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Or you could work at a restaurant and get a guaranteed $2.13/hr :D
I don't know if I've ever met wait staff that agreed they'd get paid more if they got a normal hourly wage. Say what you will about the math out financial skills of an adult in this occupation, but I know I'd prefer steady and predictable income over occasional highs and lows.
I liken it to people that enjoy casino gambling. I'm sure if you spend enough time doing it that you feel the times you get a big payout make up for the losses, but research seems to show otherwise. I've never had to work for tips though, so I couldn't say for sure.
Worked for a payroll firm that had a couple dozen restaurant clients.
- Tips vary wildly between employees, not payrolls. Some rock out every check, I have no idea why some of the others keep trying to wait tables.
- You can't be paid less than state minimum wage if your tips don't get you there. The payroll software almost never made use of that option because no one ever falls below. We were a couple of months into the new software when we figured out that hadn't been set, some edge case where the employee worked but didn't get enough tips.
- Service jobs are highly seasonal here in NW FL. You better be in the top 10% to make it year-round.
It would be interesting to evaluate the preferences of workers whose employers have been moved out of the tipping system and into one of regular wages.
Thank you for this very unique perspective! Very informative!
I don't like the heat, so I go to the Jersey shore in the off season, and I always wonder about the wait staff that can make a living during the winter. It's generally a ghost town when I'm there. It's gotta be tough in the off season in a place so dependant on seasonal guests.
A steady wage might either be greater than or less than an amount someone is currently receiving in tips, depending on the amount. Under poor conditions, the common tendency is defensive, of acting on an assumption that any change only would degrade conditions further.
The inclination to defend the status quo is natural even if also irrational.
Makes me think of the King if the Hill where Hank finds out the exclusive deal of paying MSRP for all his trucks over the years was really someone he respected as a fellow professional taking advantage of him.
It's hard to admit you've let yourself get played, and we shouldn't ever get upset at the employees for being fooled. They put trust in someone that gave them an opportunity is all. But the boss knows what he's doing.
But the boss knows what he’s doing.
He sure does. That's why he's boss.
It's shit, when I worked as a waiter I commonly earned less than minimum wage in my state (like $7.50/hr)
I believe it, some places you drive by and the parking lot is near empty and you know those people aren't getting paid squat.
I think the place is required to make sure you make the equivalent of minimum wage for the hours you work, but I've read many stories about shady owners screwing with people's post regardless of what the law says.
Plus you shouldn't get paid based off if you get polite or shit customers anyway, that just seems like a rigged system. Only in America! *Insert eye roll
Then you were to paid minimum wage. You got fucked. Contact your labor board.
Report them. That's not legal.
I get paid a $15 minimum wage plus tips (WA laws are great), and it very much is reliable as income, at least on a weekly basis. In 3 months I've never gotten less than $3/HR in a day, or $8/hr in a week. There's no way that I'd be getting paid more if I had a higher wage and zero tips.
What those waiters don't understand is that you still get tips on top of your normal wage.
It just isn't guaranteed. Meaning you don't have to be angry every time they don't tip.
Bro, tips are good. Your lows are still solid if you gig drive effectively.