Below Min. Wage For Food Servers

[sgermanguy]

I think the OP made great points. Restaurants are using the 2.13 per hour to set up the restaurant and do janitorial duties. Outback went straight downhill. Partly due to the kiddie mentality of the servers. There is no personalized service; just a bunch of kids running around. You will see about 6 different ones during your meal. I haven't been to one in years. I would much rather go to a family owned business.

[To insure proptness]

I laugh,Mcdonalds employees are paid $6.15 per hour, I believe a food server is paid $3.15 an hour, its the business, but if you dont like to tip, tips spelled backwards (spit) and thats what will happen to buckeye with his attitude, or maybe try to bring your date to Mcdonalds, open our minds please.

[amatrine]

Years ago I worked in food service. I was the youngest there then, and always got the slowest stations. Some nights I brought home less that 10 bucks. Did not make minimum wage... or there were times like when I had a 3o person party, that took two hours, and I did all the bussing , serving, etc,... and they did not leave me one cent. When I got older, I went into bartending, got minimum wage, plus tips. I would make 200 bucks in a three hour weekend shift. Huge difference. I would nver go into food service again after that.

I became manager of a bar and got salary. I made less as the manager than I did as the bartender,lol

Ama

[linkans]

Are there any states that will increase in Jan.? or sometime soon?

[jaada]

funny story i worked as a waitress in nevada (which btw is a right to work state) for years i made minimum wage which was 5.15 at the time plus all my tips i moved to az and got a job at the outback in yuma i had no idea about how low the wages were for waitresses. when we discussed my wage he said it was 2.15 and hour i about fell off the chair! and i asked him is this the wage in every restaurant? and he said yes in az that is what waitstaff makes. now its up to 3.50 or something. its still horribly wrong and needs to be changed this is slave labor.

[jaada]

Originally Posted by linkans

Are there any states that will increase in Jan.? or sometime soon?

i dont know about that but i know nevada still pays really well and you keep your tips too. i was working in a casino and got benefits minimum wage and my tips i only had to tip my busser.

[nmnita]

Originally Posted by 30yrrestaurantworker

I've been working in restaurants for almost 30 years in southern Ca. and am just shocked to know that in Az. and many other states in this country, tipped waiters and waitresses get paid a wage of $2.13 per hour. That is a crime as far as I am concerned and I think a majority of people are ignorant to this law. I work at a restaurant that is part of OSI corp. which ownes OUTBACK, and ROY'S RESTAURANT,just to name a few. They were major financial backers to defeat the prop. to increase min. wage in Az. SHAME ON YOU!!! OSI and many other corp. restaurants charge the same price for their meals in Az as they do in Ca. where food servers get paid the standard min. wage which I believe is $6.75 soon to be $7.50 in Jan. I guess the huge difference in labor cost is going right back into the corp. pocket for bigger profits. Also, food servers are required to tip out hostesses, food runners busboys, bartenders and banquet managers.In other words instead of these restaurants paying decent wages, food servers are required to pay other restaurant employees out of their tips. If a server makes $150.00 in a nights work chances are they will pay out about 40% of that money to other restaurant employees that are not being paid a fair wage by the employer. Also to top it off, they will over staff and bring employees into work hours before opening time to stock restrooms, cleaning maintinence and varous other odd jobs that would normally be done by higher paid employees. What a bargain to pay someone $2.13 per hour. This law needs to change! Why should waiters and waitresses depend on restaurant guests to pay their wage and let restaurant owners get away with the obligation to pay a fair wage. Please pass on this information to everyone you know and lets get these employers paying more then "SWEAT SHOP WAGES"!!!!

THis has always been the policy, tips make up the difference plus a lot more. Even when I was in college almost 50 years ago we worked as car hops for less than min wage as did my kids and eventually my grandkids..

I can assure you they would rather work for less than min wage and keep the tips than make $7.00 an hour and give the tips up...

By the way many of the restaurants we worked in while in college were in So Calif.

Nita

[nmnita]

Originally Posted by neo

I agree with tipping... up to a point. If I'm dining in (in other words, someone has to bring me my food and clean up after me, thus meriting more money) and the service is good, I will tip at or near 15%. 20% - 25%? Give me a break! Why not just make it 100% and then these greedy restaurant owners wouldn't have to pay their employees anything. I went in to pick up a take-out order from a local restaurant once, and I was actually asked if I wanted to tip!! For what?? Ringing me up??

The whole tipping thing is getting out of control in this country. There are too many people willing to work for ridiculously low wages in the hope that the customers will make up the huge difference. And there are too many people who throw money around as if it grows on trees in order to feel important or whatever.

The only way this problem is going to get solved is if restaurant owners are forced to pay their employees at least standard minimum wage, not this $2-something an hour crap.

I agree the tipping thing is getting out of hand when you see recommendations of tipping 20 and 25%, we alwasy tip 15 to 18%. As for greedy restaurant owners, do you have any idea what the overhead is like or their actually margin of profit???

Nita

[nmnita]

Originally Posted by jaada

yeah the pay is so awful here compared to other states. i came from northern nevada and we made 2 yrs ago 5.15 an hour for servers and we got to keep all our tips, here they make 2.15 and get the tips taken out of our checks.

Jadda, you do not get tips taken out of your check; if that were the case and your base salary is less than $3 an hour you would owe the company money each pay period..

Nita

[jaada]

Originally Posted by nmnita

Jadda, you do not get tips taken out of your check; if that were the case and your base salary is less than $3 an hour you would owe the company money each pay period..

Nita

exactly, no one takes our money like they do here. you make more in nevada. i am no longer a waitress havent been in 6 yrs but i know it paid good up there. many people i know who had college educations went back to doing it cause it paid more.