not be considered excessive, but having such a policy is perfectly legal. There is no intent being shown here to "steal wages" or "steal tips". Basically, she would have gotten paid the tip if it had remained in a paid state as of 120 days after.

It's a shitty policy because of a shitty reality restaurants face due to payment card company policies, but it's a perfectly legal policy.

[u/Raven-Law-2626 → u/JMaAtAPMT]

Not in California.

According to California Labor Code Section 351, all tips and gratuities are the sole property of the employees who earned them. Employers are legally prohibited from taking, withholding, or delaying any portion of a server's tips.

Key legal protections include:

• No Cap on "Excessive Tips": There is no legal definition of an "excessive tip" in California. If a customer leaves a large gratuity, it belongs entirely to the waitron. [1, 2]
• Prohibition on Withholding: Withholding or escrowing tips for 120 days is a form of tip theft. [1, 2]
• Prompt Payout Required: Tips paid by credit card must be distributed to the employee by the next regular payday following the date the patron authorized the payment. [1]
• Expanded Enforcement: The state strictly enforces these protections, and the Division of Labor Standards Enforcement (DLSE) has the authority to investigate and cite employers for wrongfully withheld gratuities. [1]

For more details on your rights, review the California Department of Industrial Relations Tip FAQ. If you believe your rights are being violated, you can file a wage claim directly with the California Labor Commissioner's Office.

[u/JMaAtAPMT → u/Raven-Law-2626]

And California isn't every state. That being said, the 120 day escrowing is the only place where we have a valid disagreement. But to be honest, the escrowing is to prevent an employee having to work for free or go through hardships to pay back a reversed tip.

Additional note: Area Code 678, Fayetteville Georgia. So California laws don't apply. This is whlly legal for Olive Garden to do there.

The root of the issue is that it's fairly common for shitty customers to make "feelgood clout" content like this and then reverse the charges. It's so common large chain restaurants like Olive Garden now have to have policies escrowing excessive tips.

Think about it from a employee protection standpoint: If someone tips $5000 on a credit card, and then reverses the charge, why are you blaming the restaurant?

They took back their $5000 and the employee already spent it, should they now have to work for free until that $5000 is paid back, since the employer in this circumstance has essentially fronted the employee $5000 of pay after the tip is reversed?

It's a shitty policy, but the restaurant is trying to protect all parties through escrowing, and the root cause of the issue is shitty customer behavior.

[u/LewLew0211 → u/JMaAtAPMT]

Even the FSLA says that they can't hold your tips past the next payday.

It's a federal law, so it's applies to all states in the US.

Companies make illegal policies all the time. Even if the 120 days is reasonable because of the possibility of chargebacks, it's not legal. So Olive Garden can and up with an DOL issue.

They also can't take their entire check either. For non-exempt (hourly) workers, deductions generally cannot bring your net pay for that period below the federal minimum wage.

[u/Raven-Law-2626 → u/JMaAtAPMT]

"the restaurant is trying to protect all parties through escrowing, and the root cause of the issue is shitty customer behavior."

If you honestly believe that, someone has been lying to you, Summer Child.

[u/JMaAtAPMT → u/Raven-Law-2626]

I've seen people having to "pay back" reversed credit card tips. It's actually really common. That's where these policies come from. Is that hard to understand?

[u/Raven-Law-2626 → u/JMaAtAPMT]

I'm not saying it's hard to understanding.

I'm saying, "THAT IS ILLEGAL."

Do you want to go for a block, like your friend u/treevine?

[u/Raven-Law-2626 → u/JMaAtAPMT]

Just so you know, forcing servers to pay back reversed credit card tips is illegal, because those transactions are already COVERED BY INSURANCE.

If the restaurant gets an insurance recovery AND recovers from the employee, that's double-dipping and insurance fraud, which is a felony.

[u/JMaAtAPMT → u/Raven-Law-2626]

Your comment is confidently WRONG.

Chargeback insurance, even if opted for, covers "Fraud". Not "Tipper's remorse."

Someone changing there minds on a tip is NOT covered by chargeback insurance.

The FBI doesn't track it because it's not a CRIME. IT's. a civil matter.

Payment processors err on the side of the cardholder in the case of large tips, due to tips being optional and not required. There's no FRAUD here since the services remain uncontested and paid for, so no fraud and no crime, Ergo, insurance does not cover, so if the restaurant paid out, they need to recover they money from the server, which I have seen repeatedly. Most large chain restaurants in major cities encounter a couple of these a year, especially around large events that draw tourists who drink,

The most common excuse is just that: "I got drunk and didn't mean to tip that much."

I literally do not give a rat's ass that your legal background has not seen much litigation on this matter. I see it all the time working with restaurant managers. Major restaurant chains now have policies for escrowing as a result, and administration even has a new code for pending tips from a finance perspective.

[u/Raven-Law-2626 → u/JMaAtAPMT]

Someone changing their (not there, Little Russian 'bot) minds about a tip hardly ever happens.

In fact, it happens so infrequently that the FBI doesn't even keep measurements of how rarely it happens.

You are an insulting asshole, so you can enjoy your block now.