“The proposed change would partially rescind the DOL’s 2011 regulations on tip-pooling which prohibited restaurants from allowing customer-facing employees (i.e. wait staff and bartenders) to share their tip pool with back-of-the-house employees (i.e., chefs, line cooks, callers and dishwashers).”
The DOL’s change is expected to give restaurants discretion on how to compensate their employees, decrease wage disparities between front-of-the-house and back-of-the-house employees, and incentivize all restaurant employees to strive to improve the customer experience.
https://www.foodnewsfeed.com/fsr/expert-insights/why-tip-pooling-could-be-making-comeback?utm_source=fs_insider&utm_medium=email&utm_campaign=20180201