Just a little update to your numbers and to make it clear to people unfamiliar with the US minimum wage, the rules can be different even within a State. As of 2023 Seattle minimum wage for tipped employees (unless in company with more than 500 employees) is $16.50. For most of the rest of the state it is $15.74. Workers who are 14 0r 15 can be paid $13.38 (That seems unfair to me). I don’t think there are any differences for tipped vs non tipped in areas other than Seattle/SeaTac. Minimum Wage
In states where they pay less than the minimum federal wage of $7.25 for tipped workers, the employer has to make up the difference if tips do not add up to that minimum. I’m not sure if this was made clear. There are exceptions for certain situations like for disabled and interns. elaws - Fair Labor Standards Act Advisor (dol.gov)
I have a BIL who, until recently, refused to get an EZ pass. He and sis live in PA, but just across the river from NJ, sis works in NJ, they have a home in the Poconos and a son in North Jersey (i.e., their daily lives are full of tolls). Yet he carried his GPS-enabled smart phone at all times. He’s finally relented due to the cost difference of EZPass vs turnpike tolls. But I’m sure the government appreciates that they can now follow a retired government worker and his school teacher wife as they move suspiciously through the suburbs of PA and NJ. And more effectively than via his smartphone.
Yes, my mother also warned me about getting the Covid-19 vaccine. She heard the government put nano-tracking probes in the vaccine so they could see where I go.
I told her I feel sorry for the government worker (that has to watch me), as he is going to get pretty bored.
To go even further into the drift . . . I’m reminded of my childhood. My parents had 4 girls and one land line phone. We (the 4 daughters) always used the upstairs extension and I don’t know how often we accused our parents of listening in on the downstairs phone. I later realized they were telling the truth when they said they had no desire to hear anymore teen girl conversations than they already did.
We had 6 kids and one land line phone, with a veeerrry long cord - if you wanted privacy you’d take the phone out on the deck and close the slider on the cord - even in winter.
One of my friends finally caved and got the vaccine when she realized she wasn’t going to able to eat in restaurants or get on a plane. Of course, she got the J&J one, because it’s only one shot - only half as dangerous as two shots! And she refused to install Empire Pass on her phone - she carried the printed vaccine card with her everywhere. Of course, she HAD the phone. And there was a record of her getting the vaccine. In case anyone wanted to track her.
I wonder . . . if the government employed enough staff to track each and every one of us, what is its annual payroll? And why don’t I know anyone even remotely interesting enough to track?
I’m really baffled by the repeated claims of high payment for servers. Bureau of Labour statistics has a very different number to the 6 figures you imagine.
Well its the usual case of where the outlier example is used to prove/disprove something. In NYC at high end restaurants experienced servers do make a six figure income.
Here’s a story that describes the types of places where this happens.
In my experience its not at all unusual to go out to dinner at a nicer restaurant in NYC and have the bill be in the $500 to $1000 range for two. Add a 20% tip of $100-200 and two turns of the table a night in a place where every table is taken you can see how a server can do very well. But its not a typical situation. This is the 1% world of servers.
3 Likes
Harters
(John Hartley - a culinary patriot, cooking and eating in northwest England)
116
I’m not sure where I’d look but I’m now interested to see how that might compare with a high end, say Michelin 3*, place in London or Paris. My guess is that neither would be coming close.
That’s because none of those places expect a 20% tip, usually because they compensate their staff in a commensurate manner.
1 Like
CCE
(Keyrock the unfrozen caveman lawyer; your world frightens & confuses me)
118
One daughter works an Italian restaurant/bakery on college breaks. Her base pay is $12/hr and she ends up closer to $22 with tips, last time we stopped to figure it out.
All tips are pooled, whether cash or on the credit card. Anyone caught pocketing a cash tip will be fired, no ifs/ands/buts.
The distribution of the pool gets figured out by the accountant as of the next day, and is paid out in cash. But it is accounted for and ends up showing on the pay stub, and those monies have FICA and Fed/State income tax properly withdrawn from them.
I gather from comments from friends and relatives who have kids working in restaurants that this is not an unusual setup.
That same daughter just took a part time job at a coffeeshop in her college town. The owner there is apparently not aware that tips are supposed to be taxed as income/FICA, and she said the other staff gave her the impression that they don’t report tip income; I guess sliding under the radar is common. I told her to keep careful track of it. She’s only working a couple of short shifts a week, so it may end up being de minimus.
I’m not exactly sure what we are going back and forth over anymore . . . but the one thing that was posted that is absolutely true and goes against how we think about “tipped wages” is that NO ONE makes BELOW the minimum wage. If a server’s tips do not make up the difference between the “$2/hr” wage and the minimum wage, then the business must make up that difference. So even if we all stopped tipping tomorrow, even those people who “make $2/hr” would get the full minimum wage - paid by their employer.
Again - I tip . . . minimum wage is still virtually impossible to live on, especially if you’re not living at home with your parents . . .I just really hate the whole tip culture and it just keeps getting worse, so I like it less and less with every passing day. I can think of so many examples of where it just doesn’t make any sense IMHO. . . .
