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Some bosses hand out tips fairly. This one apparently treats them like a slush fund with her name on it.

A baker at a small cafe watched her Sunday earnings get illegally rewritten between one day and the next, dropping from more than $140 to merely $10.

But when she confronted her boss about the matter, her boss responded with a not-so-subtle threat about pulling tips entirely.

Keep reading for the full story.

My boss (the owner) is taking most of our tips and I feel like this should be illegal

I work for a family owned cafe in Texas. Including me there are 2 full time employees plus the owner.

It was a pretty small staff, but that didn’t prevent some petty drama from emerging.

We have two high school kids that help out for a couple hours on the weekends, but that’s it.

My coworker and I were both hired as bakers, and have been fighting since hired to be given tips since we are expected to not only run the whole kitchen but also work up front making coffees and helping customers.

After finding out I was looking for other jobs, my boss suddenly remembered she wanted to give us tips.

This employee soon begins to suspect foul play.

But the way she disburses the tips is really odd. She pools all the tips for the week and gives everyone a small percentage and takes the rest.

For example, this became a noticeable problem because the other baker and myself were the only ones working on a Sunday for the whole day.

Soon the bakers start doing the math — and it didn’t look good.

Square told us on the app that combined we made $140 in tips that day. Cut to the following day, it now says we each got $10 in tips.

So when she confronted the boss, she didn’t like what she had to say.

I asked the boss about this and she said that we only are allowed to get a certain percentage of that total tips that week and she goes in and has to manually change it every day.

So from what she said, we get a percentage, and then she and the two high school kids also get a percentage of it, even though they weren’t working that day.

The boss soon unfairly flips the whole thing around on them.

Boss says that we’re lucky to be getting tips and that they are a bonus and we aren’t entitled to the tips we made that day, followed by basically saying if I bring it up again she’ll take tips away completely.

Some boss this is.

Redditors are sure to have some strong opinions.

This commenter seems to think reporting the issue would do more harm than good.

Being employed in this particular state could have some unique disadvantages.

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This user seems to think escalating it is worth a try.

This reader shares a similarly harrowing workplace tale.

Two full-time bakers doing double duty in the kitchen and out front deserve more than a mysteriously shrinking cut of tips they actually earned.

Watching $140 become $20 combined overnight isn’t something you can just turn a blind eye to, especially when you depend on that money for survival.

Whatever this arrangement is, it’s not standard tip pooling. It’s something worth reporting, no matter the consequences.

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Author

Benjamin Cottrell

Benjamin Cottrell | Assistant Editor, Internet Culture

Benjamin Cottrell is an Assistant Editor and contributing writer at TwistedSifter, specializing in internet culture, viral social dynamics, and the moral complexities of online communities. He brings a highly analytical, editorial voice to his reporting on workplace conflicts, malicious compliance, and interpersonal drama, with a specific focus on nuanced stories that lack an obvious villain.

As a published author of rhetorical criticism, Benjamin leverages his academic background in human communication to dissect and elevate viral social media threads. Instead of simply summarizing events, he provides readers with balanced, deep-dive commentary into why the internet reacts the way it does. In addition to his cultural reporting, he is an experienced fine art photography essayist and video game reviewer.

When he isn’t analyzing the latest viral debates, Benjamin is usually chipping away at his extensive video game backlog, hunting down the best new restaurants, or out exploring the city with a camera in hand.

Connect with Benjamin on Instagram and read more of his essays on Substack.