Three ways to split a tip pool
By hours
Everyone earns the same per hour. Simple and easy to explain, but a busser and a bartender get the same rate.
By points
Each role gets points (say, server 10, busser 5, host 3). Hours don't count, so it fits a single shift where everyone works the same length.
By hours × points
The most common house system. Each person's weight is hours worked times their role's points, so it rewards both the job and the time.
share = pool × (your hours × your points) ÷ (everyone's hours × points added up)A worked example
A $500 pool. A server works 6 hours at 10 points (60), a busser 6 hours at 5 points (30), a bartender 4 hours at 10 points (40). Total weight is 130. The server gets 60 ÷ 130 of $500 = $230.77, the busser $115.38, the bartender $153.85. The shares add up to exactly $500.00 because leftover cents go to whoever was closest to the next cent.
Rules to know before you pool
Under federal law, owners, managers, and supervisors can never keep any part of employees' tips. If you pay a tipped cash wage and take a tip credit, only staff who customarily receive tips (servers, bartenders, bussers, runners) can be in the pool. If you pay everyone at least the full minimum wage, back-of-house staff like cooks and dishwashers can share too. States can add their own rules, so check yours. Source: U.S. Department of Labor, Fact Sheet #15.
Questions owners ask
Can a manager who serves tables take tips?
A manager can keep tips they receive directly from their own guests, but under federal law they can't take a share of a pool built from other employees' tips.
What points should each role get?
There's no legal standard. Many houses give servers and bartenders the most and support roles about half. The starting points here are just defaults; change them to your own.
Do card tips get pooled too?
Usually, yes. Some owners subtract the card processing fee on the tip portion first. Whatever you do, write it down and apply it the same way every shift.