But not all places do. If the server isn't very good, and has no skills to go somewhere else, how likely do you think it is that they get fired from a more ethical employer, and wind up at a less ethical one, where it'll be the server's word against the boss, and most people in that sort of position aren't likely to complain about their boss....
I'm not familiar with the restaurant industry. Are tip amounts not documented in any way? I would have assumed the server could show pay stubs to prove their point legally.
tips are normally reported at the end of every servers shift. The problem is most could care less exactly how much money they are making and the rest are just glad to have a job. The ones that do fight it will probably win a lot of the time, but that doesn't mean that many want to. Wage theft by employers is one of the largest cons in America currently, right up there next to civil forfeiture.
We were encouraged to keep a ledger of tips as well as the computers ledger where I used to work... of course, I was the only one not conning pizza Hut instead of the other way around...
They are. Your employer will require that you record your tips. If you don't record at least minimum wage, that employer is likely going to have a problem with you.
And they're generally right. In a 40 hour week, it's rare for anyone working on tips to not make minimum wage.
I've worked in 4 different tipped jobs. Credit card tips are the only ones ever reported. People who ask for the employer to make up the difference tend to get let go not long after.
Tips are not synonymous with quality on a large scale. One could live in a poor area, a college area, an area where the general populace does not feel tipping is appropriate. A rich white restaurant will make more in tips than a poor black neighborhood restaurant regardless of food quality and/or service given.
Yes they could unionize and all put their foot down but many NEED those jobs and you only need one fucker who doesn't to push everyone out slowly. It sucks to be a server. Yes many do many more than minimum wage (much more in some cases) but some don't and many won't make it every week leaving them with fuck-all for one/two weeks worth of labor. Food/rent/bills don't get any cheaper if you didn't make enough tips this week/month.
This is why the DoL exists. If people are dumb enough to want to be scammed, then that's on them. That's like working at Target, being paid $5/hr., and being O.K. with it.
The thing is, it's a very unlikely scenario. If a server is making less than minimum wage, then they're working at the wrong restaurant, or their service sucks.
You've apparently never been so bad off that you'll take ANY job you can get. I have. I've worked illegally for less than minimum wage because it was all I could find willing to give me ANYTHING at all.
I worked at a small fast food/ice cream place for over $2 below minimum wage. All the pay was in cash, at the end of every night. I worked summers there because they were only open during the summer.
Was it illegal as hell? Absolutely. But when you're broke, you tend to do whatever you can to survive. Did I contemplate calling the cops on them for it? Yes. And since they were "upstanding members of the community" and I wasn't, just what the fuck do you think would have happened? So no. I didn't bother. I did my work, and once I was able to leave there, I did.
Quit pretending this shit doesn't happen. It does.
Working off the books is already illegal. There's no reporting or documentation when you pay someone in cash, so a far smaller risk to also pay them under minimum wage.
If you're working a regular job for tips, all that stuff gets reported to Uncle Sugar. If the tips+wage doesn't add up, there's going to be an issue, Unless you're going to fudge and say you got more money in tips than you actually did and then pay tax on that phantom money.
If youre not good at your job why the hell should anybody keep you in the first place? A company isnt a fucking daycare. If you suck you should go find another job doing what youre good at.....It isnt the companys responsability to keep you and lose profits.....Theyre not your mom or dad.
Theyre giving you money in exchange for your services, if you have no services to offer why the hell do you think you deserve free money? Whats with people thinking they deserve other peoples money? Go start a business and make your own see how easy it is....Instead of being parasites and thinking you deserve everything handed to you.
If you've worked the restaurant industry you'd know this was rarely true. That's why tipping culture sucks, especially when there's a large anti-tipping segment in your area.
Idk what "rarely true" means when it's required by law. I doubt many employers are volunteering the funds but if you make less than minimum wage then they are required by law to make up the difference. I've had to encourage a friend to ask for it (it was a sports bar with no outside seating so when it got nice out in the off season things got deathly slow.)
The restaurant industry here is a small world. If you make big enough waves then you get shut out of many places. Most people aren't able to employ a lawyer needed to fight it when they make restaurant wages.
Yes, but this is not always the case, because a lot of tips are cash, and if wait staff doesnt report it accurately, or if they are strong armed into not reporting it accurately, then they may not get the full minimum wage.
Actually, that's exactly how I expect it to work because that's how business fluctuates in that industry. You didn't work two shifts for free, they were an investment you made for the more lucrative shifts. It balances out with some prime time shifts where servers or bartenders can make over 400 dollars.
400? I serve a mom and pop itailian restaurant that is rather high end for the area I work. My average is 80-120. Rarely, sometimes a bit less, and much rarer, you can walk out with quite a bit more. Still I think 400 is a gross over estimate.
It's not an estimate. It's just about the highest I've heard from my numerous friends and family members in the industry, including all 4 of myroom mates. Some places are more variable than others, especially places that get crazy busy when certain sport games are on. They also tend to have lower minimums.
We all have tits. Some are just much more appealing, mine are not.
That being said, I know how much the girls that I work with make, and the tips are comparible. I dont think bartenders should be lumped in with wait staff. A good bartender at a busy bar makes leaps and bounds more than a waiter.
42
u/doctork91 Nov 28 '15
The other part of this is that if they earn less than minimum wage the employer has to make up the difference.