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Tips Pay Waiters and Waitresses
By J L Winther
Waiters and waitresses in the United States are drastically underpaid by their employers. Tipping is an essential part of their earnings. In fact, many restaurants pay only about $2.15 an hour to their servers. Minimum wage by law varies from state to state. As a random example, minimum wage is currently $7.15 per hour in many states, including Pennsylvania. To avoid problems with the IRS, servers are expected to declare earnings and pay income taxes on at least minimum wage. A server must collect at least $5 in tips per hour in order to earn minimum wage. At a tip rate of 15%, a server needs to deliver minimum sales of about $34 per hour, every hour. Yes, servers are salespeople and they work mainly on commission. In the event that a restaurant does not bring in enough customers for a server to earn $5 an hour or more in tips, then the server is not earning minimum wage. In that case, the employer is supposed to make up the difference so that the server is earning the legal minimum. Can you imagine what would happen if a server went to the owner or manager and requested the additional pay? When we tip, we are not only compensating a server for a pleasant meal and good service. We are compensating the server for all the down time waiting for customers. We are also paying for extra work that is done behind the scenes for the employer, such as setting up salad bars, filling up salt and pepper shakers, brewing coffee, wiping down booths and tables, etc. In some cases servers also help to prepare meals by grilling muffins, making toast or assisting cooks with food preparation. Opinions are diverse about how much to tip. Although the guideline in the USA is about 15-20%, I have heard a fairly well-off businessman say "a dollar from each customer is enough to tip for lunch." I do not agree, unless the complete meal totals only about $6 per person. Men and women dining alone are rumored to be the most generous tippers. A shiny penny left on top of the tip is known by many servers to mean "great service." Mothers dining with small children sometimes pay and tip with so much small change that it must have come with hardship from a piggy bank or cookie jar. Once a waitress followed a group outside into the parking lot, when she felt that she gave exceptional service, to advise them that the tip had not been included. "I thought you might have wanted to tip me," she said. Her plea was successful and she received her tip. Can we be sure a server is receiving the tip we leave? Some people leave tips tucked under a plate. Other people display tips boldly to be noticed and not easily stolen. I've actually seen a woman pay for a meal for two and leave the tip on the table. Then the "gentleman" with her guided her out ahead of him and snatched up and pocketed the tip she had left as he followed her out. Some restaurants have a policy that the cook or busperson must be paid a percentage of the server's tips. As long as a restaurant pays each server only $2.15 per hour or $17.20 per eight hour shift, why shouldn't they schedule as many servers as possible? Doesn't it serve the restaurant's best interest to overstaff servers at that price and have cleaning, stocking and food preparation work done for a pittance? If a server doesn't seat enough patrons to earn minimum wage or more, he or she can easily be replaced with someone new. Generally, servers are not paid anything at all during their training period, which can last days or weeks. I think it's time for restaurants to pay their employees at least the legal minimum wage. The practice of paying servers with customers' tips is archaic and silly. In those cases where servers do not receive tips enough to earn minimum wage it is illegal. The practice of tipping servers in lieu of wages should be abolished. Then tips, if given, would be thank you gifts, and that's the spirit in which tips should be given.
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http://jlwinther.qondio.com/
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