# Flaws with the restaurant tipping system **URL:** \ **Category:** Great Debates\ **Created:** [September 2, 2015, 5:06pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/flaws-with-the-restaurant-tipping-system/729719 "2015-09-02T17:06:34Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 5\ **Page:** 3
**Author:** ![doreen](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/858c86/32.png) [@doreen](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/doreen)\ **Post date:** [September 4, 2015, 11:10pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/flaws-with-the-restaurant-tipping-system/729719/41 "2015-09-04T23:10:27Z")
> [@Dangerosa](#): > > Its Federal, i.e. its the law in all 50 states. > > [Tips | U.S. Department of Labor](http://www.dol.gov/dol/topic/wages/wagestips.htm) > > Now, if the law is always adhered to is a different question… Yes, but the person I was replying to said that > [@](#): > > Last year I told her that here in NJ, if in _any_ hour she has not received the non-tipped minimum wage when tips and her hourly rate are added (emphasis added) which I understood to mean that if a waitress receives $2.00 in tips from 3-4 on Tuesday, the employer must pay the difference between $2 and the minimum wage for that hour, even if she made $30 per hour in tips for the rest of her shift from 4-10 pm. And that’s not how the Feds or most states figure it. The way it’s normally figured, “making up the difference” is figured on a pay period basis- if you worked 20 hours, you must make 20x the minimum wage for the pay period between direct wages and tips. It doesn’t matter if you earned less some hours and more other hours as long as the total is enough. I could have misunderstood **x-ray vision** or NJ might do it differntly ---
**Author:** ![Dangerosa](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/22d042/32.png) [@Dangerosa](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Dangerosa)\ **Post date:** [September 5, 2015, 1:23pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/flaws-with-the-restaurant-tipping-system/729719/42 "2015-09-05T13:23:21Z")
> [@doreen](#): > > Yes, but the person I was replying to said that which I understood to mean that if a waitress receives $2.00 in tips from 3-4 on Tuesday, the employer must pay the difference between $2 and the minimum wage for that hour, even if she made $30 per hour in tips for the rest of her shift from 4-10 pm. And that’s not how the Feds or most states figure it. The way it’s normally figured, “making up the difference” is figured on a pay period basis- if you worked 20 hours, you must make 20x the minimum wage for the pay period between direct wages and tips. It doesn’t matter if you earned less some hours and more other hours as long as the total is enough. > > I could have misunderstood **x-ray vision** or NJ might do it differntly Yep, its spread over the pay period. If you have a lousy Wednesday night but an awesome Friday, you won’t have made minimum Wednesday, but Friday brings your average for the week above. But a lot of people don’t understand that servers are entitled to make the federal minimum wage - over the pay period. Which seems fair to me, although I suppose if I was used to taking fifty bucks home in cash at the end of every night (do people still tip in cash? I can’t remember the last time I didn’t just write something on a credit card receipt) I might feel differently - since I just get paid every other week (and hourly now), to me it really doesn’t make any difference if I make $1000 for the last hour or $25 for each hour in a 40 hour week - paycheck will look the same. ---
**Author:** ![WhyNot](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/w/c77e96/32.png) [@WhyNot](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/WhyNot)\ **Post date:** [September 5, 2015, 2:16pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/flaws-with-the-restaurant-tipping-system/729719/43 "2015-09-05T14:16:54Z")
> [@brickbacon](#): > > Generally it’s not the waiter’s fault, but when such things threaten to ruin a diner’s overall experience, it’s the waiter’s job to mitigate the damage and advocate for their diners. A good waiter should never have diners who are wondering what happened to their food. It’s definitely not a perfect system, but there is almost always something a waiter should have done better if an otherwise rational person has a terrible experience at a restaurant for almost any reason. Agreed. If the kitchen messed up my order, just come tell me. “I’m so sorry, the kitchen made a mistake, so I asked them to make it again, and here’s an appetizer to tide you over. Your entree will be out in 10 minutes.” I may not be happy about it, but at least I know you’re trying to fix it for me. (Same thing for receptionists in doctors’ offices. I’ll be a lot less disgruntled there for an hour if you’re just up front and honest with me about why I’m sitting there and how long it will really be.) > [@](#): > > A more transparent system would be better in some respects, but it would likely remove the incentive for a waiter to do as good a job. But then that begs for the question: why do we believe that waitstaff will give shitty service if they’re not dancing for tips? We don’t accept such behavior of our salespeople in clothing stores, or fast food workers, or plumbers, or doctors. I think that’s insulting to the great many professional, competent waitstaff out there. Pay them a real wage, and if they’re not doing their job well, fire their asses. Just like any other job. Pay them well, and (like those restaurants with $200 bottles of wine), it will actually become a competetive job attracting the best servers. ---
**Author:** ![Peremensoe](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/p/ce7236/32.png) [@Peremensoe](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Peremensoe)\ **Post date:** [September 5, 2015, 3:12pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/flaws-with-the-restaurant-tipping-system/729719/44 "2015-09-05T15:12:56Z")
> [@WhyNot](#): > > …why do we believe that waitstaff will give shitty service if they’re not dancing for tips? We don’t accept such behavior of our salespeople in clothing stores, or fast food workers, or plumbers, or doctors. Oh, I disagree. I think that, as a society generally, we (USA) have become increasingly tolerant of very poor customer service. It is virtually the standard, except in premium-priced and/or tipped areas. ---
**Author:** ![elbows](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/e/b3f665/32.png) [@elbows](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/elbows)\ **Post date:** [September 5, 2015, 3:45pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/flaws-with-the-restaurant-tipping-system/729719/45 "2015-09-05T15:45:39Z")
Yeah, it’s always the same, “Well but I WANT to see servers paid a living wage!”. Tips ARE how servers earn living wages. And tips are part of what makes service a meritocracy. Shitty servers don’t make much money and move on pretty quick when they can’t meet the rent. You expect to earn more, based on your abilities, over someone who works beside you but lacks those talents, why shouldn’t servers? If your dining out bills all jump 20% to accommodate the living wage, complainers will just shift their complaints to having to pay more or having to pay more but got shitty service. You can bet they’d be wanting to subtract some off if the service wasn’t up to their standard of excellence. You don’t have to participate in tipping if you don’t wish to. Servers must/want to earn their gratuities, which ensures you attentive service. Which kind of makes it a perfect system in my eyes. [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/flaws-with-the-restaurant-tipping-system/729719.md?page=2)