waitress working for zero $ (percentage, credit, cost, work)

[tnff]

The biggest problem I have with tipping is it's based on the amount of the bill and not the work required to provide the service. Just to compare typical chain places (so we're not skewing it by very high end numbers), it takes no more effort to take my order and bring out the food & drinks at Red Lobster than at Cracker Barrel. Yet the bill for the same family of four at Red Lobster will be at least twice as much as at Cracker Barrel therefore the tip is typically twice as much. For the same level of effort. In fact I'd argue the server at Cracker Barrel is working harder because they turn tables faster.

[DubbleT]

The cash plus tip per hour must meet federal minimum wage requirements.

Fifteen years ago I knew a server who made nearly $100,000 a year because tips were so big.

Supposed to. Doesn't always. And there have been lawsuits over it, daughters former BF was involved in one at a local pizza parlor. Son was told that if he didn't declare he was making minimum with his tips he didn't have a job, even when he was assigned take out orders instead of tables, at a local sub shop.
Not so much a problem in high end places. Bigger problem in mom and pops, especially when much of the waitstaff is not proficient in English.

[Sand&Salt]

In a tourist town, I worked in 2 places that did not pay wages.

After 2 weeks, I asked about paychecks. Got sheepish looks from the employees. No paychecks. So I left.

I reported both places but the labor board could not care less.

Same type of place forces the wait staff to do all the janitor work too. Pick tumbleweeds, get up on ladders to clean window, clean bathrooms. I didn't stay for that, either.

Then again, these places were in Utah and Texas. Didn't happen in CA....

[mojo101]

Originally Posted by COcheesehead

So if the story is true...
Why would someone work there?

why not?
Some dont have wheels,or can only keep odd hours or do not speak English well or bad appearance.
When I was in NYC,I spent sometime in the hospital ,when I checked out,a young pretty volunteer came to push my wheelchair to the office for paperwork.
(I dont really need to be in a wheelchair ,but?)
She looked Middle Eastern,and lived with her parents,volunteered at the hospital,does not hold any job .
But she told me something interesting-when the Shah of Iran came for cancer treatment,the hospital not only emptied his floor,but the one above and below,and on the floor above,his soldiers set up machine gun in the balcony .
One day she is assigned to take the Shah for Xray,so she walked into Shah's room,pushed him in wheelchair to the elevator,when they entered the elevator,his body guard wants to step in and the Shah makes a gesture like there is no need.
She was with them for days,she said the Shah face is green,his wife is beautiful and did the grocery shopping daily at different stores with no advance warning and prepared the food herself .
She was rewarded handsomely for her volunteer work.
Now looking back,I bet she is not just any Middle Easterner,she must come from a loyal Iranian family !

[saibot]

Originally Posted by mojo101

I know in some restaurants, the waiter/waitress does not get paid from the employer, he/she relies strictly on tips.
Is this legal, or it is between the employer and employee?

You're asking about legality. A restaurant owner is legally obliged to pay the serving staff a wage. Staff cannot be asked to work entirely for tips.

If the wage + tips do not equal the state's minimum wage, the owner is legally obliged to make up the difference.

Anecdotes to the contrary notwithstanding, this is what is legal. Do some employers try to circumvent the law? Of course.

Seven states require restaurant owners to pay servers the full minimum wage; California is one of these. My teenage daughter is a busser and hostess, not a server, but she makes $14/hour plus 5% of whatever tips are left on her tables. This is usually an additional $100-120 per week.

[saibot]

Originally Posted by Rakin

Dancers have to pay the house their cut of the tips / money also. Sturgis is one step above Dancers.

At my daughter's restaurant, all tips left on the table after the meal or added to a credit card bill are pooled and divided among the relevant staff at the end of the week. However, if a customer hands money directly to an employee, they can keep all of it.

[BobNJ1960]

Originally Posted by RationalExpectations

The Federal Minimum Wage applies.

the tipped minimum applies, but tips that fail to gap it to true mw must be made up for by the employer.

[ddm2k]

Originally Posted by mojo101

I know in some restaurants,the waiter/waitress does not get paid from the employer,he/she relies strictly on tips.
Is this legal,or it is between the employer and employee?
One waitress was so angry after serving a party at a buffet place and received no tip,she chased them into the street shouting Dont call Back,dont come back.
She was fired !

There is some fuzzy math behind a lot of pay programs that may very well cause the server to regularly receive $0.00 on each pay stub.

- Unscrupulous employers who don't record wait staff as employees
- Being taxed on allocated income through payroll, for tips received in cash
- $2.13/hr can easily be eaten up by the second point, or not be paid at all, if the first applies.

[Grlzrl]

Originally Posted by COcheesehead

So if the story is true...
Why would someone work there?

I don't think it is true.

[mojo101]

if I am an immigrant and I dont know my way around and I dont have wheels or even know how to drive and I am an older woman who barely speaks English and a neighborhood restaurant offers me a job to earn some tip money,I would not report my employer and lose the only chance I have to work outside my home and earn some $$.
If I take home $5,that could mean chicken dinner for the family!