Chapter 11 - THE TIP JARThe tip audit was uglier than expected.
Not as large as payroll-card theft.
More widespread.
David had implemented a “house loss adjustment.”
Each week a small percentage of pooled cash tips was held to cover:
Broken glass.
Customer walkouts.
Incorrect orders.
Complimentary items.
Sometimes staff parties.
Workers were never given exact accounting.
Approximate total over three years:
$94,000.
Some went toward legitimate employee meals.
Most reduced restaurant operating costs.
Which improved David’s margins.
Which improved Calder’s numbers.
Which increased bonuses.
No one called it stealing.
They called it adjustment.
Vincent hated euphemisms now.
He assembled managers from every property.
“Employees’ tips are not a slush fund.”
One manager raised a concern.
“What about dine-and-dash losses?”
“Business loss.”
“Broken glass?”
“Business loss.”
“What if an employee deliberately breaks something?”
“Discipline it.”
He looked around.
“Do not finance my restaurant using servers’ gratuities.”
Simple.
Then a manager asked:
“What if profit drops?”
Vincent looked at him.
“Then profit drops.”
The room became silent.
That sentence would have been impossible for Vincent five years earlier.
Maybe five months.
May you like
He noticed.
So did everyone else.
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