I am working in a restaurant for over ten years now. Every worker is paid on an hourly basis plus we can drink and eat what we want. I am very happy there, because we have a really good team and also many regulars. The only problem I have is that my boss is taking our tips. Since we don’t have a cash register system, at the end of the day it’s impossible to tell which part of the money is revenue and which part is tips. On a good day, one waitress has between €1,500 and €2,000 in her cash pouch, which in Germany usually includes about a 10% tip (and we often get more). I can not accept the boss getting my whole tip money so i always go to the toilet and take out like 60 % of what i assume to be tips. Am i the asshole for stealing the money the guests are giving to me and not to my boss?
WHAT?! You just guess a random amount and assume it’s tips and not actual payment?! You admit you don’t know how much is “okay” to take and that you just take what you think could be right.
ESH. (The boss for obvious reasons.)
I’m gonna need someone to explain how this works. Cause I’ve worked in multiple restaurants and have NEVER seen one that doesn’t have a “cash register system”.
I was in Germany recently and the forthright asking me to apply a tip everywhere was horrible. It’s never been like that before.
To your point are your tips put through your hourly wage on payday? That’s how they do it in the UK. Everyone working that shift gets a share. If so then YTA for stealing.
Why not keep the tips in a separate pouch and check with payroll manager when you’d get paid them.
I am really surprised by that. I have lived in Germany for more than 20 years and no one ever asked for a tip (except yesterday in Starbucks but it was just the card machine, I never tip by card assuming that they don’t receive the whole tip that way)
Maybe a Munich thing. We’ve never been asked it in any other city. Presented the bill, asked how much % tip will be added then act all surprised and grateful they’re getting a tip. So uncomfortable especially when some places were so rude during service. We love Germany and go often.
But I think it’s worth OP having a chat with someone rather than being caught “stealing”
No cash register? The Finanzamt will be VERY interested in your employer. NTA but only because your boss is TA.
I know you don’t want trouble and enjoy your job but in Germany it is illegal for your boss to take your tips. They are a perk for you given voluntarily by customers, your boss plays no part in that. Can you not just separate your tips as you go, you see how much each customer gives, put most of that in a separate section. This is not really different to what you do now but makes amounts clearer.
I don’t know how it works but I would assume as long as your correct total is handed over at the end of the shift he shouldn’t have to see your tips. I would find a German sub on here that can give you better advice about this that might help with dealing with your boss without disrupting your job.
ETA NTA
Eh yes YTA you don’t have a register system so you just take a chunk of money every day? Do you also go and make up a number to give customers for the bill? It would be very obvious what is a tip and what isn’t
There is a simple Solution.
Put the Tipmoney in an extra Fach.
I‘ve done it the same way.
There was one Box I put every Cent that was given to me, at the end of the Shift I just Grab it and everything was good.
NTA, but you’d better talk to someone about this before you get caught.
I have no idea about laws in Germany but in the US a boss stealing tips is both very illegal and very common.
If the boss is also the owner, NTA. If the boss is just a manager, ESH, there are legal routes you can take to get your dues.
Even though I am taking this post with a grain of salt, I am going to say YTA, and this is why. Although I don’t know how restaurants work in Germany, I find it hard to believe there is no cash register system in a restaurant that takes in that kind of money in just tips. I mean, that’s a lot for tips at €1,500 and €2,000 per waitress, that’s between 1,188.18. And 2,376.37 USD in just tips. How do you judge tips vs what the restaurant gets, as you comingle everything in the same pocket? You even admit you have no Idea how much you have in tips and just pull a % out of thin air that you think is the tip. That’s theft, anyway you look at it.
It is highly illegal in Germany to not have a cash register system. In fact, even if you have one, it is illegal if it is not the right kind (if I remember correctly, it has to be one that records all transactions, so that the Finanzamt can see if you have an abnormal amount of transactions that have been voided).