Can my restaurant make me pay for a walkout or a short drawer?

Example math

A table of four walks out on a $120 check (illustrative). Here’s how the federal rule plays out in two pay setups.

1. 1$2.13 plus tips: your employer is already counting your tips toward the minimum wage. DOL says a walkout, breakage, or shortage deduction is illegal here, because any deduction would put you under the minimum.
2. 2A cash wage above $7.25: a deduction can’t take you below $7.25 for any hour that week. The $8.25 figure is made up; the math follows DOL’s own uniform example.
3. 3Paying in cash instead: handing the manager $120 out of your pocket counts the same as a paycheck deduction. DOL says employers can’t get around the rule that way.

Not tax or legal advice. The numbers are made up for the example. Overtime weeks follow the same rule: a deduction can’t cut into overtime pay either.

Plain English

What DOL says about walkouts and shortages

DOL puts some costs in a group it calls “primarily for the benefit or convenience of the employer.” Its examples include damage to the employer’s property, money lost when customers don’t pay their bills, and theft by anyone. You can’t be required to pay for those if it would push your wages below the minimum wage or cut into overtime. DOL says this holds even if the loss was your own mistake.

DOL’s list of common problems names this exact situation: an employer that makes tipped employees pay for customers who walk out without paying, or for bills that were added up wrong. It also lists a cashier made to cover a short drawer.

If you earn $2.13 an hour plus tips

When your employer pays less than $7.25 and counts your tips toward the rest, DOL’s tipped-employee fact sheet says deductions for walkouts, breakage, or cash register shortages are illegal. Its reason: any such deduction would reduce your wages below the minimum wage.

Your tips are a separate rule

Federal law says your employer can’t keep any part of your tips, for any purpose, whether you’re paid $2.13 or more. If you’re told to cover a walkout out of your tip money, compare that with What can I do if my employer keeps part of our tips? DOL does allow one narrow cut from card tips, the card company’s actual fee; see Can my employer take card fees out of my tips?

Paying back in cash counts

Federal regulations say wages have to be paid "free and clear." Handing money back to the employer, in cash or otherwise, counts against your wages the same way a deduction does.

Your state may have stricter rules

This page covers federal law only. When state law differs, DOL says your employer has to follow whichever rule protects you more. DOL keeps a list of state labor offices where you can look up your state’s rule on paycheck deductions.

Where to ask

The U.S. Department of Labor’s Wage and Hour Division takes calls at 1-866-487-9243. DOL says complaints are confidential and that an employer can’t retaliate against a worker for filing one. See How to file a complaint.