How much did waiter/waitress get paid from employees/restaurants in the U.S. if not consider the tips from customers, like if we choose a random restaurant from a random town?

Question

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?

In: 0

Answer 1

>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.