Tip-Pooling Argument Comes to a Head
Tip-pooling means that all tips given by patrons are pooled each day or week and are divided evenly between all eligible recipients. Wynn Las Vegas dealers will now have to wait until at least mid-May for a ruling on whether or not the property’s tip-pooling policy breaks state labor law. Currently, little precedent exists to determine such a ruling. With that being said, Attorneys for the resort have asked Nevada Labor Commissioner Michael Tanchek for more time to file briefs in the case, which in turn will delay Tanchek’s ruling, the labor commissioner’s office announced Tuesday.
It is anticipated that a ruling will be given by mid April 2010 which is much later than both sides of the argument has originally hoped for. A ruling was initially planned for January, but in December Tanchek pushed the date to April because he needed more time than expected to review 55 hours of testimony from the hearing. Hearings on the Wynn tip-pooling policy began in July and concluded in October. Wynn dealers are asking Tanchek to find that the resort’s new tip policy violates state labor laws. They are asking him to award about 500 dealers $35 million in back pay and penalties. While the Wynn team of attorneys have argued their case well, it is still uncertain what the state court will find and only then will we know if a case will be appealed, or if that will be necessary at all. Attorneys for Wynn have maintained that the tip policy complies with state laws. They said the resort’s tip-sharing policy allowing front-line resort employees to share dealers’ tips is comparable to a restaurant sharing tips between busboys, bartenders and waiters.
Attorneys for both sides have said any decision by Tanchek will be appealed, probably to Clark County District Court, where dealers first challenged the policy in 2006. In short, there will be no final decision made for years, likely. That’s difficult news for those involved but they may have no choice but to sit back and wait for a formal decision. The appellate process is long and full of hang ups which both sides would like to avoid but likely will be unable to.
Tags: appeal, legislation, pooling, tips
