Tipping overload?

[EACarlson]

Well, Kentucky is different in that the minimum tipped wage is $7.25 an hour but an employer can subtract tips from your pay if you make more than that.
https://www.minimum-wage.org/kentucky

Thread derail ahead: My understanding is that is how tip credit works everywhere. The minimum wage is still the minimum wage, but in some states you are allowed to credit tips to get there.
I was a restaurant manager of tipped employees but in a state that didn't have tip credit. Was always an issue when our numbers were run against other areas and our labor costs were much higher.

 

[DisneyHardin]

I'm a nurse, maybe I should start expecting a tip for getting your IV on the first try

I have terrible veins. I would gladly tip a nurse that can get a vein on the first try

 

[DisneyHardin]

Well, Kentucky is different in that the minimum tipped wage is $7.25 an hour but an employer can subtract tips from your pay if you make more than that.
https://www.minimum-wage.org/kentucky

You are a little off in what the KY tipped minimum wage means. It is $2.13/hr, but if a server doesn't make at least $7.25/hr with their tips, the restaurant has to make up the difference - it just means they are guaranteed at least $7.25/hr. It isn't calculated on an hour by hour basis - it's average on your paycheck. If you are a full time server and worked 80 hrs for your 2 week pay period, you just have to have made at least $580 including your tips - unless you are the worlds worst server, or you work at a restaurant that has 0 customers, the restaurants never have to "make up" any of the difference.

 

[tvguy]

You are a little off in what the KY tipped minimum wage means. It is $2.13/hr, but if a server doesn't make at least $7.25/hr with their tips, the restaurant has to make up the difference - it just means they are guaranteed at least $7.25/hr. It isn't calculated on an hour by hour basis - it's average on your paycheck. If you are a full time server and worked 80 hrs for your 2 week pay period, you just have to have made at least $580 including your tips - unless you are the worlds worst server, or you work at a restaurant that has 0 customers, the restaurants never have to "make up" any of the difference.

I have no idea, that website doesn't seem to break it down that way.

 

[DisneyHardin]

I have no idea, that website doesn't seem to break it down that way.

I live in Kentucky and have lots of friends who are servers, I can assure you that the way I described it is how it works.

 

[Boopuff]

I just had lunch at at restaurant and they had a "living wage" line added to the bill. My DD pointed that out. So do you tip on the total before the living wage? After tax? What the heck. Another oddity: I sat in on our local HOA social committee meeting. The HOA wanted to hire a group of carolers to sing at the holiday festival. Upon discussing the fee the carolers were charging, one member wanted to add a per-person tip to the fee. The argument around the group was interesting. Many saw this as a per-hire situation, therefore no tip. The carolers are a "business" and therefore are not a "tipped" position. Others disagreed, saying that they're working hard and should be tipped. It was quite the discussion.

 

[kymom99]

You are a little off in what the KY tipped minimum wage means. It is $2.13/hr, but if a server doesn't make at least $7.25/hr with their tips, the restaurant has to make up the difference - it just means they are guaranteed at least $7.25/hr. It isn't calculated on an hour by hour basis - it's average on your paycheck. If you are a full time server and worked 80 hrs for your 2 week pay period, you just have to have made at least $580 including your tips - unless you are the worlds worst server, or you work at a restaurant that has 0 customers, the restaurants never have to "make up" any of the difference.

You explained that well. My step daughter is a server. During Covid when dining rooms were closed, she made minimum wage working the drive thru. Minimum being the 7.25 per hour.

 

[disneychrista]

I just had lunch at at restaurant and they had a "living wage" line added to the bill. My DD pointed that out. So do you tip on the total before the living wage? After tax? What the heck. Another oddity: I sat in on our local HOA social committee meeting. The HOA wanted to hire a group of carolers to sing at the holiday festival. Upon discussing the fee the carolers were charging, one member wanted to add a per-person tip to the fee. The argument around the group was interesting. Many saw this as a per-hire situation, therefore no tip. The carolers are a "business" and therefore are not a "tipped" position. Others disagreed, saying that they're working hard and should be tipped. It was quite the discussion.

If you are hiring a group to sing at an event don't they set the price they think is fair? Why would you tip them?

 

[Boopuff]

If you are hiring a group to sing at an event don't they set the price they think is fair? Why would you tip them?

Right? That was my first thought. The group was charging several hundred to appear, and to tip? That's like tipping someone you hired!

 

[Gehrig1B]

Tipping should be a personal thing…. If you think it is out of control it just means you disagree with how others are tipping. Tip jars, tipping suggestions and the like are just marketing attempts to encourage something that is totally optional.

We are fortunate to be able to tip well and we do for amazing service. We leave a more standard tip otherwise, even for poor service as a service was provided. We never “stiff” anyone. Honestly, you never know what that person is going through on any given day. If the service is unacceptable (rude, non-existent) we will ask to speak with a manager but still tip a respectable amount.

Doesn’t mean we expect others to do what we do nor do we cast aspersions on others who tip less generously but I do find it unacceptable to leave without tipping if you have not spoken with management.

 

[ronandannette]

...Doesn’t mean we expect others to do what we do nor do we cast aspersions on others who tip less generously but I do find it unacceptable to leave without tipping if you have not spoken with management.

Sorry - nope. I just don't care enough. I can't remember ever leaving without tipping something, but there have been times where we've put 10% down and walked away with a determination to never go there again. While I also never do Google/Yelp reviews, I certainly will mention places with hideous service, when they come up in conversation. I have no obligation to ensure management have "opportunities for improvement" if they aren't already in-tune enough to know how their staff is performing.

 

[White Cat]

I tipped the kid $5 today to carry the Christmas tree and throw it in the back today. He seemed happy enough.

 

[Gehrig1B]

have no obligation to ensure management have "opportunities for improvement" if they aren't already in-tune enough to know how their staff is performing.

I agree you have no obligation but how can management of a restaurant know without in person feedback? You can’t be “in tune” without consumer input.

 

[tvguy]

Not sure a server at a Waffle House in a state with a $2.13 minimum wage would fit this description, but at least here in California before the pandemic, a good server in a well run restaurant could make darn good money in tips. We did a research project on wages in 2014 and several people who planned to quit their server jobs when they got their Bachelor's degrees didn;t because serving part time paid them more than a job that required a Bachelors degree.

 

[amcnj]

With all the different wage rules out there, restaurant tipping has gotten very confusing. Is tipping based on food costs still the best way? Is some flat amount per person better? Maybe with a per hour type element too, to help account for restaurants where you are there for three hours versus one hour type places?

I am at the point of wishing it was all accounted for in the menu prices.

I also wonder how it works so far as the restaurant having to make up any difference to make sure each worker earns the federal minimum, or a higher state set minimum. Are they assuming all workers are reporting all cash tips? Or do the charged tips alone tend to be enough to bring the worker above the minimum required? I wonder what percentage of tips are cash versus credit card charges.

 

[EACarlson]

I also wonder how it works so far as the restaurant having to make up any difference to make sure each worker earns the federal minimum, or a higher state set minimum. Are they assuming all workers are reporting all cash tips? Or do the charged tips alone tend to be enough to bring the worker above the minimum required? I wonder what percentage of tips are cash versus credit card charges.

In the olden days, before everyone paid via credit card, you would cash out and tips were supposed to be claimed at the end of your shift. In some states, the restaurant could assume a certain tip percentage on all of your sales and charge that against the tip credit. Now that the vast majority of bills are paid by credit card the tips are automagically assigned and claimed. If you want to make a server's day, tip in cash.

 

[disneychrista]

With all the different wage rules out there, restaurant tipping has gotten very confusing. Is tipping based on food costs still the best way? Is some flat amount per person better?

I have never thought that % of food cost is really the best way of determining tip. You are at the same restaurant receiving the same service but one table buys four $50 entrees and the other four $30 entrees. Why does table one pay $40 and other only $24?

 

[QueenIsabella]

I can't speak for everywhere, since it varies so much, state to state. Here in North Carolina, the minimum wage is $7.25, and my two teens both work as baristas. One earns $15/hour plus tips (Starbucks), the other $10/hour plus tips (local chain). Mr. $10/hour gets his tips daily, and makes roughly $10/hour in tips. He also has to report them daily--it doesn't affect his wage, it's to make sure he pays the appropriate tax. Which, for him, will be $0--he won't earn enough to pay taxes. I actually think he brings home more in tips than his sister, but she gets them weekly. Since she's in college, I don't see her tips daily like I do her brother--he lives at home, and is always asking me to trade his tips for larger bills (I currently have $70 in $1 bills in my purse, until I get to the bank).

I'm in the camp of, if you get a simple order, no tip, or a small one, would be appropriate. OTOH, if you're ordering multiple drinks, or something complicated or off-menu, you should leave something. DD19 had a woman order a drink with 23 stevias in it yesterday (?!?). Exactly 23. Someone like that should tip! It was way more complicated than just that, DD mentioned it because the woman was talking to her while she was counting the 23 stevias.

 

[Pink Partridge]

I agree you have no obligation but how can management of a restaurant know without in person feedback? You can’t be “in tune” without consumer input.

Good management knows what is going on in their restaurants. They are observing, retraining, regrouping, etc.

 

[ronandannette]

Good management knows what is going on in their restaurants. They are observing, retraining, regrouping, etc.

Or maybe even stopping by tables to ask the customers how their experience has been. Things would have to be pretty grave before I’d pull a Karen and actually ask to see a manager.