Tipping at Restaurants

[Traver Freeman]

Wondering how the tips work at WDW.

At some restaurants, if you place your tip via credit card, the tip goes into a pool that is evenly distributed between all servers.

Do you know how it works at WDW? Should I plan to tip with cash if I want my server to receive the whole tip, or do places that distribute still require employees to put all cash into the "pot" as well?

Not sure if it makes any difference at all for WDW. Just something that came up in conversation and I was curious.

 

[mom2my3kids]

Wondering how the tips work at WDW.

At some restaurants, if you place your tip via credit card, the tip goes into a pool that is evenly distributed between all servers.

Do you know how it works at WDW? Should I plan to tip with cash if I want my server to receive the whole tip, or do places that distribute still require employees to put all cash into the "pot" as well?

Not sure if it makes any difference at all for WDW. Just something that came up in conversation and I was curious.

I am positive your server is the one who gets the money...

 

[Disney Khaleesi]

As far as I am aware, servers at Disney TS restaurants receive their whole tip and it is not split among the entirety of the wait staff.

 

[Dean Marino]

Perhaps I can help.... not WDW specific, more Restaurant specific.....

First - your tip is your tip, directed to who you tip. Having said this, it's very RARE to encounter a restaurant that does not have an internal policy of making sure everyone involved "does well". Even the lowly Bus Boy/Runner.

All personal experience - the primary staff member (your wait person), knows they are part of a team - from runners to line cooks. At the end of the night, these folks USUALLY allocate a portion of their "tip money" to those involved in their success. The rules? Often, there are none..... it depends on how THAT primary contact with the guest was supported, and to what degree.

Now - my data comes from 1968 San Francisco . Things MAY have very well changed . Worth mentioning - I didn't do that well as a BussBoy - so I took the easy way out, and got a PhD . Dad (a Maitre D') was much happier . I was a lousy BussBoy .

 

[kristen821]

I went to the bank and got a variety of bills so I can tip in cash. I often pay at restaurants with my card and tip in cash to my waiter can decide how they want to share it, plus then they get their tip right away and don't have to wait until Payday

 

[KT0191]

I very much doubt that their tip money is put into a pool. They do most likely tip out a certain percentage of their tips to bartenders, expo and table bussers (majority of restaurants do this) though but not other servers.

 

[mcurran]

I will add that tips given in credit card are then paid to whomever from the establishments. The establishment will typically list this on the servers w2 as non taxed income as tips. This will force server to pay taxes on these tips come tax time.

Alternatively if you tip in cash then it is the servers responsibility to tally cash tips over the year so they can pay taxes on it come tax time... or server could forget to add up those cash tips and then I suppose the server might not be on the hook for taxes...

I have no problem going out of my way to tip in cash and if a server wants to deal with that moral dillema that's a-ok with me and I would guess the servers like that just fine too.

 

[DVC4US]

I will add that tips given in credit card are then paid to whomever from the establishments. The establishment will typically list this on the servers w2 as non taxed income as tips. This will force server to pay taxes on these tips come tax time.

Alternatively if you tip in cash then it is the servers responsibility to tally cash tips over the year so they can pay taxes on it come tax time... or server could forget to add up those cash tips and then I suppose the server might not be on the hook for taxes...

I have no problem going out of my way to tip in cash and if a server wants to deal with that moral dillema that's a-ok with me and I would guess the servers like that just fine too.

This is not exactly how it works. I work in the accounting department of a resort that has a restaurant - we have to keep track of total sales for each server and report a percentage of this as their tip income. It doesn't matter if the tip given to the server is in cash or credit.

 

[mcurran]

This is not exactly how it works. I work in the accounting department of a resort that has a restaurant - we have to keep track of total sales for each server and report a percentage of this as their tip income. It doesn't matter if the tip given to the server is in cash or credit.

Interesting. Would love to know from former or current cm how Disney does it.

 

[DVC4US]

Interesting. Would love to know from former or current cm how Disney does it.

It would be interesting to see how Disney handles it. Should be the same or something like it since this is actually required by the IRS.

 

[Traver Freeman]

This is not exactly how it works. I work in the accounting department of a resort that has a restaurant - we have to keep track of total sales for each server and report a percentage of this as their tip income. It doesn't matter if the tip given to the server is in cash or credit.

What's the percentage? Cause that would suck if they don't get tipped and they are getting taxed on a tip they didn't get. I know 20% is about average for a tip these days, but if they're taxed for the 20% and not everyone tips they're on the hook for it anyway.

I also heard a waitress at Red Lobster tell a customer a table over from us if a customer leaves without paying the waitress is on the hook for your meal unless they take "negative" on their record. I can't remember the exact term she used, but it looks bad on the waitress if they have to file those.

 

[DVC4US]

What's the percentage? Cause that would suck if they don't get tipped and they are getting taxed on a tip they didn't get. I know 20% is about average for a tip these days, but if they're taxed for the 20% and not everyone tips they're on the hook for it anyway.

I also heard a waitress at Red Lobster tell a customer a table over from us if a customer leaves without paying the waitress is on the hook for your meal unless they take "negative" on their record. I can't remember the exact term she used, but it looks bad on the waitress if they have to file those.

I believe it is 8%. Beyond that, it is up to the server to report their tips collected.

I'm sure each restaurant has their own policy but I do know that our servers are responsible for making sure they get payment. We had a customer dispute a CC charge - the charge slip wasn't signed so we had no recourse with the CC company - the server was on the hook for the amount of the bill.

 

[MaryLovesPoohBear]

While we were there in December 2016, I asked a couple of our servers.

I told them I had cash, gift cards or I could put it on my room. I asked which was the best for them, since it didn't matter to me.

Each one told me that it didn't matter to them.

 

[Tara922c]

Your server will get to get the tip. I am almost positive he/she has to pay into a tip pool that goes towards non-tipped employees such as server assistants, but tip pool is normally a percentage of sales not tips. When I was a server, I really didn't care if people tipped me cash or on the card. The restaurant I worked at would investigate servers that reported less than 15% of their sales, so I claimed all my cash tips anyway. Being such a large company, I wouldn't be surprised if Disney did something similar.

 

[IrishNYC]

This is not exactly how it works. I work in the accounting department of a resort that has a restaurant - we have to keep track of total sales for each server and report a percentage of this as their tip income. It doesn't matter if the tip given to the server is in cash or credit.

Interesting. Would love to know from former or current cm how Disney does it.

What DVC4US said is a standard IRS requirement, so Disney does it however the IRS requires it be reported, which is currently 8% of your receipts.

https://www.irs.gov/businesses/smal...oyed/reporting-tip-income-restaurant-tax-tips

 

[mom2my3kids]

This is not exactly how it works. I work in the accounting department of a resort that has a restaurant - we have to keep track of total sales for each server and report a percentage of this as their tip income. It doesn't matter if the tip given to the server is in cash or credit.

Server here, we have to claim to the IRS 15% of our Sales as tips even if we don't get it ( I always get it) but I have been a server for 19 years and pretty good at my job..I work for a big chain so they will claim it if we don't, so if someone tries not to claim 15 % of their sales for the day it wont let you clock out..

 

[katt789]

Servers at WDW will GET THE TIPS you give them, NOW, they DO have to tip out, to the kitchen, the bartender, and to the food runners. They tip out certain percentages to each, and for ones like the food runners, they can vary how much they tip them depending on how much help they were (ie, there is a minimal requirement, but they can tip more if the person helped out a lot)

If you tip in cash, they not only get it right away, but it also does NOT go on their paycheque, and they are not taxed on it.

 

[KateP85]

I'm a former Disney server. Cash tips and charge tips (tips put on credit cards, room charges, gift cards, etc) will be given to the server at the end of the night in cash; the charge tips are automatically declared because they are entered into the computer, and then it is up to the server to declare their cash tips. Gratuity and the hourly wage go onto their paycheck.

The union contract actually doesn't force a server to tip out, but I don't know many people who don't - your server assistants and bartenders are your friends, you don't screw them over! Each location typically does it differently, and in certain places you tip out more than others.

So for example, if a server sells $2,000 in a shift, they might make $400. Of that, they might tip their server assistants $20 each (where I was, you tipped out 1% of your sales per assistant) and then if your bar sales were $300 you would tip your bartender maybe $30 (again this was where I worked). So of that $400, you'd tip out about $70 and leave with about $330.