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Can my manager keep part of my tips?

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Can your manager keep part of your tips?

No. Tips belong to the employee. Managers and owners may not keep any part of a tip pool, under federal law (29 U.S.C. 203(m)(2)(B)). This applies to restaurant, catering, and other tipped work in Florida, no matter how the employer explains it.

What Florida's tipped minimum wage means

Florida's minimum wage is $14.00 an hour from September 30, 2025, rising to $15.00 on September 30, 2026 (Fla. Const. Art. X, s. 24; Fla. Stat. 448.110). For tipped employees, the employer can pay a cash wage of $10.98 an hour and count tips toward the rest — but only if you actually keep your tips. If a manager or owner takes part of your tips, your real pay can fall below the minimum wage, and the employer likely owes you the difference.

Overtime and tips

Federal law (the FLSA) requires 1.5 times your regular rate for hours over 40 in a workweek, for non-exempt employees (29 U.S.C. 207; dol.gov/agencies/whd/overtime). Florida has no separate overtime law. If tips were stolen, your regular rate — and your overtime — may have been calculated wrong. A tool that reads your actual hours and pay can show the arithmetic in a plain line, labeled as an estimate from the numbers you gave.

What to do if a manager or owner is taking your tips

• Write down, from memory, every day and the hours you worked and the tips you actually received. Do this now.
• Keep photos of schedules, tip-pool sheets, and time sheets. Save texts and pay stubs. Note any coworkers who saw what happened.
• Never sign anything saying you were paid in full without reading it first.
• Retaliation for raising a wage complaint is illegal (29 U.S.C. 215(a)(3); Fla. Stat. 448.110(5)).
• Wage rights apply no matter your immigration status, and no matter whether you were paid in cash.

The letter you must send before you can sue, and where to file

Before suing under Florida's minimum wage law, you must give the employer written notice stating the minimum wage claimed, the actual or estimated dates and hours, and the total unpaid amount. The employer then has 15 days to pay before you can sue (Fla. Stat. 448.110(6)(a)). The same letter also works as a demand for overtime and other unpaid wages, and sending it does not stop you from also filing with the federal Wage and Hour Division.

• U.S. Department of Labor Wage and Hour Division: 1-866-487-9243, free, confidential, any immigration status, any language (dol.gov/agencies/whd/contact/complaints).
• Some counties, for example Miami-Dade, have a wage theft ordinance — search your county's name plus "wage theft."
• Small-claims or county court.
• Free legal aid: floridalawhelp.org.
• A worker center or union.

FLSA claims reach back two years (three if willful). Florida minimum-wage claims reach back four years (five if willful, under Fla. Const. Art. X, s. 24(e)). Every week you wait can drop off the back of that window, so act now.

Whether a tip pool was set up correctly, or whether you're an employee versus a contractor, depends on facts not given here. That is decided by the Wage and Hour Division, a court, or a lawyer — not by this guide.

What to do next

This guide is general information, not legal or tax advice, and it can be wrong. A free tool can read your own hours, pay, and what happened, and give you a first-look estimate of what you're likely owed, the rule it breaks, and where to file — at no cost. The full version prepares the written notice Florida law requires, ready for certified mail, for $9 per claim, with a $49-a-month option for worker centers, unions, and legal aid. Confirm anything important with free legal aid or the Wage and Hour Division before relying on any of this.

Wage Theft Letter explains pay rules in plain language and estimates from the numbers you enter; it can be wrong, and it is not legal advice. It does not decide whether you are an employee, exempt, or owed anything — the Wage and Hour Division, a court, or a lawyer does. Wage rights do not depend on immigration status. Free help: dol.gov/agencies/whd · floridalawhelp.org. Nothing you type is stored.