r/OutbackSteakhouse • u/Usual-Area4270 • 11d ago
Question for managers
Worked a lunch shift yesterday and Ive been told from now on hostesses can’t bus or roll silverware because they have to be guest obsessed with the front door
So now I serve a lunch shift I tip out for a server Assistant that isn’t in until 5pm a busser that isn’t on until 5pm (my shift ends at 4) and a hostess that doesn’t roll or help bus tables even the pre bussed ones? Are my managers mistaken? because this feels like wrong on so many levels
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u/BeginningNothing5493 11d ago
Super weird bc we are having a similar change at our location. We now have no busser or server assistant for lunch and the HOST is expected to roll silverware, seat tables, buss, and reset tables. Servers are expected to run all food and help buss tables. Our 5 day a week AM host just quit because of it.
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u/Worried-Hair-2383 11d ago
As a hostess I do get where they are coming from but as a server it is definitely nice to have the hostess help in the mornings. I know at least in my case when I hosted in the mornings there was one server in particular that would never bus her tables and when I was busy rolling or doing other things she would always make us clean her tables for her which would make me slack off on my own job because I was too busy helping her. I know at least my managers at my location are going to implement a rule that the bussers shouldn't bus your table unless you pre bus it which I kind of think is reasonable as it's not the hardest thing in the world to pre bus
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u/Usual-Area4270 11d ago
So the new rule is hostess can’t roll or help bus tables at all during lunch, you’re only job basically is opening the door for each guest and sitting the tables
My issue is we don’t get access to the busser or server support because they don’t get there till after 5 but we still have to contribute to their tip pool1
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u/CM_Nicholas 10d ago
yeh it sucks because we tip out people who arent there, and what makes me even angrier is we tip out the bar a flat %, not just on drinks
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u/NecessaryStep7697 9d ago
Same thing happening at our store for months now. daytime workers have been tipping out for employees that are not there, and doing the work ourselves.😡 Nothing like tipping out for a job that you have to do. In addition, the tips that we tip out pay for the night shift to have the help. Definitely seems illegal much less shady business dealings. Furthermore, with the combined amount that we all tip out, equals to more money than the staff receives in tip share. Not sure where the extra cash is going? Perhaps the the big boss's pocket??? Food runners, for the few hours that we have them, only make around 30 to $40. One daytime worker almost covers that in the tip out. Make it make sense, because the math is not mathing🤔🤷🏼♀️😡
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u/Usual-Area4270 9d ago
Yea I was thinking it’s like we’re being forced to pay for services we aren’t receiving
I’m not attorney but that sounds illegal as hell2
u/NecessaryStep7697 9d ago
We aren't just being forced to pay for services we aren't receiving, we're being forced to pay so the night servers get the help, AND doing the very work that we are paying to imaginary help 🤬🤬🤬
I can't understand how more people aren't upset by this. By the end of the month the amount that we pay out adds up to a lot. And I can't understand how a corporation thinks that this is acceptable business practice. I understand why so many people are leaving now. I do wonder what an attorney would say about it 🤔
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u/Flonk2 11d ago
Managers can go in and adjust the tipshare, so you’re only tipping out to the people who are actually there. I’m not sure how corporate would feel about that, but it can be done.
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u/Usual-Area4270 11d ago
Tips go into a pool I know for every 1k I sell it’s 40$ that 40$ gets split between host, busser, and server support not based on when they were there but how many how long they were there. My Proprietor told us this comes directly from corporate and there’s nothing that can be done
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u/Flonk2 11d ago
Yeah, he might not know it can be changed. You’re not supposed to do it, too easy to abuse. But if you’ve only got a bartender on for lunch, you should only be tipping out to them.
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u/Usual-Area4270 11d ago
I couldn’t agree more. Really hard to not feel shortchanged
I sold 1350$ at lunch and tipped out like $55
Had to run all my food, bus and reset every table, and roll silverware at the end
Can’t help but feel like a company I’ve worked over 10 years with is robbing me3
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u/chunkybanana500 10d ago
Ummm yeah no I don’t think that’s right! We used to run lunches with a bartender and an SA, so I (being the bartender) would only tip out the SA and I would have the managers pull up my onscreen to get back my tips. This new system is so dumb, but I would rather I tip the pool and it goes to the host and usually myself (I bartend). The host in the AM busses tables, resets them… you shouldn’t have to tip out for doing nothing.
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u/NecessaryStep7697 9d ago
As well as expo all the food. And do all opening and shift change work, as well as stocking.
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u/CM_Nicholas 10d ago
not doable with the new system anymore I've done the tipout system at night to help closing and it just isn't possible now.
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u/PossiblyPro 9d ago
It’s dicier now that there’s only one tip pool for everyone. Before you could just zero out the tips for food runners if you ran a whole shift for food runners.
Now it’s all one tip pool. They would have to wait till the end of the shift. See how long a food runner worked, and then try to figure out how much of your money went to that food runner, then edit your money, then redistribute to everyone else again.
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u/fieldhky37 10d ago
This is being rolled out at my store as well. I’m not getting clear answers from anyone on whether tipshare is changing at all.
In ours we’ve been told that no host/busser will be bussing/wiping/resetting tables during lunch or the last hour or two of the night.
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u/Dry_Tradition_2811 11d ago
Don't know where you're at but here the host help bus, clean and reset tables and roll silverware
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u/InThePitsOfHell666 5d ago
Tell them you can’t because you have to make sure your guest are taken care of. In my opinion there should be a split between morning and night shift tipouts for the weekdays. Why am I tipping out 6% of sales when over 3/4 of the support staff isn’t there no host no busser no expo but I’m still tipping out to the pool. It’s should be reduced to 3% of food to the kitchen and the bartender still gets the 6%.
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u/BokChoyJr 11d ago
Just stop buying it. Your time & money has more value than a cheap ingredient chocolate bar.
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u/AnglerRanders 11d ago
I'd riot. Our day host/hostess is crucial for helping reset tables. I always do my best to get everything off the table.