Finally, A Restaurant That Smartened Up

[sophie]

Why was it necessary to ban tipping?

Because in some states businesses in the service industry are legally allowed to pay a salary below the minimum wage with projected tips raising the server's hourly rate up to minimum wage. So it's not uncommon to see a waiter paid $2.00 an hour even though the minimum wage is closer to $7.00.

Some states, such as California, have banned this practice outright. Regardless of what the policy is though, you absolutely should tip your servers. There aren't many [crappier] jobs out there.

 

[GoodSarmatian]

Tipping should always be optional one way or the other. I find it unacceptable that it's use as a loophole to circumvent minimum wage laws, but banning it goes too far. I'll happily tip for good service.

 

[Esperr]

Im for it, I've never understood the concept of tipping, if your employer isn't paying you enough then that's the problem, not that I didn't pay an extra ten dollars for my meal.

 

[tetley]

I will give tipping this much: it's a free-enterprise concept. Originally, you were supposed to tip for good service; not tip for bad service. Thus it is a form of incentive pay. That is not at all what happens in practice, though. And like I said, I don't even want "service". I want food. If a restaurant has good food, fast, good ambience, I like the idea of giving the business incentive pay for it, beyond just voting with my feet.

 

[Flying Pig]

That could still be the case if it were mandatory for restaurants to pay their waiters' wages before tips. As it is, if waiters don't get tipped, they don't make minimum wage. Thus what's supposed to be an extra for particularly good service becomes a necessity - all of which is down to restaurants taking advantage and lawmakers refusing to stop them.

EDIT: This is true in parts of the US; it's not true in some states or the UK.

Im for it, I've never understood the concept of tipping, if your employer isn't paying you enough then that's the problem, not that I didn't pay an extra ten dollars for my meal.

It is, but waiting tables is a sufficiently low-skill job that people will work to take home whatever wage gives them (only slightly) better money than unemployment. If a given person won't, somebody else will. The only way to fix this is to force the employers to pay them fairly, which means moving money from the rich and powerful to the relatively powerless. Hence it doesn't usually happen.

As Owen quite rightly says, though, waiting tables can be a rubbish job, and being friendly and tipping a few pounds are a good way of showing your appreciation and hopefully cancelling out a fraction of an awful customer.

 

[warpus]

I am not trying to put you on the spot as I don't really think they are the same, but I am wondering how you feel about salesmen who get paid on commission?

I don't know if I really know enough about that sort of work to comment. I know that there are a lot of very shady companies that I would be 100% against - such as the one that hires people to sell knives door to door. My friend got involved in that, and it was pure BS... Pretty much incredibly close to being a scam. But like I said before, I can't really comment on all such jobs as a whole.

Regardless of what the policy is though, you absolutely should tip your servers. There aren't many [crappier] jobs out there.

I disagree. In some places tipping is not only frowned upon - but also considered offensive. In others it just doesn't happen. So you definitely should be aware of the policy and cultural norms before you consider whether to tip or not.

 

[hangman]

So here's the key question, how much can a tipped waiter expect to make per year in an "average" restaurant in an "average" city in the US? It's not clear to me that they make less than $35k. In fact I remember talking to some bartenders and they made more than an engineer fresh from college (a good but not great company in the US will pay engineers fresh from college around $65k a year). Granted, bartenders probably make much more than regular waiters, but still.

Assuming we're talking about a full-time worker (which may not be true as some places will put people at 35hr/week to avoid giving benefits), the minimum they can be paid in total is minimum wage. In most places, it's $7.25/hr. So in that case, we're talking about $15,000 per year. That's worst-case scenario for a full-time waiter.

The way tipping works is that if the waiter/bartender doesn't get enough tips to get minimum wage, the employer must bump them up to minimum wage. If their tips go beyond that, they get tips plus the wait staff minimum (often $2.13/hr). It's possible to do well in some places, but your mileage will vary greatly.

 

[tetley]

I think I would lump waiters and salesmen into more-or-less the same category: positions I wouldn't mind if we eliminate.

 

[SS-18 ICBM]

Regardless of what the policy is though, you absolutely should tip your servers. There aren't many [crappier] jobs out there.

That's the viewpoint I was asking the question from. The issue isn't tipping but employers not paying their employees enough.

 

[warpus]

I think I would lump waiters and salesmen into more-or-less the same category: positions I wouldn't mind if we eliminate.

A good waiter performs a lot of important tasks though - tells me about the specials, explains the meals I have questions about, passes on any special dietary or unique meal preference details to the chef, knows the menu inside out and recommends meals to me, recommends which beer will go well with what I have picked, and so on.

 

[luiz]

I think I would lump waiters and salesmen into more-or-less the same category: positions I wouldn't mind if we eliminate.

As warpus said there's a time and place for everything. Sure for everyday meals we don't need waiters. In fact in Brazil the vast majority of restaurants in commercial neighborhoods catering to workers having lunch has no waiters - it's a buffet and you pay by the kilo.

But on a date night with the lady, do you want to go to a buffet? On an anniversary? Important business meeting?

A good waiter is a valuable worker.

 

[Flying Pig]

At a certain sort of restaurant, to be sure, but they're also not the people whose tips are making them up to minimum wage.

 

[JollyRoger]

On date night with the lady, you already have someone to fetch your order. No waiter needed.

 

[tetley]

There are places popping up that put tablets on every table that let you order and pay. Someone delivers your order to you, that's it. The only problem is no one has tried adding in an ambience and a maitre'd and gone higher end, except maybe the Japanese.

 

[downtown]

So here's the key question, how much can a tipped waiter expect to make per year in an "average" restaurant in an "average" city in the US? It's not clear to me that they make less than $35k. In fact I remember talking to some bartenders and they made more than an engineer fresh from college (a good but not great company in the US will pay engineers fresh from college around $65k a year). Granted, bartenders probably make much more than regular waiters, but still.

My guess would be a little less than that, but it varies so much, not just from city to city, but from restaurant. I delivered pizza and waited tables as a high schooler and college freshman, and there were weeks where i'd average more takehome pay than I get NOW, and others where I'd make less than typical minimum wage. I think if I averaged it out over the course of a year, I would have made less than 35K.

The nice thing about this plan isn't so much the money (although that's enough to live and save money in Pittsburgh if you're single), it's the predictability of it. It's awfully tough to budget (or save money) with such an unpredictable income. It's not like a waiter can do what other sales people do, and just make more calls if they're in a lean month.

Tipping sucks. I'd prefer to pay more at the bill and not have to worry about it.

 

[Oruc]

This restaurant in Pittsburgh has banned tipping and made their workers actual salaried employees. We can only hope this will catch on and become the norm so restaurant workers will finally get the fair shake they deserve.



Link

10 days is terrible.

 

[Zack]

I don't tip, i don't believe in it, as in i literally don't believe it exists

Mr. Pink? (warning, tarantino language)

 

[Valka D'Ur]

In fact in Brazil the vast majority of restaurants in commercial neighborhoods catering to workers having lunch has no waiters - it's a buffet and you pay by the kilo.

How many kilos does the average person consume for one lunch?

On date night with the lady, you already have someone to fetch your order. No waiter needed.

It's nice when the man fetches for the lady once in awhile. Good for you.

 

[tetley]

The problem with date night is that being waited on is still perceived as better. Other arrangements are viewed as blue collar. So it's embarrassing to take a girl out to a blue collar establishment. You want the royal treatment. Thing is, there shouldn't BE a royal treatment. Waiters are anti-egalitarian by their very nature.

 

[luiz]

The problem with date night is that being waited on is still perceived as better. Other arrangements are viewed as blue collar. So it's embarrassing to take a girl out to a blue collar establishment. You want the royal treatment. Thing is, there shouldn't BE a royal treatment. Waiters are anti-egalitarian by their very nature.

Waiters can take their girls on date nights too, and be waited on.

And nature, God, alien astronauts or whoever you believe in are anti-egalitarian by their very nature.