A new tip-sharing edict at Lone Star Texas Grill has created divisions inside the workplace as servers, kitchen staff and managers are poised to share a bigger cut of the gratuities.



“It’s very tense,” said Nick Cossette, who works in food preparation at the Lone Star in the ByWard Market. “I thought, ‘Finally we’re seeing appreciation for the back of the house.’ “



For years the restaurant, which specializes in fajitas, had a “tip out” policy that required servers to give up 2.5 per cent of their total sales to the kitchen and host staff. But the restaurant is now taking the step of requiring servers to hand over a bigger chunk of their tips, which will be thrown into a pool and distributed to all staff, including cooks, dishwashers, hosts and managers, based on the number of hours each staff member worked.



Cossette said he likes that kitchen staff can benefit more from their toil.



“You’re eating what I have cooked,” he said Saturday. “It’s a little bit that helps us out. We don’t get a pat on the back or a thank you.”

But servers and bartenders at Lone Star are recoiling at the new tipping protocol.



“Most of the servers have an issue with tipping out into a pool of other servers because in a server’s mind you work hard with your table to earn the tips you get,” said a local Lone Star server who asked not to be identified. “And if somebody tips me $50 because I did a great job, I’m going to lose half of that to somebody who got awful tips all night because (they) didn’t try. Which is where we are all kind of uneasy with that. … I think the kitchen does deserve more and so do management, but it’s not the server’s responsibility to pay for that.”



Lone Star marketing manager Kathryn Leroux says their new policy “evens the playing field” for all staff who contribute to the overall restaurant experience of a customer, including managers who often “step in” to help during busy periods. She said the industry standard is between four and seven per cent, well below their 2.5 per cent.



Their new tip pooling policy will address the “significant inequities between the different positions.”



“This is all grounded in our basic philosophy that every person on the team in the restaurant impacts the guest experience,” said Leroux. “And as such, we felt we needed to look at a more equitable tipping program that rewarded all members of the team for doing what they do.”



Leroux said the restaurant’s decision is based on an amendment made by the Ontario Ministry of Labour’s Employment Standards Act last year. It allows employers to withhold or make deductions from their employees’ tips and other gratuities if they are collecting and redistributing the money among some or all employees, a practice known as tip pooling.



In a comment posted on its Facebook page Saturday afternoon, Lone Star said employees chose a process in which servers and bartenders retain an average of 70 per cent of tips, with the remainder going to other employees. According to the company, the rate is in line with industry practice of servers and bartenders retaining 60 to 70 per cent of tips they receive. The new policy is to go into effect on Aug. 15.



It’s hard for restaurant staff to avoid thinking about it during their shifts.



At one Ottawa Lone Star on Saturday, a reporter asked a lunchtime server, without referencing the tipping controversy, how things are at the restaurant.



“Do you know what’s going on?” the server said. “Oh, Lone Star life.”



The server, who wasn’t comfortable disclosing her name, said she handed in her resignation when the company revealed its plans two weeks ago.



“When I found out, I couldn’t sleep,” the server said.



Customers are skeptical about the new tip-splitting regimen at Lone Star. Some said it might compel people to tip less knowing that their servers won’t benefit from the full gratuities.



“If I get a great waitress, I tip more,” Annie Beaulé said.



Beaulé highlighted the unavoidable problem of bad service still being rewarded by good workers contributing to the tip pool.



Dev Thain, who was leaving a Lone Star restaurant with his fellow business students, didn’t like hearing that bosses will be included in the tip-splitting pool.



“It’s a low-integrity move that management is taking a cut,” Thain said.



Carol-Ann Astolfo, who is from Mississauga and who has family and friends who work in Toronto-area Lone Star restaurants, sparked a conversation about the policy with a Facebook post on Lone Star’s page. Her post has been shared nearly 700 times and a fiery debate has taken place in the comments section, with 349 comments already.



When reached by the Sun, Astolfo said the new policy is putting employees in an uncomfortable situation, and she said there are seasoned servers and bartenders who have clientele who come to them specifically based on their service and “tip accordingly for that reason.”



“I have no problem that a portion of my tip is going to a hostess and kitchen people,” said Astolfo. “But I got really upset when I found out that management and the general managers of all these locations were going to get some of the money. They are taking money from servers and now you are redistributing it to management. I just think it’s wrong.”



pmccooey@postmedia.com



jwilling@postmedia.com