Tip Pooling and the Las Vegas Casino

Among the most prevalent wage & hour issues in the concept of tip pooling - where employees eligible for tips have all their tip money collected and then distributed - based on factors such as hours worked, time off, etc.

Tip pooling can go horribly wrong (Starbucks was recently ordered to pay $100 million) or it can go well for employers.

Recently, the Wynn Hotel & Casino won a Nevada Supreme Court decision. Wynn made significant changes to their tip pooling program in 2006 (a year after the resort opened) - because supervisors were making less than dealers. The dealers sued, but in an affirmation of an employers' ability to make policy changes with at-will employees (Wynn is not a union shop) - the Supreme Court said the dealers could not pursue their lawsuit.

An excellent summary is from our friends at Jackson Lewis.