25% Gratuity plus Tax - Seriously?

[DetroitVelvetSmooth]

min wage would not really apply to servers, they have a separate minimum wage due to tips. Though if claimed tips over a pay period (plus the 3.00 or whatever hourly they get) doesnt add up to minimum wage they are entitled to it (which never happens).

[TheBlackSheep]

Originally Posted by DetroitVelvetSmooth [You must be logged in to view images. Log in or Register.]

min wage would not really apply to servers, they have a separate minimum wage due to tips. Though if claimed tips over a pay period (plus the 3.00 or whatever hourly they get) doesnt add up to minimum wage they are entitled to it (which never happens).

Good to know. But wouldn't their wage go up as well if minimum wage increased, especially if it increased drastically?

[DetroitVelvetSmooth]

Min wage increase would make your food more expensive b/c of the back of the house, not the servers. Point is, you are paying the unskilled labor double the skilled labor because of an outdated tradition and it is inflating restaurant prices in general. The hilarious thing about it is that tipping was instituted because restaurants were abusing young single women. To support the fact that 15-20% of a restaurant's income is walking out the door (usually waaay undertaxed - servers only claim a portion of tip income generally) owners are forced to make that up by paying as little as they possibly can to the poor guys that actually make the food and do the real work. But they are brown and out of sight so who cares.

[Sororf]

Originally Posted by Errakus [You must be logged in to view images. Log in or Register.]

Hey, I don't work in the industry anymore, but some servers make more money than I do. (All depends on where you work) It's also cashed and untaxed as long as it's not on a credit card.

you'll be expected to pay income tax on cash tips. the amount owed is calculated by figuring the % of tips received from credit sales and applying that to cash sales. though I doubt many servers actually do this.

[Errakus]

Originally Posted by Sororf [You must be logged in to view images. Log in or Register.]

you'll be expected to pay income tax on cash tips. the amount owed is calculated by figuring the % of tips received from credit sales and applying that to cash sales. though I doubt many servers actually do this.

You're assuming most servers claim the cash tips (PS - They don't [You must be logged in to view images. Log in or Register.])

[Bardalicious]

Tipping is a rather absurd practice. Having had the unfortunate pleasure of working in the food service industry for a brief while, I can say that the majority of waitstaff make more in a single weekend than an average chef does in an entire week, unless said chef is salaried in a fairly upscale establishment.

Personally I think that the person grilling my steak and mixing my drinks is far more deserving of my gratuity than the person that spends half a minute carrying the plate from the kitchen to the table.

[Peatree]

I put myself through college waiting tables and learned quite a bit about people in general. FYI - the group policy is not "law", in fact it is usually the waiter's call to use it or not. I learned to read people and when to make use of the auto tip policy.

For example, most black people do not tip more than a few dollars regardless of the size of the bill. Neither do white trash families. I loved the auto large group tip policy when I had tables of 6 or more of these types.

They would always try to argue by getting separate checks but never win.

What would make matters worse was when they would all order water, a bunch of lemons and then use the sugar to make "lemonaide". It would really piss them off when I would charge them for it too. Water might be free, but you had lemonaide, that's a $1.25 on the menu see...( grin politely)....

[myriverse]

It's actually fairly common for waiters to get paid nothing (literally; I've seen the zeroed out pay stubs) and have to rely solely on tips to survive. Thank the restaurant special interest groups for that.

On average, waiters tend not to make any more than cooks, and the service you're getting from a restaurant comes mostly from waiters, unless you're at an upscale place.

[Tongpow]

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=yPicu7GAj28

[Destron]

Don't go out to eat if you can't afford a 20% tip. Jew rats. /thread