Her Coworkers Skip Breaks and Flirt to Maximize Tips—Leaving Her to Wonder If This Level of Toxicity Is Normal
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Working at a luxury hotel sounds glamorous on paper, but the reality of this workplace was much different.
One employee landed a job at a small, high-end California hotel owned by a known billionaire, expecting the pay to match the polish. Instead, service charges added to every bill go straight to the hotel, not the staff, leaving tips as the only real extra income.
The catch was, even those tips got funneled through a pool the manager controls at his own discretion.
Coworkers have adapted in their own ways, one leaning into extra attention from guests to boost his cut, another clocking out for lunch while covertly continuing to work through it.
Now the employee wonders how much longer they can tough it out through such blatant dysfunction.
Keep reading for the full story.
New job and already questionable practices.
I got a job at a small, luxury hotel in California with about 15 employees working there.
The owner of this hotel is actually a known billionaire.
Does this result in any generosity or goodwill towards the hotel employees? HA! Certainly not.
Of course they have very high standards, yet they don’t pay a lot.
They add a service charge fee to each food and drinks bill, and that doesn’t even go to the staff, but the hotel itself.
We only get tips if the guest offers separately.
Before long, it turned out even the tip pool wasn’t safe.
So there is a tip pool where a guest can leave an amount. Apparently the manager pools that tip amount however they want.
My coworker said he does all of this extra and even allows guests to flirt with him because he gets a bigger portion of the tip pool.
Because it’s a small property, they expect you to do everything.
The overall work culture isn’t very supportive either.
My other coworker punches out for lunch but keeps working. When I asked him about it, he said he is hardworking and breaks are for lazy people.
A manager told me because it’s a place with less than 50 employees, they can set the rules the way they want.
Is this normal?
This certainly doesn’t sound normal.
What did Reddit have to say?
This commenter gives their take.
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This commenter wonders why this kind of behavior isn’t more strictly prohibited.
If you enjoyed this story, check out this post about management who regrets their overtime ban after employees take it seriously on a business trip.
Red flags abound at this workplace.
Fifteen employees and a billionaire owner, and somehow the money still doesn’t trickle down. Wild how it always seems to work out that way.
The tip pool alone reveals just how toxic this boss really is. Those tips are supposed to go to the hardworking people who actually keep the business running.
This employee deserves to find a job that actually respects them.
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