A $1,200 shift with an 18% average tip rate pools $216, which splits three ways to $72 a person before any house point system is applied.
An even split; house point systems weight roles differently.
This tool divides a tip pool evenly by headcount, which is a fast sanity check but rarely how an actual shift gets settled. Most restaurants split by hours worked or by a point system that weights servers, bartenders and bussers differently, so treat the even-split number here as a reference, not a paycheck.
Federal law lets an employer count part of tips toward minimum wage through the tip credit, paying a direct cash wage as low as $2.13 an hour as long as tips bring total earnings up to at least $7.25. If a slow shift's tips don't cover that gap, the employer owes the difference; the tip credit is not a guarantee that shifts up front, it's a true-up requirement. Several states go further and require a higher cash wage, or bar the tip credit entirely, so the $2.13 floor is not universal.
A $1,200 sales shift at an 18 percent average tip rate pools $216. Split three ways by headcount alone, that's $72 each. In practice a house point system might weight a server at 1.0, a bartender at 1.5 and a busser at 0.5, which changes each person's share without changing the total pool. Run the even split here first, then apply your house's actual weighting on top of it.
| Shift sales | 15% | 18% | 20% |
|---|---|---|---|
| $600 | $90 | $108 | $120 |
| $900 | $135 | $162 | $180 |
| $1,200 | $180 | $216 | $240 |
| $1,800 | $270 | $324 | $360 |
Cash and credit-card tips generally pool the same way, but some employers deduct a card-processing fee from credit tips before they hit the pool. That deduction is legal only up to the actual cost of processing the transaction; it can't be padded into an extra charge on staff. If your pool consistently runs short of what the point-of-sale system reports in tips, that's worth asking about directly.
The $2.13 tipped minimum and the tip credit are federal defaults, not universal ones. Several states require a higher direct cash wage for tipped workers, and a handful eliminate the tip credit entirely, requiring the full state minimum wage before any tips are counted. Check your state labor department for the number that actually applies to your job.
Sources: DOL Fact Sheet 15, Tipped Employees under the FLSA, DOL Minimum Wage.
Most pools divide by hours worked or by a house point system (servers, bussers and bartenders often carry different weights), not a flat even split. Enter the headcount here for a quick even-share estimate, then adjust for your house's actual point system.
No. A 2018 amendment to the FLSA bars managers and supervisors from participating in tip pools, even at businesses that don't take a tip credit against minimum wage.
It lets an employer count part of your tips toward the federal minimum wage, paying a direct cash wage as low as $2.13 an hour as long as tips bring your total earnings up to at least $7.25. If tips fall short in a given week, the employer owes the difference.
No. Several states require a higher cash wage for tipped employees, and a handful require the full state minimum wage before tips, with no tip credit at all. Check your own state labor department for the applicable rate.
Generally yes for pooling purposes, though some employers deduct a card-processing fee from credit tips before they enter the pool. That deduction is only allowed up to the actual processing cost, not as an extra charge on staff.