Can Target Employees Accept Tips – Here’s What To Know

Throughout the course of retail employment, many circumstances will arise in which customers may feel obliged to offer a cash tip. Whether it’s a situation where an employee is helping a customer load a heavy item, find a long list of obscure things, or process a very difficult return, sometimes people feel it necessary to offer a little extra cash as a token of their appreciation. So, how does Target view its employees accepting tips on the job?

Officially speaking, Target does not appear to have a blanket policy regarding whether employees can accept tips. This means there is no rule against it in most stores, but some local managers may discourage their employees from accepting tips unless the customer insists.

It’s highly unlikely a Target employee would lose their job for accepting a tip, particularly if the tip is for directly helping a customer with something. Nonetheless, it’s probably a good idea to think through the circumstance before accepting an offered cash tip immediately. Some considerations might make it a less attractive idea.

Can Target employees accept gifts?

While tipping Target shoppers and other employees for helping throughout the store is generally not frowned upon by Target, they do have some specific language in their employee handbook about gifts. Specifically, the Target Code of Conduct prohibits the “exchange of favors, money, gifts, entertainment or travel with our team members with the intent to influence business decisions.”

In other words, someone can’t give gifts to a Target employee to try and sway their opinion on something — it is against the employee code of conduct and could lead to serious scrutiny for any employees involved.

However, it would be a different situation for a customer in-store to insist on providing a gift to a shopper who just helped them load a large load of heavy items into their vehicle. This scenario would be outside the purview of events covered by the code of conduct language.

What other rules do Target employees have?

All Target employees are subject to the corporate Code of Conduct maintained by Target corporate. The Code of Conduct is rather detailed but not overly so — it is comprehensive but not debilitating in its scope.

Different parts of the Code of Conduct apply to different parts and people within the organization, so it’s important to familiarize yourself with which parts are relevant to you.

Nonetheless, Target employees generally report their place of employment is a great place to work – more than 70% of Target employees respond this way relative to a 57% average of employees at other U.S.-based companies. The Code of Conduct must not be too overly demanding, as the corporate culture and environment are generally recognized as positive.

Are Target drive-up customers supposed to tip?

Tipping the Target Shoppers who help fulfill and load orders has become a common practice over time. Particularly with the dawn of the COVID-19 era, where shopping from home and picking up store deliveries became a prominent method of economic engagement, more and more customers are now more comfortable showing a sign of appreciation with a little extra cash for helping them out.

There is nothing wrong with this practice. From a corporate perspective, Target is neutral on the subject — it doesn’t seem they think it affects their business one way or another, and therefore they don’t really have an opinion.

That makes sense from a business point of view. But, some managers may have some more modest policies in place: such as refusing the tip at first and only accepting it if the customer is insistent about it.

Can Target cashiers accept tips?

Yes, Target cashiers are allowed to accept tips and keep all of the tips that they are given. If a cashier is particularly helpful and you’d like to show your appreciation, or you’re a cashier and unsure if it’s okay to accept a tip from someone in your line, Target does not have a corporate policy against the practice.

This means the cashier will not lose their job by accepting a cash tip for providing exemplary service to a customer.

However, there are often separate store locations housed inside Target stores, such as Starbucks or Subway. These companies may have different policies than Target’s tipping policy. It might be wise to check into these companies’ policies if you are employed by them.

Conclusion

While many debate this point, it’s commonly accepted that tipping in America began around 1840. An old story is that the word itself, tip, comes from the old tip jars labeled “To Insure Promptness.” It became customary to leave extra money for hospitality staff as a sign of thanks for quick service and attention to detail.

While the practice in restaurants and the system of relying on tips as a primary form of compensation remains controversial, many gladly tip as a way to say thank you to people who help them solve problems.

At Target, the company policy is to allow employees to accept tips. Despite this, you might want to make sure your store manager doesn’t have some caveats to go along with that rule.

They might not like tipping occurring in the middle of the store floor during a busy hour, for example, or might encourage employees to decline at first and only accept after a customer insists. You’ll want to know any of these nuances before accepting customer tips.