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The original was posted on /r/antiwork by /u/Wake_The_Riot on 2024-09-27 19:37:44+00:00.

So I have severe anxiety issues which makes it very hard for me to stand up for myself (especially in places where there are people of authority). I have strongly suspected for months now that my boss has been taking tips from me, and there are also many other problems like extremely late pay and hazardous work conditions (tbh I think the restaurant would get shut down if the health inspector came in as is). I should also say that the financial workings of this place are super sketchy, you can tell just by how they run the place.

He manipulated me from an hourly wage (used to be $13 and hour) down to a servers wage, and tips have been slow for a very long time. There were a few nights that I would only make $20. I know I should’ve stood up then and there but I just couldn’t bring myself to.

You may ask why I’ve stayed, I’ve been there for over 2 years now. Tbh it’s because of the schedule, they allow me to take time off whenever I want and it is a work/life balance that I have really enjoyed. I’m a musician and have been playing live for a bit and also make some money from that. I’ve been barely scraping by for a while now though.

So today I was watching my manager count the tips (I tip pool with one other person occasionally) and he left off $15 of my total. And yesterday I know I made over $150 in tips and only got $75. I confronted him and he got super nervous and pretended to recount the tips diligently and lo and behold, there is my final total. We also receive tips through delivery services like DoorDash that we do not get to keep.

What do I do now? I’ve already been planning on getting in touch with the DOL and I am in the works of getting copies of all of my payrolls going back a year. Should I be talking to a lawyer as well? I have a feeling that this has amounted to quite a bit money over the months. I’m going to leave the moment I get a new job set up. I am beyond pissed that I got played this long but also kinda just went with it too…