A tip policy defines how tips are distributed at each location, including:

Which locations the policy applies to
Which job titles can receive tips
How tips are split (by hours worked or by points assigned to each role)

Once your policy is set up, managers can use it to create tip pools that gather tips from a location and divide them based on your rules. Payroll can then process those tips automatically, removing the need for spreadsheets or manual math.

📌 Access needed: To create and manage tip pools, make sure you have the Manage Tip Policies permission enabled for the correct locations. If you don’t have access, reach out to your Super Admin.

Add a new tip policy

💡 Before you start:

Make sure team member profiles have the correct job titles and locations.
Confirm whether your business distributes tips by hours worked or points per job title.

In Admin View, go to Tip Policies, then Add.
Fill out the following:
1. Policy details
  Tip eligibility lives at the policy level (by job title). You choose which job titles are eligible to receive tips in that policy.
  1. Tip policy name: Give it a clear name (e.g., Main Street FOH Policy).
  2. Description: Optional, but helpful if you have more than one policy.
  3. Which locations can use this policy: Choose one or more locations that share the same tip rules. Selecting all locations lets you reuse one policy across multiple sites.
  4. Effective date: Choose when this policy starts. You can’t use it for dates before the start date.
  5. Job titles ineligible to receive tips: Exclude job titles that shouldn’t receive tips, such as managers or office staff, to meet compliance rules.
  6. When done, select Next.
2. Eligible recipients
  1. Under How should tips be distributed to your team?, open the dropdown and choose one of the following:
    Hours worked: Tips are split in proportion to each recipient’s approved hours.
    Points based: Assign points to each job title (for example, Servers = 7, Cooks = 3). Tips are distributed by total points.
  2. If using points, enter the point values next to each job title.
  3. When done, select Next.
3. Review
  1. If you need to edit anything, select Edit beside the relevant section.
  2. Once everything looks right, select Confirm.

Edit, disable, activate, or delete tip policies

After you’ve created your tip policies, you can view, disable, reactivate, or delete them anytime from the Tip Policies page in Admin View.

Each policy appears in either the Active or Disabled tab.

Edit a tip policy

Editing a policy doesn’t affect tip pools that were already created using previous rules.

In Admin View, go to Tip Policies.
Hover over the policy you want to check, then select the three-dot menu (•••).
Choose View details to see the policy.
Make the changes.

Disable a tip policy

Disable a policy if it’s no longer in use but you still want to keep a record. Disabled policies can’t be used to create new tip pools.

From the Active tab, select the three-dot menu (•••) next to a policy.
Choose Disable.

The policy moves to the Disabled tab.

Reactivate a tip policy

If you need to bring back a disabled policy:

Go to the Disabled tab.
Find the policy you want to use again and select the three-dot menu (•••).
Choose Activate.

Once activated, it moves back to the Active tab and can be used for new tip pools.

Delete a tip policy

You can’t delete a policy that’s been used to create a tip pool. If needed, disable it instead to keep your records accurate.

In either Active or Disabled tab, select the three-dot menu (•••) beside a policy.
Choose Delete.
Confirm deletion when prompted.

Frequently Asked Questions (FAQs)

Q: Can one policy cover multiple locations?

A: Yes. You can apply one policy to All locations for faster setup. Tip pools are still created per location, so each pool includes only the team and hours for that location.

Q: If I edit a policy, what happens to existing tip pools?

A: Existing pools keep the rules they were created with. New pools will use the updated policy.

Q: Can I change locations on a policy after it’s used?

A: You can only add locations. Removing locations that already used the policy isn’t supported in the current version to avoid calculation issues.

Q: What if a team member’s job title changes?

A: Tip eligibility follows the job title assigned for the work performed. Keep job titles up to date so recipients are included correctly.

FAQs: Indeed

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