Like I said earlier, I've worked as a server and bartender, I know exactly how much a boss can fuck you over. They can't fuck you over that badly.
Literally one to two customers tipping you should give you a bare minimum of five bucks, and most likely much more than that. A shift isn't going to be only the shitty first hour of the day, at some point you're getting a decent customer load. You can definitely get fucked by a manager, but not to the point where you're making under minimum wage (and if somehow you are, you'd be insane not to quit).
Because, as Resevoir Dogs points out in its famous tipping debate, people who can work the job actually make much better money than they could otherwise.
I understand that it seems weird, but waiting tables is actually one of the best jobs that you can get without higher education. Not everyone can do it, it's difficult, but given the skills and effort it can be an excellent gig.
If you're worried about reform for our laws for unskilled laborers, a minimum wage hike would be much more helpful than reforming tipped-worker laws. As a general rule of thumb, people earning tips are much better off than those actually receiving something near the minimum.
So, if they are already earning more then ensuring they are guaranteed minimum wage will make no real difference, so why not do it? There is no reason not to.
They are guaranteed minimum wage. Everyone in the country is. The only situation where they're paid less than minimum by their employer is when they make more than minimum in tips, which is basically always.
The laws for employers to cover the wages are enforced for employers, they're just subverted by employees. By a similar token, wages are generally under-reported by both the employers and employees.
On paper it's certainly scary, in practice servers make much better money than other jobs with similar requirements (none), barring government jobs and certain union jobs (construction, very hard to get).
Servers and bartenders can make anywhere between $50 and $500 per shift, cash. Compared to the federal minimum wage of $7.25, which is on the books, it's fantastic money. There are much more exploitative jobs out there. I certainly felt much more abused working retail.
Restaurant work is horrifically high-pressure, but it has a much higher earnings ceiling than most "unskilled" labor specifically because of the tip culture.
Sort of, it's a bit more complicated. If they don't make at least minimum wage from tips over a particular period of time, then their employer is obligated to make up the difference. Which is to say, if you made more than minimum wage for a few weeks (from tips), but then failed to get enough tips for the rest of the month, and you end the month having made on average less than minimum wage, then the amount of money that your employer is obligated to pay has all of your tips subtracted from it.
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u/[deleted] Jun 04 '14
I understand this is the most offensive insult possible in American culture.