Manitoba laws murky on topic of dine-and-dashers

Laws in Manitoba that make it illegal for restaurant employers to force employees to foot the bill for dine-and-dashes get murky when it comes to the topic of tips.

The issue of dine-and-dashing, and the act of getting employees to cover the cost, came to light when the CBC reported on a woman who felt discriminated against after being asked to pay up front at Kum Koon Restaurant, despite other patrons not having to do so.

• Winnipeg restaurant owner 'terribly sorry' after Indigenous patrons told to pay up front

The restaurant owner told CBC that dining-and-dashing is a problem at his restaurant.

"We have had some bad experiences in this area they come to eat and they just left without paying," Geoffrey Young told the CBC on Friday.

"The serving personnel is responsible for this kind of thing and they have to pay."

In Manitoba, it's illegal for employers to use employees' wages to cover dine-and-dashes.

"You cannot take from people's wages anything to cover dine-and-dashes or other kinds of shortages that are felt for in the workplace," said Jay Short, manager of the Special Investigations Unit with Manitoba Employment. His group investigates restaurants' violations of employment laws.

If an employee is expected tousetheir own money for those dine-and-dash costs (or any other loss), even to make up a difference, that would be against the law, he said.

But things get complicatedwhen it comes to tips, and whether tips are actually part of an employees'wages, he added.

"Tips themselves are not necessarily part of a wage, and this is where it gets difficult for us, because it's a case-by-case investigation to determine if it was a wage or a tip," he said.

He said managers need to be up front about how tips are used.When there's a clear, pre-designed system like a shared pot for tips that go to things like losses and other restaurant employees, it may be perfectly legal for managers to use that money to cover for those who feed and flee.

"If that's the case, the tip isn't really part of their wage, it is belonging to the employer and that may be okay," he said.

The owner of Kum Koon Restaurant was not clear how employees pay for dine and dishes- whether it's with tips or wages- and was not immediately available to respond torequests for comment on how hisemployees cover those costs.

The CBC contacted several restaurants in Winnipeg to ask about their policies for dine-and-dashers. At many, like Moxie's, Earls, State-and-Main, the owners themselves pay for walk-outsso that employeesare never on the hook for their customers' tabs.

But several servers working elsewherehad horror stories of having to pay outofpocket.

'That's coming out of your pocket'

Kendra Stuart, 22, had to pay $150 for a group of young menwho fled without settling up when she was serving at a sports barseveral years ago. She said it's not an uncommon practice in the city.

"I find that wrong," said Stuart, who quit over the incident.

"I went to another table, I turned back and they were all gone. First they said they were going for a smokethen I went outside and they were all gone."

If that wasn't frustrating enough, she said it was even worse when her boss blamed her for it.

"I had to tell my manager, I'm like, 'Look, their bill's at 150 bucks. I cant find them," she recalled.

"He said, 'Well you need to be keeping an eye on your table ... He said 'That's coming out of your pocket'."

Stuart said the bill came out of the tips she made that night, though her boss gave her the option of having the total come out in instalments from her paycheque instead.

On another occasion at the same restaurant, Stuart said she chased down and caughta separate group of dine-and-dashers, to avoid having to cough up her owntip moneyto pay their tab.

Tipmoney pools

At Perkins Restaurant and Bakery, servers pay a dollar out of the tips they make each day into a walk-out fund.

"That way they're not out of pocket and neither is the restaurant out of pocket,"said Tony Nieuwhof, general manager at Perkins on Regent Avenue.

But he feels that walk-outsare technically the server's responsibility.

"They take payment at the table. They're the ones responsible for collecting payment."

Short encourages restaurant employees to file a complaint if they feel their employers are unfairly taking their wages. He saidin most casesrestaurant owners just aren't aware of the lawsand voluntarily comply on their own. Failure to comply can result in a fine from $500 to$10,000and offenders are featured on a webpage.

Stuart now works at Earlswhere she said her experience has been much more positive, especially because she's never expected to pay for her customers out of the tips she makes. According to managers, payment fordine-and-dashes comes out of a separate fund in the store's budget.

"I love the people, I love the customers.You'll always get those few diner-and-dashers but the fact they have a fund for it really helps, knowing that they don't want you to run after these people and put [yourself] in danger," she said.

"You want towork somewhere where you leave with money at the end of the night, not owing."

If you have a complaint or tip about a restaurant in Manitoba, the province's Special Investigations Unit wants to hear fromyou. Call 204-945-3352 or 1-800-821-4307 toll free, or email Employmentstandards@gov.mb.ca. Tips can remain anonymous.