Waiters/restaurant workers (especially in chains) - tell us, who gets the tips?

rawhammered

The customer should get tipped by the waiting staff for the privilege of their employment. No customers, no job....

tempus_fugit

Kim_kim wrote: »

Why is it bad practice?

The employer is putting on a service charge & using it towards the wages.

What it should be, instead of a service charge, just a comprehensive price to include service and all other overheads and then staff get paid (whatever is the fair rate for their skills) and tax & NI is like all other employees paid on all earnings.

Because then the employer is making part of the staff's wage dependent on how many customers come through the door. That should be illegal and the advertised wage should be BEFORE any tips or gratuities.

Kim_kim

tempus_fugit wrote: »

Because then the employer is making part of the staff's wage dependent on how many customers come through the door. That should be illegal and the advertised wage should be BEFORE any tips or gratuities.

No they weren’t. No where does it say that the person getting the wage wouldn’t get their contracted wage, just that the firm used this money to put towards it.

That’s what a service charge should be, but it should be built in the basic meal cost.

So we pay for food and overheads in one price and the restaurant owner uses the money to pay for food and ALL overheads. Like most people who are selling something do.

CarbonImage

My OH used to work in a chain where you would be responsible for your own float for the evening.

Every bill paid would go into a bag on your belt. This would be totalled up by the manager at the end of the night, and 3% of the value of it would be taken out of your wages to pay for 'training' (You could choose to cover it in cash there and then if you had the cash on you). It was expected that you would be able to make up the difference from tips, however she used to come home in tears when she would have large groups who hadn't tipped, as it would have cost her money to work that night.

This chain would also take the value of any table that didn't pay their bill out of your wages, as it was 'the server's duty to ensure the customer was satisfied enough to pay'.

This was two years ago, so they may not do this any more, but I don't understand how they ever got away with it.

Pollycat

CarbonImage wrote: »

My OH used to work in a chain where you would be responsible for your own float for the evening.

Every bill paid would go into a bag on your belt. This would be totalled up by the manager at the end of the night, and 3% of the value of it would be taken out of your wages to pay for 'training' (You could choose to cover it in cash there and then if you had the cash on you). It was expected that you would be able to make up the difference from tips, however she used to come home in tears when she would have large groups who hadn't tipped, as it would have cost her money to work that night.

This chain would also take the value of any table that didn't pay their bill out of your wages, as it was 'the server's duty to ensure the customer was satisfied enough to pay'.

This was two years ago, so they may not do this any more, but I don't understand how they ever got away with it.

This is shocking!
I'd be interested to know which chain it was.
They need 'naming and shaming'.

onwards&upwards

Pollycat wrote: »

This is shocking!
I'd be interested to know which chain it was.
They need 'naming and shaming'.

Wow, yeah definite telly name them! That’s criminal, or it should be.

Kim_kim

frugal2 wrote: »

No I think I should get the tips the customer is giving me for looking after them and giving very good service.I pay national insurance on my wages

Most people pay tax on all their income.
Not a portion of it & the rest tax free. It’s tax evasion.

Kim_kim

CarbonImage wrote: »

My OH used to work in a chain where you would be responsible for your own float for the evening.

Every bill paid would go into a bag on your belt. This would be totalled up by the manager at the end of the night, and 3% of the value of it would be taken out of your wages to pay for 'training' (You could choose to cover it in cash there and then if you had the cash on you). It was expected that you would be able to make up the difference from tips, however she used to come home in tears when she would have large groups who hadn't tipped, as it would have cost her money to work that night.

This chain would also take the value of any table that didn't pay their bill out of your wages, as it was 'the server's duty to ensure the customer was satisfied enough to pay'.

This was two years ago, so they may not do this any more, but I don't understand how they ever got away with it.

Now that does sound very unfair.
However not making tips wouldn’t have meant she had to pay to work, she did have wages too.

NBLondon

YelloJello wrote: »

I worked as a Waitress at Bill's for just over a year. The service charge is automatically added to the bill. The waiting staff do not receive a penny of this "service charge", (that's automatically added and usually paid by card), for the service they have provided. Waiting staff only get to keep cash tips. None of the waiting staff know where it goes. There were some kind customers who asked if we got the tip, and when I said "No", they asked if I could take the "automatic service charge" off the bill, and left it for me in cash. I have since left and gone to a resturant that don't automatically add the service charge on and it's made a huge difference.

The one time I ate in Bills - I did exactly that. Because the server was excellent - but the food was mediocre and not as ordered.

I have to agree with Kim Kim and others - there should be one clear price to include the food, the preparation and the delivery. Then it's up to the customer to offer more if they feel they have received a better than expected service - and ideally you should be able to direct it to either or both of kitchen staff and front of house staff as appropriate. But that would require an element of admin (and honesty) from the management.

I've been in the US recently (where tipping is more prevalent) and a couple of times I explicitly asked this of the server (where one person had done all the tasks) and got the answer "Yes - it does come to me but thank you for asking as many places it doesn't..."

The_Jester

Marvel1 wrote: »

For me, when I tip, it's for both the server and the chef who cooked it, i mean if the food is lovely why would the server get 100% tip and chef nothing.

Because chefs are paid more than the waiting staff.

The Chefs at the Sanam in Falkirk are paid £600pw. The waiters aren't on half of that.