McMenamins Included Assistant Managers in Its Tip Pool. Can They Do That? | Eater Portland

"Employees who worked at the Edgefield McMenamins location between May 16, 2019, and “at least” October 26, 2022, may have lost a significant portion of their tips after the U.S. Department of Labor found the location’s tip pool included assistant managers and “assistant assistant managers,” which the DOL says denied lower-level staff tips that should have been theirs. The agency says McMenamins tipped out about $800,000 to those roles and requested reimbursement, but the company refused and the DOL decided the matter was not suitable for litigation, so employees may need to pursue civil action to recover owed tips. McMenamins responded that it was “baffled” by the probe but maintains those assistant roles are hourly, front-of-house positions legally entitled to a share of the tip pool under Oregon law; experts caution, however, that federal and state rules focus on whether the workers’ primary duties are managerial and warn managers and supervisors generally should be excluded from tip pools." - Brooke Jackson-Glidden