So if I walk into a store, ask the salesperson for a good (under the tacit assumption that I'll pay for it), then walk away without paying, I committed theft of said good. However if an employer asks me for my time and effort (under the written assumption that I will be given a salary), then they walk out on me without paying... they didn't commit a theft of my time and effort?

When does a cash tip become the possession of the server or counter worker in a restaurant? When it is handed to the server at a table; when it is placed in a jar on the counter; or only after the end of the shift, where the ownership has the right to hold or count it first? The story of a restaurant owner scraping tip money comes up regularly in "the court of public opinion" but is it a criminal dispossession?

@isilanes It’s not very complicated. The first scenario you describe is a person removing something from so

eones possession with the intent to not return it. The other scenario lacks the element of removal of possession. The employer has not taken money from the employee; rather, he has declined to provide something promised.