Is It Legal for a Manager to Force a Server to Pay the Difference?

Question

If a table in a restaurant does not leave enough money to cover their bill, and they leave before someone can stop them, is it legal for a manager to force that table's server to pay the difference? Does this practice happen often?

Answer 1

I don't think it is legal but it happens. The manager has to answer to a still higher power and they can bully or intimidate servers into doing that or lose their job.  I believe a certain  resturant in White Plains, NY, which shall remain nameless even though it's over 20 years since I worked there, pulled that stunt on servers.

Answer 2

I would say, NO, that's not legal.  I waitressed years ago for about 5 years.  I remember that happening maybe only a couple of times.

Answer 3

You shouldn't have to pay it because that had nothing to do with u based on ur situation. I had to do something similiar when I worked at pizza hut because the drawer was 20 dollars short from a mistake i made, I had to pay it back , I could have denied it but then I would have lost my job. I don't think its legal .

Answer 4

Sounds illegal to me

Answer 5

NO! It's illegal, he's the responsible of the place, not you.

Answer 6

It is illegal.  And yes many employers try to get away with this practice.  I have worked at many restaurants and have seen this happen.  All of the times, the employee was too afraid of losing their job.  They just paid the difference.  It makes me sick to think about it.  It is just plain rotten of a owner of a restaurant to take money out of a server's pocket.  The only way I could understand this is if the server is intentionally letting a table get away without paying the bill.  If an employer seriously thinks a server is doing this, they would just fire them though, and not worry about one lousy check and many more to come.