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I'm writing this as a general public service announcement for all residents and visitors to North Carolina, on behalf of the restaurant industry. If you don't know, if your friends and family don't know, if your brother's wife's dog doesn't know, please spread the word.
Waiters and Waitresses do not receive the same minimum wage as everyone else.
When you are eating out in a restaurant and it comes time to pay the check and tip your server, I would like everyone to realize how little restaurant employees actually get paid per hour.
According to the North Carolina Department of Labor, as long as a server works in a restaurant where they receive a small enough amount of tips to not balance out to minimum wage, the current minimum wage is $2.43/hour, and it's dropping again, back to $2.13/hour.
As North Carolina is a Right To Work State, servers are not allowed to have unions or go on strike to protest their wages.
Servers are taxed on the amount of tips they claim to the government, and as a result, their paycheck at the end of a week of work is typically Moderator cut: url removed void.
(So, unless a server has a second job - unlikely in most cases, as many are college students due to scheduling concerns when not at work - they pay their bills, eat food, and put gas in their car directly from the tips they receive while at work.)
In conclusion, the next time you are dining out and reach the end of the meal, please remember this public service announcement. Thank you.
Last edited by autumngal; 02-24-2008 at 09:03 AM..
Reason: to comply with the terms of service
They don't get same(in many places besides Raleigh) because they get most in tips. Don't get why this is breaking news and what it really has to do with Raleigh specifically.
This seems about right considering the job.
A typical Food Server - Institution working in the United States earns a median base salary of $19,102, according to our analysis of data reported by corporate HR departments. Half of the people in this job earn between $17,062 and $22,841.
And Gatornation: Not always true. If every table tips 10% or below, the servers average out less per hour than the dishwashers. Also, they have to tip out bussers, bar, host... a whole group of the rest of the restaurant. That cuts their tips down significantly.
No they don't need a Union. Unions don't work! If they don't want to be servers they don't have to be servers. They can babysit, or work at the local book store, or coffee shop. There are tons of other jobs out there for people to do. I tip well (always at least 20%) and I know that some of the people I tip probably even make more than me. Why do I need to feel sorry for these people? True, that some servers don't make as much as others, but if they don't like it they can leave that job and find another.
Unions would make the cost of dining out MUCH higher and would probably lose a lot of business for those places, in turn making many of them shut their doors. So if we don't think we make enough, then we can start a union and "we'll force them to pay us what they think we're worth". That's ludicris! If you don't make enough then get another job. Get more education and work towards making a better life for yourself. That's what I've done and continue to do now. I'm still going to school to better myself, because I can't make society pay me what I want them to pay me just because I say so.
Morale here is that, YES do tip well to servers, but unionizing them...not a good idea.
I did not know this. Thanks for the info. I usually have great service here, so I will make sure I take care of my serving staff. We usually do about 20% now.
As North Carolina is a Right To Work State servers are not allowed to have unions or go on strike to protest their wages.
Oregon is a Right To Work State too and they do not have a service employees union. Yet, wait staff are paid minimum wage plus tips. Not sure how or why... maybe something to research.
Also, while I agree you have no recourse if you choose to strike in protest of wages, if you got all the wait staff on board at a a few restaurants that would make a huge statement... maybe get the attention of local officials... and it would shut down a few restaurants for a bit. It seems that most rests. are always hiring... add a walk out to that and you've got rests. that can't open.
The minimum wage is just what companies can't pay below. They can still pay more than that. If they are having trouble finding talent, they'll have to pay more. If people don't like what a company is paying, don't go work for them. Unemployment has been very low around here.
The fact is that people are choosing to work these jobs because with the tips the money can be very good at some restaurants.
to guide us "tippers". My family drums it into our heads as babies that we do not eat out unless we can afford the tip as well. That is because we have several family members in the restaurant business throughout the country. When I lived in New Orleans I had a neighbor that had worked for thirty years at one of the top French Quarter restaurants. He not only received NO salary, he paid them $20 a night to work there and that was years ago. He made enough in tips to comfortably support four children. He had started out at age 16 at a much less pricey restaurant and worked his way into one of the top places. He made sure all of his kids went to college, though!
Nobody is forcing you to do that job. If you aren't making enough money, then maybe you should look into a different line of work since you obviously aren't good at being part of the wait staff. Everybody as a customer knows the average tip for good service is 15% and extremely exceptional service is 20%.
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This is good information...
