Most severs are exempt from MW laws, however they do effect hostesses, bus help and some back of the house workers.
I have no idea. I just prefer to know what I am paying up front and expect to receive the service that I am paying for in an efficient manner. To me, tipping just adds a layer of annoyance for me. I probably tip as good if not better than most for good service because I understand how the system works. That does not mean that I do not think the system is shitty though. IMO, tipping should be for exceptional service but the system has skewed everything to the point that even the shittiest waiter or waitress gets all butthurt if they do not get 15%. To me that is not a tip. It is an additional charge and should just be added in to the cost of everything I purchase so I do not have to fuck with it.
:wow: When I used to park cars as a teen... you learn quickly how to hustle. My first night I ran for every car. Out drove the older guys 2 or 3 to 1. My pockets were full of 5s and 10s...and singles too. Then Im told at the end of the night we "share tips". I counted out $140... took home $75. :down: The next night I worked... those 5s & 10s went in 1 pocket... singles in the other. Still busted my ass getting cars.
Tip sharing makes no sense. The whole purpose of tipping is to reward the hard workers more than the people going through the motions. Sharing cancels out that aspect.
I understand sharing with the folks that bus the tables, the hostess that sends customers your way and other support staff that can help turn the tables faster, but not other servers.
I agree. I didnt raise too much of a stink... I was barely 14 & getting to drive stranger's cars while getting paid. I know that a couple of friends that worked in restaurants as bus boys or dishwashers... they benefited from pooled tips. But they also worked as a team with the wait staff to get service out to tables. Usually the servers were the "sales people" trying to push whatever specials or booze.
I worked at a company where our quarterly bonuses (which averaged more than our base salary) were pooled between about 15 "key" employees. It worked very well. It allowed the most qualified for each client to serve that client and when someone was out of the office, we all busted ass to make sure "their" accounts were covered. It also eliminated the "turf wars" that individual commissions can cause.
They pay the minimum or more for tipped employees - it's a different rate than the regular minimum wage. Employers are also required to report tips to the IRS, I think it depends on the state how that is done. I remember the servers claiming an amount every night on their time cards but know places where they do just credit card receipts and other places that submit 15% of total sales no matter what.
Is It Time to Rethink the Rules of Tipping? https://www.consumerreports.org/tipping/is-it-time-to-rethink-the-rules-of-tipping-etiquette/ Sent from my smatrfone
The best part of that article to me was the small part about restaurants trying to do away with tipping in the last few years and then abandoning it, probably because they lost the good service staff that aren't interested in $15-20/hr. The fucked up part to me is this has been a debate that has been going on for years, whether it's how much the government mandates employers to pay tipped employees or people being annoyed that tipping has become so widespread. It's still a fucking tip, if you don't like tipping, don't leave a fucking tip, stop trying to change the system because you don't like baristas making a few extra dollars. Also, to people that think those new systems will work: your prices go up just as much as you would have left in a tip. Just like anything else in a free market, someone is going to pay for it. The only difference is the server that used to pretend to like you doesn't have to anymore.
One more comment because this topic drives me insane. Fuck Danny Meyer. Most don't know who he is but he's a guy that is an incredibly successful restaurateur and to me he's a socialist bitch. The guy is worth over half a billion dollars, yet he is trying to change a system where many middle class people like myself have to either find a new career or take a giant pay cut. His reasoning is that the back of the house "deserves" (I fucking hate that word) equal pay. My argument is that of course these people work just as hard if not harder, but just like anything else in life, if you don't like it, fucking quit. You want $15 an hour? Don't work at Burger King. You're a dishwasher that wants to make what I make as a bartender, be a fucking bartender or whatever else pays what you want to earn. Instead of trying to change a system that works just fine (i.e. leave a couple bucks if you feel like it), why not try to get minimum wage people to get their shit together and make a living?
Since I travel most of the time, I like to use an app that rates the quality of restaurants (Foursquare). It’s rating are very reliable as I have never been disappointed with a restaurant with a rating over 7.5. In lots of small to medium towns Chickfila is usually the highest rated restaurant at 8+.