If everyone only tips around 10%, will this prevent workers from making a living? Also, it seems people don’t tip guys in fast-food chain like KFC, BK, POPEYES, McDonald’s, etc. Does things work different over there?
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Employees at fast food restaurants are usually paid at least the federal minimum wage since they’re not in a tipped position.
>Does things work different over there?
Yes. Tipped employees (like servers) are allowed to be paid less than minimum wage (in most states) because it is assumed that their tips will bump them up over minimum wage once they are factored in. If those tips **do not** get them up over minimum wage, then the restaurant is required to gross up the server’s pay so they reach minimum wage.
(Side note: This almost never happens in real life, but it is the law).
Folks working at fast food chains are not classified as tipped employees, so they are paid minimum wage from the start.
The government sets different rules for “tipped employees”, and that classification is based on how much of your income comes from tips. As you said, most people don’t tip for fast-food, so those workers are not considered tipped employees.
The US has a national minimum wage for tipped/normal employees but each state can boost it if they want.
Some states like California give tipped employees the same base salary as normal employees.
For say Florida, normal employees currently get $11/hr minimum (going to $12 in October). For tipped employees it’s $7.98 (before this October), but if they don’t average at least $3.02/hr in tips (summing to $11/hr total) then the employer adds in the difference (but if you aren’t making enough in tips then you likely will be deemed bad at your job and will be fired).
$3-$6 per hour is the average minimum rate for a waiter or a waitress. They may make more depending on the restaurant, but his gives you an idea.
The tips are essential for them to make a living wage. If we got rid of tipping, the costs of food would rise by more than the amount we already tip to compensate those wages.
Under tipping, we have the option to pay less for bad service, and we avoid paying for all of the administrative payroll costs that would come with having restaurants pay higher wages. Anti-tippers don’t understand that everything gets more expensive if we change the system.
We also end up with inattentive service, because there is no incentive to exceed.
Even aside form the different minimum wages, most restaurant owners see tips as justification for not bothering to give raises.
As a note the US and Canada are an anomaly in the world when it comes to tipping. While some other places do tip like south america or the middle east, none of it is as batshit crazy as you find in the US where they expect you to live off of tips.
Never been a waiter, but did a valet job for a while once. Absolutely made a lot less than minimum wage. Things got so rough for me, I soaked into a depression, and it was quite a while before things started getting better.
That said, as a valet, you’re lucky if you get a gig at a country club. Rich people want to show off to their rich friends, so large bills come your way as tips. I, however, mostly worked clubs and weddings. People either spent their money on booze, or on flying out to the event, and would tip a couple of dollars on average. Add in that it takes a lot of staff to accommodate most of these events, once the tips are split you come home with an extra $20 to $40 in pocket. Hourly wage was $2.50. Jobs were and 5 to 8 hours often.
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