Wage theft is one of those things that happens more often than most people realize, and small cash businesses are where it tends to hide best.

This coffee shop worker was hired with a clear hourly rate and the promise of tips on top, only to discover that his boss had been pocketing every credit card tip and paying out only the rare cash ones — which amount to about two dollars a shift.

The barista contemplated speaking up, but when one of his coworkers faced retaliation during a similar confrontation, he felt trapped.

Now he’s caught between speaking up against a clear injustice and protecting a job he desperately needs to pay off his debt.

You’ll want to keep reading for this one.

My boss keeps credit card tips, says it goes to the business..

I work in a small coffee shop in Michigan and was hired with a base pay of $15 an hour.

I was told in the interview that would be the hourly wage before tips.

The owner did not specify that I would simply make only cash tips.

Eventually, a coworker revealed what was really going on with the tip policy.

After some checks, I realized that I was only being paid hourly and not having any credit card tips added, so I asked a coworker and he said that we don’t get card tips and that we only take home cash tips.

At most I go home with $2 in cash tips. The majority of tips are through card.

My coworker had told me that when he asked our boss about it, our boss became upset, told him he was struggling financially, and kept the card tips to put into the business.

He then took hours away from him.

So to prevent any further retaliation, the employee was urged to keep it hush hush.

My coworker suggested that I also don’t make a scene of it, in fear that I also suffer the same consequences.

The owner Zelles us $15 an hour without taxes taken out, and I feel saddened by the whole thing.

I would leave immediately as I find this scummy, but I’m desperately trying to save money and pay off a debt and I feel a bit stuck.

Am I in the wrong for feeling this way?

This doesn’t sound like a fair policy in the slightest.

If you enjoyed this story, check out this post about a cashier who was on break when she was physically dragged back to the register by a customer.

What did Reddit have to say?

This employee may just have a case.

There are quite a few people who would be very interested in hearing this story.

This kind of pay structure also hurts the employees when it comes to taxes.

The whole point of holding down is to make money, but when your boss is hoarding most of it for himself, it sort of takes away the entire point.

It’s very clear to this barista that there’s a glaring injustice, but in the shackles of capitalism, he’s really left in an impossible situation.

Does he speak up and confront the boss, knowing there would be consequences, or does he kiss his job goodbye, knowing every dollar is precious.

Ultimately, he’ll have to decide how far he’s willing to get pushed before he moves on to something better.