§ 465a.19. Acceptance of tips or gratuities from patrons.
(a) Notwithstanding the requirements of § 461a.8(n) (relating to gaming vouchers), a key employee, box person, floorperson or any other gaming employee who serves in a supervisory position is prohibited from soliciting or accepting, and no other gaming employee may solicit, a tip or gratuity from a patron of the slot machine licensee. The slot machine licensee may not permit any practices prohibited by this section.
(b) The slot machine licensee shall submit internal controls relating to the acceptance of tips or gratuities by dealers at banking and nonbanking table games.
(c) Except as permitted under subsection (g), all tips and gratuities received by dealers in a licensed facility shall be:
(1) Immediately deposited in a transparent locked box reserved for tips and gratuities. If Roulette chips are received as tips or gratuities at a Roulette table, the marker button indicating the specific value of the Roulette chips may not be removed until after the dealer, in the presence of a floorperson or above, has converted the Roulette chips into value chips which shall then be immediately deposited in the transparent locked box reserved for tips and gratuities.
(2) Collected and accounted for at least once each gaming day.
(3) Placed in a common pool for distribution pro rata among all dealers in accordance with subsection (e).
(d) A patron may identify a wager as a tip wager. A tip wager placed at the table shall be played separately from the player’s other wagers. A winning tip wager shall be collected and deposited in the tip box after each round of play or after a roll of the dice which decides the outcome of the wager. A winning tip wager or part of a winning tip wager may not be wagered again. Upon receipt from a patron of a tip or gratuity, a dealer shall extend his arm in an overt motion, and deposit the tip or gratuity in the locked box reserved for tips and gratuities.
(e) Tips and gratuities placed in a common pool shall be distributed pro rata among the dealers in the pool based upon the number of hours worked. In determining the number of hours which an employee has worked for purposes of tip pool distribution, a slot machine licensee may establish standards for distribution which include hours of vacation time, personal leave time or any other authorized leave of absence in the number of hours worked by each employee. These standards shall apply uniformly to all employees, except that a slot machine licensee may establish different standards for full-time or part-time employees.
(f) Any distribution of tips and gratuities from a common tip pool under this section shall occur no more than once every 7 calendar days.
(g) Notwithstanding the requirements in subsection (c), a certificate holder that offers:
(1) Nonbanking Poker may either:
(i) Establish a separate common pool for tips and gratuities received by its Poker dealers.
(ii) Permit a Poker dealer to retain his own tips and gratuities, in which case the tips and gratuities received by a Poker dealer shall be deposited, in accordance with procedures in subsection (d), in a transparent locked box assigned to the particular dealer. The box shall be moved from table to table with the dealer.
(2) Gaming on electronic wagering terminals may allow players to tip from the electronic wagering terminal provided that the certificate holder specifies how the tips placed electronically will be recorded, pooled and distributed in accordance with this section.
(h) When a slot machine licensee elects to use the option in subsection (g)(1)(ii), at the end of the Poker dealer’s shift, the dealer shall take the transparent locked box assigned to the dealer to a cage cashier. The cage cashier shall open the container and count the tips and gratuities in the presence of the Poker dealer and record the total amount of the tips and gratuities received by the dealer and either:
(1) Return the tips and gratuities to the dealer.
(2) Retain all or a portion of the tips and gratuities for inclusion in the dealer’s paycheck.
(i) A certificate holder shall specify how dealer tips and gratuities will be reported to the Internal Revenue Service.
Authority The provisions of this § 465a.19 amended under 4 Pa.C.S. § § 1202(b)(30), 1207, 13A02(1)—(6), 13A25, 13A62(a) and 1322.
Source The provisions of this § 465a.19 amended May 11, 2012, effective May 12, 2012, 42 Pa.B. 2585; amended January 31, 2014, effective February 1, 2014, 44 Pa.B. 599; amended December 15, 2017, effective December 16, 2017, 47 Pa.B. 7563. Immediately preceding text appears at serial pages (375101) to (375102).
Cross References This section cited in 58 Pa. Code § 461a.8 (relating to gaming vouchers).
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