As the Trump administration continues its aggressive rollback of Obama era labor policies, seventeen attorneys general around the country have asserted a united front against efforts to overturn a 2011 Obama rule mandating that tipped workers keep their tips. In addition to stirring controversy due to the possibility that employers could take the tips earned by their employees, this news has led to the initiation of an investigation by the Labor Department’s Office of the Inspector General due to suspicion that officials within the Labor Department are hiding studies showing the detrimental effects withholding tips will have for workers. While supporters of the change claim that this tip-sharing would decrease the gap between the pays of front of house and back of house workers, opponents claim that this change will just lead to further exploitation of labor by management through the pocketing of workers’ tips.
See "Attorney General Madigan: 'Outrageous' proposed rule change on tipping would hurt workers", Greg Trotter, Chicago Tribune, February 6, 2018