Shortly before opening, Casa Bonita’s new owners Matt Stone and Trey Parker decided to eliminate tipping and instead pay workers a flat wage of $30 per hour.
Now I could be wrong, but getting a an hourly wage as a restaurant worker is FAR better than relying on tips. I feel like either workers in this situation are too obsessed with tips or there’s huge context missing.
i've never worked a tipped job, but from the people i know who have, this is probably about what they were making already except more consistent and maybe slightly less depending on how pricey the food is
All tips are supposed to be taxed. That being said, every single one of my friends that have worked jobs that are primary tip-based would mention that they would hide some amount of the cash tips. This was to avoid taxes, and for the most part my friends would claim most of their cash tips while mentioning that if they were having a bad week or day they might hide more. I have been in restaurant and other service jobs which I was paid normal rates due to being either technically BOH or otherwise not a tip expected job. So in those cases I wouldn't claim a random tip I would get since it was never more than $20. Also the servers didn't have to split anything with BOH since BOH was paid at least $6.50/hr back in 2003 (which was like a dollar or so more than state/national min wage) and the servers were something like $2/hr or so with tips being of course the main source. Though they would give some to those of us that bused their tables quickly on busy nights to get them ready for a new person/group.
But I think that tipping should be completely something that is to show that the worker was in your opinion just worth more than whatever they made the time you interacted with them. As the idea of a tip (IMO) is just that, a more personal sign of appreciation for their labour even if they are being paid like any other worker. And yes, I believe that holds true for stuff like strippers or any other currently legal sex worker (and same goes for prostitutes if made legal and officially taxed).
I am from NC, and not the most high income areas while not being in the lowest either. But $30/hr is almost twice what I make in my non-tip-based job (I am at a pay-cap of $19.48/hr). That sounds like shit I wouldn't start to see unless I climbed the latter a lot to get (and completely stop doing the actual stuff I am any good at). So I am guessing $30/hr where they are planning to open must be like getting less than $10/hr where I am when adjusting for living costs and all that. Otherwise it seems like a real strange hill to die on when it isn't like the people coming into the place won't still do it if the servers are just doing really well. Idk. I stand with the workers no matter what they do, but if they lose the $30/hr for tips-based and the people that come in do what so many do (which is just lord over the worker). Then it would be a real motherfucker.
They actually do have to report it and pay taxes on it, and if tips are pooled with back of house (as they should be) there will be a paper trail and official records.
Only way to get away with this is cash only tips from front of house, which if that’s what the front of house people are pushing for they are scabs fucking over the back of house
Hate to be the bearer of bad news but if you live in the US you must pay income tax and report on all tips or you are doing tax evasion. If you are photoshopping pay stubs you already know this to be true (don’t do this the employer sends a copy to the IRS you will go to jail)
If the restaurant isn't reporting tips, they likely aren't fairly pooling and splitting them either. If they're willing to cheat the feds, they're willing to cheat the dishwasher
Adding on to the chorus telling you that legally speaking, tips are required to be reported as income and taxed.
Now of course, many people don't report their tips in spite of this requirement, and because of the nature of cash tips it is very rare that this requirement is ever enforced. So it is very unlikely that you will face any legal repercussions for not reporting your tips. However, choosing not to report can have other effects besides legal action. For example, if you lose your job and try to claim unemployment, the unemployment benefits you receive is usually calculated as a percentage of your average income from your most recent period of employment. So if you under-report your tips, that can have a significant impact on the unemployment benefits you are entitled to.
It varies really widely based on where you work, yeah. Also the seasons. I’ve worked at a place on a lake during the summer and I’ve worked at Olive Garden in the dead of winter. No comparison.
It really just depends on where you work and your demographics.
Young black male in rural city? Lol you're fucked. Attractive young white woman in dense urban center at trendy expensive restaurant? Absolutely crazy amounts of money.
I've known people who graduate, get a job in the field they wanted and then quit and went back to serving because they fell into the right demos and location.
The tipping floor is the lowest it can possibly be but the ceiling is extremely high. And it's largely based off unfair reasons.