Can I keep tips that I get at work?

If you work somewhere people leave tips, like a restaurant, hair salon, or nail salon, you get to keep the tips people give you. That's the general rule in Ontario's Employment Standards Act (ESA).

But there are 2 situations when the rule does not apply:

1. Your employer can decide that tips go into a “pool” for sharing. If tips are shared, your employer can decide what share of the pool you get.
2. Another law or a court could say that your employer does not have to let you keep your tips. For example, a court could say that your employer must take money out of your wages and tips to pay money that you owe, like child support.

When employers can share in the tips

If your employer decides that tips go into a pool for sharing, they usually do not get a share for themselves.

But if an employer owns all or part of the business, they can share in the tips if they regularly do a lot of the same work as:

• workers who are sharing the tips, or
• workers in the same industry who normally get tips.

For example, a restaurant owner who spends a lot of time serving food is allowed to share in the tips.