Hunton Employment & Labor Perspectives

Section 351 of California’s Labor Code prohibits employers from taking any gratuity patrons leave for their employees, and provides that such gratuity is “the sole property of the employee or employees to whom it was paid, given, or left for.”  A number of Courts of Appeal have consistently held that this prohibition does not extend to employer-mandated tip pooling -- where employees must pool and share their tips with other employees.  Louie Hung Kwei Lu, a former card dealer with Hawaiian Gardens Casino, Inc., decided to test these rulings.