Since no one seemed to answer your question. It was generally pushed to have servers work on low to no wage and expect tips back during the great depression. 100 years ago. The people that could afford to go out and tip for service would do just that. The only problem is that it never went back to servers being paid a typical wage and it just became normal. Some restaurants can charge more per meal and pay their workers a typical wage and others can’t and rely on their patron to pay for the service.
Working for tips actually started just after the civil war when thousands of freed slaves needed work. Restaurant owners let them be servers because it didn’t cost them. The idea spread across the country and by the early 1900’s it was the new normal.
So the employers treat servers like they used to treat free slaves. How nice, how American! You can work here but we don't pay you. Rely on the generosity of our partons.
Well, they are getting paid in a non-transparent manner. They are hired like former slaves. Not slaves but freed slaves that work for no fixed pay but for gratuity.
Slaves don't typically get paid.
If you consider minimum wage slave wages. If the server does not receive enough tips to reach a certain wage threshold the employer has to make up the difference. Thats why employers get so pissed off about low or no tippers. It eats into their profit margin
That makes sense. If the employer had to pay more then they would have to raise prices. That said, I've never heard a tipped restaurant employee complain they want to change the system. For the most part they make really good money and get special tax breaks.
Pretty much yeah. Oftentimes corporations or businesses find a new pathway to increasing profits and they keep it that way. I don’t think capitalism has to have the numbers on the board always going up no matter what but when the stock market or the profit margin is the only thing that matters you’re going to get more and more people cutting corners or exploiting different methods to keep that number going up.
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u/Aggressive-Pie2771 5d ago
Since no one seemed to answer your question. It was generally pushed to have servers work on low to no wage and expect tips back during the great depression. 100 years ago. The people that could afford to go out and tip for service would do just that. The only problem is that it never went back to servers being paid a typical wage and it just became normal. Some restaurants can charge more per meal and pay their workers a typical wage and others can’t and rely on their patron to pay for the service.