Boston Compliance Reminder: MA Tip Pool Law (M.G.L. c. 149 §152A)

Panko Compliance · May 28, 2026

## What it is Massachusetts General Laws Chapter 149, Section 152A — better known as the Massachusetts Tips Law — controls how restaurants in MA handle tips and gratuities. It is one of the strictest tip-pool statutes in the country, and it's the source of more litigation against MA restaurants than any other employment statute. Crucially, it diverges significantly from federal Fair Labor Standards Act tip rules, so an out-of-state operator can comply with FLSA and still violate MA §152A. ## What compliance looks like 1. Who can share tips. Only wait staff, service employees, and service bartenders. Period. 2. Who CANNOT share. Anyone with managerial responsibility — including assistant managers, shift leads with authority to fire, hosts/hostesses who supervise. Also kitchen staff (cooks, prep, dishwashers, expediters) and back-of-house generally. 3. Mandatory tip pools allowed. But the pool must include ONLY eligible employees as defined above. 4. Service charges. A 'service charge' is presumed to belong to the wait staff unless the menu or check clearly states otherwise (and you cannot use a service charge to pay managers). 5. Credit card tip reductions. You cannot deduct the credit card processing fee from a tipped employee's share. The full tip goes to the employee. 6. Tipped minimum wage. MA tipped minimum is $6.75/hr cash + tip credit to reach $15.00 full minimum (2026). Must provide written notice + tip-credit declaration. 7. Recordkeeping. Maintain tip distribution records for 3 years. Make available to the employee on request. ## Penalties for non-compliance Improper tip pool (e.g., including a manager): the entire pool is void. Employer owes back ALL pooled tips to the original tipped employees + 3× treble damages (mandatory, not discretionary) + attorney fees. The treble damages are mandatory under §152B, which means a $50,000 underpayment becomes a $150,000 judgment + attorney's fees. The Massachusetts plaintiff's bar specifically targets §152A claims because the fee award makes them economical even on small cases. MA AG Wage and Hour Division audits restaurants annually. Class action settlements in this category often run $250k–$2M. --- Full guide with sources: https://alerts.getpanko.app/compliance/boston/tip-pool-152a

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