General Discussion
Related: Editorials & Other Articles, Issue Forums, Alliance Forums, Region ForumsI had a little disagreement with one of the Trumpsters today. I was under the impression
that either the Trump tax cut or the labor department had made a ruling that a restaurant could take
the tips from their servers that exceeded the minimum wage and keep it or give it to other employees if they wanted.
I know there was discussion about that but don't know if they got away with doing it. I have Googled and found nothing
to confirm it either way. Just wander if I was right about it.
Fuzzpope
(602 posts)sfwriter
(3,032 posts)I missed this.
doc03
(35,364 posts)to the server rather than putting it on my credit card so they couldn't steal it. I know a lot of other people that have been doing the same thinking that law had passed. I am glad I was wrong!
Fuzzpope
(602 posts)I wasn't aware of the outcome either. Good news for hard-working, frequently exploited servers everywhere.
FreepFryer
(7,077 posts)The change was negotiated by Senator Patty Murray, Democrat of Washington, and Labor Secretary R. Alexander Acosta after the proposal encountered months of opposition. Labor advocacy groups argued that the regulation would transfer billions of dollars from workers to employers.
The restaurant industry had backed the proposal, saying it would allow the tips given to waiters and waitresses to be shared with so-called back-of-house workers, like cooks and dishwashers.
Under the compromise, inserted into the congressional spending bill that won final approval early Friday, federal law would be revised to make clear that employers cannot under any circumstances keep any portion of the tips earned by their workers.
https://www.nytimes.com/2018/03/23/business/economy/tipping-workers.html
Rorey
(8,445 posts)A lot of years ago, I worked for an upscale restaurant for a few months. The restaurant had "captains" and "stewards". Everyone who aspired to be a captain had to start out as a steward. Stewards were assistants to the captains when it came to serving, and also did all of the busing. All tips were paid on our paychecks, with captains getting 80% and stewards getting 20%. Oddly enough, my checks as a steward came out to exactly minimum wage. It didn't matter how busy we were or how slow we were, the pay was the same. It didn't take a genius to figure out that the restaurant was pocketing the majority of the tips.
I found another job where I could keep my own tips, minus tipping the appropriate support staff. I would have loved that job at the upscale place if it weren't for the thieving owners.
lunatica
(53,410 posts)The reason for servers to get tips in the first place was because that way restaurants can give them minimum wage. I was a waitress for years and was lucky enough to get jobs in good restaurants and I made a good living just on my tips. I declared the legal percentage each month which took my paycheck. So basically what I was paid by the restaurant is what I paid in taxes.
This was in keeping with the IRS laws.
Restaurants would have to pay more just in taxes if they did that. Its self defeating.
And waiters and waitresses in good restaurants always shared with the busboys and the barrenders.
allows for tip pools, but restricts them to customer facing positions (busboy, bartender, etc.).
The change would have allowed for tip pools to go to cooks, dishwashers, and managers all of who are supposed to be paid by the restaurant.
In the restaurants I worked in whe had mandatory tip pools (% of sales) for bartenders and hosts, but tipping the busboy was optional (it depended on your need / section) and they were only present on weekends.