How tip outs work
With a tip out, each server keeps their own tips but hands a set share to the people who helped them: bussers, the bartender who made their drinks, the host, runners. Most houses base it on the server's sales rather than their tips, so a server who got stiffed still pays their helpers fairly.
tip out = server's sales (or alcohol sales, or tips) × that role's percent server keeps = tips − all tip outsCommon house rates
There's no standard, but you'll often see something like 1% to 3% of sales to bussers, around 5% to 10% of alcohol sales to the bar, and about 1% of sales to hosts and runners. Whatever you pick, write it down and use it every shift.
A worked example
A server sold $2,000, $600 of it alcohol, and made $360 in tips. 2% of sales to the busser is $40, 5% of alcohol to the bar is $30, 1% of sales to the host is $20. Total tip out is $90, a quarter of the tips, and the server keeps $270.
Tip out or tip pool?
A tip out moves money from each server to helpers. A tip pool puts everyone's tips in one pot and splits it. Split a pool with the tip pool calculator. Either way, federal law bars owners, managers, and supervisors from keeping any of it (U.S. Department of Labor, Fact Sheet #15).