Waiters and other restaurant staff: spill the beans

sarahj1986

When I worked part time in a pub chain in 2008 the cash tips were shared out. It was worked out based on total tip amount divided by total amount of hours everybody had worked that day so say for example there was £100 of tips and 10 people worked 10 hours each it would be £100/100 hours meaning £1 per hour so you would end up with £10. It very rarely added up to £1+ per hour though. Horrible job but I was desperate for extra cash, on minimum wage and as a second job I was taxed ridiculous amounts working 7 days a week and on weekends working 12+ hours with no break, I was close to collapse when I quit.

My boyfriend has done waitering most of his life, where he currently works it all goes into a pot and shared out for that shift (they do a lunch and evening shift) but the kitchen staff get 20p for each cover they do and that's taken out of that. He seems to do really well on tips, some shifts it's doubled his wage for the hours worked

Charlotte17

Minnibix wrote: »

Hi

I am a bit confused about tipping are waitresses and waiters paid less that the minimum wage, and if so is this legal.

Both me and my partner are paid the minimum wage and I thought that no-one could be paid less. I also thought that if someone worked part time then their pay would be pro rata

Am I barking up the wrong tree

no one here (I think) is saying they are or have been paid less as it is not illegal to use tips to pay the NMW to staff

missg2210

designerchick-x wrote: »

Service charge added by the employer e.g Room service - we never saw a split Or receive these tips. Tips added to the bill and paid via CARD was split across ALL WAITING STAFF ON SHIFT OR NOT. So if given £10 tip - you'll be lucky to receive a few pence. The only tips we kept to ourselves was in cash, SOME days amongst us waitresses ans waiters well share the tips collected that shift and split equally..This was at the Hilton. I no longer work there

If we got a tip added to a card bill and we were not full time staff we didnt see a share of the tip - we could split cash ones between us but didnt see a single card tip. Card tips were kept for full timers

natjscofield

I worked at a restaurant while I was at college. I didn't live with my parents so had to work all hours I could to keep my head above the water. I'd be at college 9am - 4pm and go straight to work 6 evenings a week plus daytime Saturday.

At the time I was 16 and minimum wage was around £3ph. When I was hired I was hoping to make a few extra £ in tips, even if it was just £5 a week, it would pay for a taxi fare one night.

I'd be working until 2/3am with the other girls washing and drying the glasses, setting the tables for the next day, washing the cutlery etc. I found out my first week there that the owner was in some financial trouble, according to the other girls, and that he'd pocket the tips. I worked there for 2 years and we never saw a penny. Only reason I stayed was that it was round the corner from college so I didn't have to pay for bus fare getting to work.

We all used to work so hard, especially as the boss was never in during working hours. He'd show up before closing and collect the tips and leave. It was heartbreaking having diners give us tips for good service knowing we'd never get them. We often thought about pocketing some of them and sharing them out later but the place had cameras up. What was especially horrible was having to lie to the customers. We were asked a few times whether we received our tips and had to say 'yes of course.' If we'd have told the truth and the owner had found out we'd have been sacked. We were all young and couldn't risk losing our jobs, we didn't realise just how illegal it was until afterwards.

I'm not ashamed to say I, and the others, would actually sometimes try and take a fiver or so every now and again if we could get away with it and pool it together to split after the shift.

The restaurant has now closed down after the owner went bankrupt. Karma.

quietriot

Charlotte17 wrote: »

it is not illegal to use tips to pay the NMW to staff

Wrong

hcb42

I have worked in hotels for years. At my previous employer, the tips fund was "shared out" among all staff including back office staff etc, on a pro rata basis depending on hours worked per week etc. I felt this was fair as many staff contribute to a positive experience.

I do know however that the full pot was not shared out, a portion was retained, and this didnt feel greatr, but was not within my gift to resolve.

I absolutely refuse to leave a card tip in any hotel and rarely in any restaurant too. I also despise the culture in america where a 20% tip is practically demanded, on top of what is often not a cheap meal, and definitely not a cheap bottle of wine etc...ridiculous practice.

HanSpan

I recently ate with my OH & another couple in a VERY expensive restaurant (not normal for us - its was OH's 50th).
I paid the bill on a card but didn't add a tip & did that in cash as I always do - hoping most of it will go to the staff. The people we were with found it very odd and said why hadn't I added on the card, they also questioned me only giving 10%.

Is the norm different in seriously fancy places? I've only ever given over 10% if the service is really outstanding, and not when the meal has already cost a small fortune.

I'm just curious but do others feel a bit like me - that I will give a generous cash tip for really good service in a cheapish place, but I expect far more in a 'posh' restaurant. I've often not to tipped anything if the service &/or food is just OK in somewhere that's expensive.

minerva_windsong

When I was a student I worked in the bars of a local hotel/golf club (there was a bar in each of the hotel's two function rooms and then one in the golf club, and you rotated between them). The tips all went into a pot which was distributed amongst the staff at Christmas according to length of service - something I really resented as I worked really hard yet people who'd been there longer than me would coast and get paid more. I agree with those saying that the purpose of the tip is to reward a job well done, not to top up wages or act as a bonus for 'time served'.


That said, I do think there should be a system where kitchen staff get paid too as they are doing a lot of the 'behind the scenes' stuff. Maybe the solution is a hybrid approach - so half or two thirds of the tips go into a pot that gets divvied up between the kitchen staff, and the other half or third is kept by the staff member who was serving.

d70cw6

good god, no. never tip, it only encourages the practise.
always ask for service charges to be removed from bills.

U've_been_framed

967stuart wrote: »

£6 an hour is very generous.

Generous? It's below the minimum wage.