Danny Meyer Abolishes Tipping

elaborate? indeed. it’s really quite simple.

there is a minimum wage - at the Federal and State and Local level.

starting at the Federal level, if a waitperson does not get enough in tips / share of tips to meet the Federal minimum wage per hour, their employer is required to pay them more than the $2.77 per hour, enough more to ensure they make minimum wage.

at the state/local level things vary. for example in California wait people are paid minimum Federal/State/Local wage plus tips.

I totally dismiss the inane argument that “it’s really not that way because my boss is a crook and cheats me out of . . .” there are district attorneys to take care of such bosses - so, people up or shut up.

highly taxed? really? the IRS does not have a special category for taxing the income of wait peoples. if you have (net) earned wages of $30,000 in a year, you pay federal social security, medicare, income taxes on $30,000 whether you earn it waiting tables or working in a scamming cold call center. there is a difference for wait people on how much social security tax the employer pays on their less-than-minimum wage, but that does not affect the amount the employee pays nor their eventual benefits.

“because I said so” - one only needs a keyboard and Google.
one can start here for a non-gobble-gook summary:

https://www.adp.com/~/media/Compliance/2015%20Fast%20Wage%20and%20Tax%20Facts/2015FastFactsALL.ashx

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I’ve gotta tell you, I’m still not seeing anything more than an ad hominem assertion from you. Of the first three statements from the server you quote above, none are contradicted by anything you’ve stated. It is, in fact, true that:

  • “the rest of the staff . . . depend on tips . . . .”
  • “servers receive a wage, dictated on a state-by-state basis” (hell, for some reason you even posted a link to a list of the wages in the different states)
  • “they rely on them to support themselves”
  • “servers in Washington, D.C. . . . are usually making $2.77 an hour” (again, I’ll refer to your ADP link), and
  • “servers in Washington, D.C. . . . rely on those tips to support themselves”

Yes, employers will be required to make up any differences, but that does not change the validity of any of the foregoing statements. Servers are still required to look to tips first.

Now, we’re left with her mention “of how highly tips are taxed.” While I am well aware that there is no special tax rate for servers, that doesn’t really change the fact that most servers have income withheld at a higher rate than what they actually wind up paying. It’s quite common for folks to refer to this colloquially as how they are “taxed”, but I’m not inclined to see “sky high” ignorance in everyone who resorts to such shorthands.

you can toss an ad hominem at whatever you want. the statements are false, misleading and demonstrate a complete lack of knowledge on the subject.

“Servers are still required to look to tips first.” totally wrong. they are guaranteed minimum wage - whether those minimum dollars come from the employer or the patron’s tip is not relevant. ever had a job where you got an annual bonus for good work? servers get a bonus multiple times per day.

waitstaff rely on a paycheck to support themselves. neither their bank nor their check casher has special rules about "oh this comes from tips so I can only give you . . "

if you’re not making enough money to support yourself you need a different job or you need an even more nannified government to give you more free money.

income withheld at a higher rate… seriously? have you heard about IRS Form W-4? the overtaxed claim demonstrates complete ignorance of some pretty darn basic issues.

the “making a living wage” issue is not related to the tipped employee $2.xx / hr rate. if you follow the news, you’ll know the move to ‘tip included’ is having mixed success. it seems some waitstaff who were guaranteed minimum wage plus tips but now on an hourly basis, are quitting because of the loss of income.

Your read of the statements still seems to have a political filter on it. Consequently, I’ll leave it at that (and refrain from asking your take on the guaranteed minimum income we will some day need to embrace).

I don’t have a political filter. I have a BS filter - the OH GOD you have to tip 150% because waiters only earn $2.77 hour is BS, capital B and capital S

and has zilch comma zero to do with the theory everyone who can scratch a X for a signature on a line should be making $575,000 a day.

if you want to know about how well guaranteed incomes work, you should go to Switzerland - who just voted it down - and the nordic socialist countries who are finding out “it’s just not working”

Please especially keep in mind the first rule of the forum during disagreements:

Civility – ‘Is it kind/ helpful?’ Please support a civil and respectful environment and use the forum to share knowledge skills and interests.

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