If the employee is eligible for FMLA leave, the employer should apply that statute to the time off, so my question with regard to using FMLA leave includes whether the employee is eligible for such leave.

Assuming the employee her was eligible for such leave, the employer would normally be required to place the employee at their same position or an equivalent one when they return from leave. This requirement would not typically be met where the employee works a different type of job and does not have the opportunity to earn tips as they did prior to leave being taken.

A claim for Retaliation, which is prohibited by the statute, could be made based on the employer's failure to return the employee to their position as a bartender following leave.

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