Tips policy template
Australia has no single law telling a venue how to share out tips, which is exactly why writing it down matters. An unwritten split is remembered differently by everybody, and the kitchen always thinks it is losing.
| Section | What the policy says |
|---|---|
| Purpose | To say plainly how tips are shared here, so nobody has to guess and nobody has to ask. |
| Who it applies to | Everybody working a shift, front of house and kitchen, including casuals. |
| Cash tips left for one person | A tip handed directly to you for something you did is yours. You may put it in the pool if you want to, and nobody will ask you to. |
| The tip pool | Everything left on a table, in the jar or added to a card payment goes into the pool for that shift. |
| Who shares in the pool | Everybody rostered on that shift, front of house and kitchen, including the dishwasher. Managers on a salary do not share in it. |
| How the pool is split | By hours worked on that shift, not by role. Somebody who worked four hours gets half of what somebody who worked eight gets. |
| Card and electronic tips | Added up from the point of sale at the end of each week and put into the same pool. The card fee on the tip is not taken out of it. |
| What the business keeps | Nothing. The business does not keep any part of the tip pool and does not use it to cover breakages, shortages or card fees. |
| When it is paid | With your pay, on the normal pay day, shown as a separate line on your pay slip. |
| How it is recorded | The pool for each shift and each person’s share are recorded and can be seen on request at any time. |
| Tax | Tips are income and tax is withheld from the tips we pay you, the same as your wages. Cash tips handed to you directly are yours to declare in your own tax return. |
| Tips and your pay rate | Tips are on top of your pay. They are not part of your hourly rate and they never make up any part of what the award requires us to pay you. |
| If you think the split is wrong | Tell the manager on duty or the owner. We will show you the pool and the split for the shift you are asking about. |
| Review date | Reviewed each year in March, or if the way we split it changes. |
What is in the file
- Template, blank, with each section down the side and room for the answer.
- Example, the same sheet filled in for Harbourside Coffee.
- How to use, with the steps and the mistakes below.
How to fill it in
- Decide the split before you write anything else, and then write the version you will actually run, not the fair sounding one.
- Say whether the kitchen shares. That is the question staff care about and the one most policies avoid.
- Put tips through the payroll where the business distributes them, so tax is withheld and the record exists.
- Check your award and any employment contract, since a written commitment about tips becomes a term you have to keep.
Common mistakes
- The business keeping a share of the pool to cover card fees or breakages
- A split that changes quietly when trade is down, which staff notice immediately and never forget
- Treating tips as part of the hourly rate, which they are not
What changes by trade
The law behind this document is the same wherever you trade, so the wording above is written once. What changes is what the trade puts in front of it.
| Cafes and restaurants | The kitchen question decides whether this policy is trusted. Say yes or no, say why, and do not revisit it quietly six months later. rostering a restaurant |
| Pubs and clubs | Tips are rarer and usually go to the person served. Say whether a bar jar exists at all, so a new bartender is not guessing on their first Friday. rostering a pub or club |
| Hair and beauty | Tips here are usually personal to the stylist and often tied to a regular client. Say whether an apprentice who assisted shares, because that is the live question. rostering a salon |
| Takeaway and delivery | Drivers receive tips the counter never sees, and platform tips arrive separately. Say how each is treated and whether they are pooled. rostering a takeaway |
| Function centres | A service charge on an event invoice is not the same thing as a tip, and staff will assume it is. Say plainly which of the two your invoices carry. rostering a function centre |
| Hotels | Housekeeping is tipped in rooms and rarely included in a front of house pool. Decide whether the pool covers the whole property or only the venue. rostering a hotel |
Sources
The official pages this wording was read against, on 22 September 2026.
When a spreadsheet stops being enough
A pool split by hours worked needs the hours to be right. Roster Flow works each shift out from the clock in and clock out, including the break, so the split runs off the same figures as the pay.
Questions
What is on the tips policy template?
14 sections down the side, running from purpose to review date. The example beside them is filled in for Harbourside Coffee: who shares in tips, how the split works, when it is paid and how it is taxed.
Does the tips policy template work anything out for you?
No. It is a document with 14 sections to answer in your own words, not a calculator. Nothing on it is a formula.
Can I use the tips policy template in Google Sheets?
Yes. Open tips-policy.xlsx from Google Drive, or use File, then Import, then Upload with tips-policy.csv. The document and its example come across either way.
Is the wording in the tips policy template ready to use as it is?
The tips policy template is a starting point for Harbourside Coffee or any business like it, to adapt rather than sign. The wording was checked against the official sources on 22 September 2026, it is not legal advice, and it has not been through a workplace relations professional.