Your tips are yours. Your boss can't just take them.
In Ontario, your employer generally can't keep your tips, dock them, or make you hand them back, and you can't sign that protection away even if you wanted to. There are a few real exceptions, like tip pools, so here's what's actually allowed and what isn't.
Free. No payment to start. This is information, not legal advice.
In 30 seconds, here's what's true
- Since 2016, Ontario law says an employer generally can't withhold your tips, take a cut, or make you give them back. You can't agree in writing to give up this right.
- Tips a boss wrongly keeps become a debt they owe you, and you can claim it like unpaid wages.
- Tip pooling is allowed: the employer can collect tips and share them among employees. But the owner or a manager usually can't take a share of the pool.
- There's one narrow exception: an owner or manager can share in the pool only if they regularly do a lot of the same work as the staff who share it.
- For a credit-card tip, the employer can hold back only the card company's processing fee (or 1.5%, whichever is more). They can't take debit fees or any other cut.
How the process works
Know what counts as a tip
A tip is money a customer voluntarily leaves for staff. A mandatory service charge can also count if a customer would reasonably expect it to go to the staff.
Check who's taking a share
A tip pool shared among employees is perfectly fine, and the problem only comes up when the owner or a manager who doesn't really do the same work starts skimming from it.
Look at deductions on card tips
The only thing that can come off a credit-card tip is the card processing fee, or 1.5%, whichever is higher. Debit fees and other charges can't be taken.
Ask for the policy
If the owner shares in a tip pool, they must post their tip-sharing policy where staff can see it. Ask to see it if it isn't posted.
Claim tips you're owed
If your employer kept tips they shouldn't have, you can file a free claim with the Ministry of Labour. Wrongly kept tips are treated like unpaid wages.
What to do next
- Track your tips: cash, card, and any pooled amounts.
- Check whether the owner or a manager is taking a share of the pool.
- Ask whether that person really does the same work as the staff.
- Look at your card tips for anything beyond the processing fee.
- Ask to see the posted tip-sharing policy.
- Remember you can't be made to sign your tip rights away.
- Keep records of what you earned versus what you received.
- File a free Ministry of Labour claim for tips you're owed.
Common myths
| Myth | Reality |
|---|---|
| My boss can keep tips to cover a till shortage. | No, an employer can't take your tips for spillage, breakage, or a cash shortage, and those kinds of deductions simply aren't allowed. |
| I signed a form, so the owner can take my tips. | That form doesn't count. You can't sign away your right to your tips under Ontario law. |
| Tip pooling isn't allowed. | It is allowed. Sharing tips among the employees is fine, and the only real issue is when an owner or manager takes a cut they aren't entitled to. |
| The owner can always take a share of the pool. | Usually not. They can only share if they regularly do a lot of the same work as the staff in the pool. |
| My employer can deduct all the card fees from my tips. | No. Only the credit-card processing fee (or 1.5%) can come off. Debit fees and other charges can't. |
| Tips count as part of my minimum wage. | No, tips aren't treated as wages, so your regular hourly pay still has to reach minimum wage entirely on its own. |
| A mandatory service charge is never a tip. | It can be. If a customer would reasonably expect that charge to go to the staff, it's treated as a tip. |
| There's no way to get back tips my boss took. | There is. Wrongly kept tips are a debt, and you can claim them through a free Ministry of Labour complaint. |
Last reviewed July 2026
Written and reviewed by the founder of PLAIN, checked against primary government and legal sources. How we research these guides
Sources
PLAIN gives legal information, not legal advice. It is not a substitute for a lawyer or paralegal — and we'll point you to free ones. Laws change; we review these pages regularly, but always confirm current rules with the Ministry of Labour or a licensed professional.
Free. No payment to start. This is information, not legal advice.