Tips even go to the manager and owner very often.

this may be true, but it is definitely illegal. the owner can keep a tip if directly given to them by a customer (eg, while serving a table), but they may not participate in any sort of tip pool.

of course, "illegal" is very different from "doesn't happen" in the restaurant biz. the owner of the place I worked would often reach into the tip jar to pay himself back when we made mistakes.

> definitely illegal

haha, right. I've seen it done in most places I've worked when I was younger.

It's also illegal to clock people out during their shift when business is slow and yet many many places do it (because it's not enough to underpay and have employee rely on tips/charity from customers).

I think virtually every restaurant or bar has fine print that any tip over a certain dollar amount goes to the owners. The excess does, that is, and the staff keeps the part of the tip that is under the threshold. It's usually somewhere between $1k-$5k.