Re: How do you feel about tips in restaurants?
Quote:
Originally Posted by
BeardedOne
In the US the posties are allowed to accept 'gifts' so long as they are under a certain value. Many of the carriers and clerks where I work might get something around the holidays as a recognition of good service and less than surly behaviour. Sometimes it is a gift card for one of the local stores or a small food item, but rarely cash. It's never expected and always appreciated. The carriers like Newman from Seinfeld and Elmer from Funny Farm are consistently ignored at these times and often bitch about how 'cheap' their customers are.
Most chain restaurants and larger independents will add 15-20% automatically if it is a party of six or more. That's what happened with the Applebee's check in this nonsense (And the pastor and her group asked for separate checks to try and get out of it, as can be seen in the amounts on the offending check). So, not only is the 'pastor' a bitch, but a cheating cunt as well.
Remy, you and I have to trade tales some day. I drove taxicrabs for four years in Boston and limos in Boston, Philly, NY, and DC. Our cabs operated on a 50% meter commission, but in Boston proper most were leased and every penny counted. I always gave the best service, fastest/most comfortable ride I could and was rewarded accordingly. I never complained about the amount of a tip (One regular always tipped a shiny new quarter, the same tip he'd given to the driver every day since the 1920s, never adjusted for inflation and rising cab fares) and never stressed over it. I must have been doing something right, as my tips often paid the rent when the fare split didn't.
That said:
I've seen two things throughout the thread that have not been clarified. One being that restaurant servers aren't getting the legal minimum wage. The painful truth is that they ARE getting the legal minimum wage for servers. The current Pennsylvania minimum wage is $7.25 an hour but is only $2.83 per hour for tipped employees. This is on par with minimum wage in other states/nationally. There is fine print in the PA law that states that an employer is supposed to make up any difference between that minimum + tips that doesn't meet or exceed the $7.25 amount, but I've never known an employer to do that (One would assume that the tips for an hour's work would usually exceed the minimum).
The other inaccuracy is the claim that tips are 'tax free'. While gratuities make up a significant part of the underground economy they are NOT 'tax free'. Employees are expected to claim their tips to the employer to be reported in their weekly income. If no tips are reported, some employers will insert an estimated amount, based on some formula of hours worked, or leave the slot blank and leave it up to the IRS to come knocking on the employee's door later down the road. And trust me, the IRS is one, nasty mistress and will err on the high side in any kind of income discrepancy audit. If someone claims income from a tipped profession (Restaurant server, transportation, hotel, etc.) and doesn't show some reasonable amount under the gratuities section the little red lights start flashing at the IRS.
In fact the employees are supposed to report actual tips which the employer can report or the employer can opt to simply report 15% of receipts as tips.
