Please don’t do that. Waitstaff are taxed based on their sales and they “tip out” other workers at the restaurant based on their sales.
Here’s something I posted in the last tipping thread to illustrate what happens to the tips earned in a night before the server walks out the door:
For this example, average dinner is $10.00 (entree + soda)
75 people at 10.00 per meal = 750.00 in sales
10% tippers = 75.00 in tips (75 x 1.00).
Sales are 750.00, tip out .02% (15.00) to the bartender and .02% (15.00) to the busboys and tip the food runner $5.00
Total amount tipped out = $35.00
10% of sales required by law to claim for taxes = 75.00
Walk out the door with = $40.00
If I worked 5:00 - 11:00 = $40.00/6 hours = $6.66 per hour
(I don’t really include the 2.13 an hour since it is mostly eaten away by taxes, I generally received a check for 40 bucks for around 60 hours work)
Taxes and tip out are based on SALES so you are unduely penalizing a server if you don’t tip based on the price.
There was a lot of really good stuff about tipping raised in this thread:
True, but (I think) the server should still earn minimum wage without tips. My hairdresser makes much more than that. There are also plenty of jobs that don’t require college degrees that make more than minimum wage, if you are good at them. Heck, if delivery drivers can make minimum plus tips, why is waiting tables any different?
It’s a system where people can be underpaid badly. It’s a system where people may have to pay tax on money they’ve not received. It’s a system where bad staff can expect a gratuity, because thats the system.
How can you honestly say this is either as equitable or efficient as a system where staff are paid properly, but may still receive a gratuity if they give better than minimum service?
Are you kidding me with this? How many people on this thread alone, not to mention many other threads in the past have explained that servers are taxed on sales? Obviously this would require their tips to take price into account, as well as service, in order to make a living wage. Get with the program.
It really shocks me how such apparently intelligent and professional people *who have been raised in this country or have lived here for a number of years * cannot grasp the rather simple concept of tipping. We’re talking about hightly educated people that for the life of them cannot grasp a concept that many people with nothing more than a high school diploma get.
SkipMagic: your question sounds like you are talking about a fast food place. No, there is no need to tip fast food workers. Tips are usually reserved for sit down resteraunts. Where the only thing you have to get up for generally, is to go to the bathroom. (Except for buffets, because you still have a server doing stuff for you, but the rules on that are a lot more lax than in a full service place).
Garfield226 and TwistofFate: of course you’re not going to get the same level of service if you’re acting like an ass. Doesn’t take a rocket scientist for figure that one out. If i’ve got one nice customer sitting in front of me and an asshole sitting next to them, I’m going to spend more energy on the nice customer, you betcha. If you don’t like it, quit being an asshole. Too many people are getting away with being assholes and having people bend over backwards as a result of eager to please managers who for the most part, are just trying to get the asshole out by giving them what they want. It’s like rewarding a child who’s throwing a temper tantrum. Totally unacceptable. Servers are paid to serve, not to be psychological punching bags for people with inferiority complexes.
:wally
Just a fun little anctedote to demostrate the power of tipping. I stop by a coffee drive thru every morning on my way to work. I always get the same thing and the girls there usually have it ready by the time I get to the window, they’re great. It’s always $1.50, I always give them $2.00. Yesterday there was a line and I was 3 cars back. I was running late for work and was contemplating continuing on my drive to work without my coffee gasp! Then, out walks one of the girls from the drive through box carrying my coffee! She walked right past the first two cars with a big smile on her face and handed me my coffee. I told her how great they all were are tipped her $1.50. (Yes, a 100% tip, I was very impressed). All the other cars were staring at me like “who the fuck is she??” Ahh, the rewards of being a good tipper…
Ya know, this is another reason I feel waiters are treated like sub-human minions. Those of you who tip (and we all basically agree that a tip is the waiter’s salary) when the service is good and don’t tip when the service is bad, how would you feel if you were doing a subpar performance at your own job and your boss decided to penalize you by deducting money from your paycheck?
I believe the way that would be handled is you would be reprimanded or warned or whatever, and if you didn’t shape up, you’d ultimately be fired. I think if a waiter is doing a crappy job, the same should apply to them - shape up, or ship out, but to not pay them??? That doesn’t seem fair.
There is a difference between rewarding your good customers and punishing the bad ones. By all means, look after your best customers, but rather than punish your bad ones, you should work to try and make them your best ones by showing them good service. Bullying them certainly wont achieve that. I wouldn’t advise tolerating people who are being assholes, but it seems that some people have an incorrect definition of “asshole”.
Again, I’m confused. This seems to be a common occurence in this thread.
Presumably wait staff in the US are paid something? If so, they have a base salary, plus additional earnings. If you subscribe to the “tip good service” plan, then you have a base salary and performance related bonus.
This is precisely what I get. So which part is sub-human treatment?
If I was doing badly at work, my employer would tell me to shape up, and continue paying me until he decided to fire me. He wouldn’t call up all the customers and say, “Hey, we realize Garf’s doing a really crappy job. Could y’all just pay him anyway? He’ll get better, we promise…” YOUR EMPLOYER should pay you.
No, my point was that if I’m crappy to you, and you’re crappy back, you still expect me to pay you for it? I don’t think so. If I go into your place and act like a bull, I don’t expect you to be all sunshine and roses, but then, if you don’t at least make a decent attempt to serve me, you shouldn’t expect a decent tip. It’s your choice.
And, Jess you got my point perfectly. You’re paid what the market will bear. That’s the way capitalism works, ain’t it grand. There aren’t waitpersons strikes because A) you’ve got a pretty decent gig as it is, even with some people not tipping, and B) as you said, there are lots of other people who’d take your place if given the opportunity. Like I told you before, I do think you all work hard and put up with a lot of crap, I just don’t think it’s all that bad as everyone seems to be making it out to be, even with some people not tipping.
I’m really not understanding why you wouldn’t want a GUARANTEED LIVING WAGE paid by your employer… I know I’d rather have a guaranteed living wage paid to me for an honest day’s work, rather than depend on trying to impress Joe Nobody who walked in off the sidewalk for my living. I’d rather not do that…unless I could make more money that way…
Thanks for being the first to take a stab at my question, lezlers!
You’d think it’d be a fast food place with my description, wouldn’t you? I guess I didn’t think of that when I wrote the details out; however, I’m not talking about a Taco Bell, Pizza Hut or KFC (or, as we had all three of them in one building in Overland Park, KS: a KenTacoHut)–with them I’m fairly sure I’m on the mark about no tipping.
Instead, I’m thinking of establishments such as Desert Moon Cafe, or another place in Lawrence, Kansas (I can’t recall the name right now).
My SO claims that we should be leaving tips; I say we shouldn’t because we did the vast majority of the work. Still, just because she and I want to play it safe, I usually sacrifice a couple of dollars to the tip-eating table. I’m not sure just who gets the money (is it the “waitress” who, after cleaning the surrounding tables of food debris, might ask us if we need anything; or is it the cooks, who never come out to the tables to grab the tip, anyway); to top it off, one of those places actually has a tip jar next to the register.
So I’m confused: do I tip? Like I mentioned, I do all the essential server work, but should I share the wealth because an employee passerby might refresh my water if she/he is feeling generous?
There used to be a woman in my social circle who always found a reason not to tip when we ate out: the food was bad, the service was slow, she was low on funds, etc. The rest of us always felt obliged to make up her part of the tip, and eventually we stopped inviting her.
I’ve worked as a waitperson, and my generous tipping policies are based largely on pity. It’s often a difficult stressful job. Most places don’t pay you for vacation, holidays, or sick days. Most don’t have health insurance or any other perqs. Since your tips are your major source of income, a slow day or a run of bad tips can put you in a financial bind quickly. I once got a paycheck for $0.00, really.
My sister-in-law is a hair dresser at a very upscale salon. Tips are her major source of income. Most of the clients there are very generous. I suspect that a client who didn’t tip would soon find that there were no appointments available.
Sub-human treatment: acting in a condecending manner, being rude, flippant, basically treating your server like they are your personal slave for hire. It happens a lot.
And Twist: the above actions are what I consider being an asshole. And you said that I should try to make bad customers into good ones by giving them great service. (I’d like to add that I haven’t waited tables for a few years, this is solely out of memory). This is the equivalent of rewarding bad behavior. Why should I have to work that much harder just to not be treated badly? That sounds like some pretty twisted logic.
No salary? The establishment pays them no money? People accept a job with no base salary, only tips? Wouldn’t you be better off in McDonalds?
However, let’s go back to your original allegation of sub human treatment and “how would you feel if you were doing a subpar performance at your own job and your boss decided to penalize you by deducting money from your paycheck?”. I’ve already demonstrated that I don’t see anything wrong with performance related pay, so why is it subhuman?
Yes, there have been two times I wasn’t able to tip-the first time I was ignorant and didn’t know to tip the pizza guy. The second time, my friend chose a more expensive restaurant than I had in mind, and I only had enough for salad bar. To be fair, she paid for my tip on her credit card, but it looked like I stiffed the waitress, and she overtipped.
However, those times have been few and far between.
Well, Gary, you may be the exception, but I would imagine many of the fine folk out there would very much take issue with their employer saying something like “You were not giving 100% yesterday, so I think I will take $50 off your paycheck this week.”
Not only would they take issue with that, but they would most likely take the employer to court!
SkipMagic from your description, I would say no. If there’s a tip jar on the counter, I’d probably put any coins I recieved with my change in it. Usually when someone has a tip jar out, they’re not expecting tips and they’re definately not taxed on them.
