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Tip pooling guides
Plain-English guides for restaurant, bar, café and salon operators: how to calculate a tip pool, what tip-out percentages are typical, and what the law says in the places our customers run shifts. Every legal guide links the official source so you can check it yourself.
How to calculate
How to calculate a tip pool: by hours, by points, or evenly
Step-by-step tip pool calculation with three methods — by hours worked, by role points × hours, and evenly — plus a kitchen tip-out and the rounding rule that makes the sheet balance.
Tip-out by hours worked: the formula and the edge cases
How to split tips by hours worked: the formula, a worked example with five staff, how to handle partial hours, split shifts, breaks and late arrivals, and why rounding down keeps the sheet balanced.
Typical tip-out percentages, and how to set yours
Common tip-out percentages by role in US restaurants and bars, the difference between a percentage of sales and a percentage of tips, how to convert between them, and the legal limits on who can receive a tip-out.
US law
US federal tip pooling rules (FLSA): what employers can and can’t do
What the Fair Labor Standards Act says about tip pools in 2026: the $2.13 cash wage and $5.12 tip credit, who may be in a pool with and without a tip credit, the ban on managers and supervisors taking tips, card-fee deductions, records, the end of the 80/20 rule, and the federal tips tax deduction.
California tip pooling law: what operators need to know
California tip rules for restaurant, bar and salon operators in 2026: tips belong to the employee (Labor Code §351), no tip credit against the $16.90 minimum wage, no card-fee deductions, card tips due by the next payday, mandatory pools allowed within the chain of service, owners and managers excluded.
New York tip pooling law: Labor Law 196-d and the Hospitality Wage Order
New York tip rules for restaurants and bars in 2026: Labor Law §196-d, the Hospitality Industry Wage Order’s list of who may share tips, 2026 tip credit rates for NYC, Long Island, Westchester and upstate, the two-hour/20% side-work rule, card-fee deductions, service charge disclosure and six-year records.
Texas tip pooling law: the federal rules, enforced two ways
Texas tip rules for restaurant and bar operators in 2026: Texas follows the federal FLSA ($2.13 cash wage, $5.12 tip credit, $7.25 minimum), who may be in a tip pool, the manager ban, what the Texas Payday Law says about deductions and tip credits, and what records to keep.
Florida tip pooling law: the $15 minimum wage, the $3.02 tip credit and the federal pool rules
Florida tip rules for restaurant and bar operators: the constitutional minimum wage reached $15.00 on September 30, 2026, the tipped cash wage is $11.98 with a fixed $3.02 tip credit, inflation indexing starts in 2027, and federal FLSA rules govern who may share a tip pool.
States with no tip credit: what changes for your tip pool
Seven states require the full minimum wage before tips: Alaska, California, Minnesota, Montana, Nevada, Oregon and Washington. 2026 rates, what “no tip credit” changes for tip pooling (kitchen staff can be included under federal law), and each state’s own tip rules with official sources.
Outside the US
Stop doing the math by hand
The free calculator does the split; Pro saves your rules, imports the tips report from Toast, Square or Clover and keeps a signed history for every shift.