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

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  • Pollycat
    Pollycat Posts: 34,578
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    tonyhey wrote: »
    Ant chance of deciphering this in to English?
    AFAICS, all posts are in perfectly understandable English.

    What do you think needs "deciphering in to English"?
  • NeilCr
    NeilCr Posts: 4,430
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    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.

    I came across this at Bills recently. IIRC the service charge was 12.5%. I like Bills a lot but the automatically added service charge is very irritating. I was having lunch with my friend and we took the service charge off and left 10% in cash with the (very efficient and friendly) waitress.

    We are going there again next week and I'll bear your comments in mind when tipping.
  • undrop79
    undrop79 Posts: 42 Forumite
    edited 25 September 2019 at 3:47PM
    One thing is for sure, most if not all hotels and restaurants should explain how their tip system works when your job with them and if not you should be able to request this info. I've worked mainly in hotels and bars and whilst they've all had different methods of distributing tips, I've always been happy or else I wouldn't have taken the job.

    The hotel group I work at currently uses a tronc system for their restaurant and bar. All food and drink that come with table service carry a 10% discretionary gratuity which gets paid evenly by the restaurant, bar and kitchen teams equally based on how many shifts you have worked so that those who have worked more than others get a bigger slice of the pie. Seems to work pretty well and I currently get £100-£200 a month on top of my basic pay. :)
  • I used to be management in a specific restaurant chain in the UK. Not front of house management, but general company management.

    When I started there, I had never worked in hospitality before as a member of management so I had no idea about how electronic card tips worked, but knew about cash tips as I had been a waitress when I was younger. I knew the waiting staff in our restaurant used to prefer cash tips (I think most in hospitality do) and didn't think anything of it at the time.

    Very shortly after starting with the company, it came to my attention that the customers were complaining of a "10% service charge" that was automatically added to the bill. There was mention of it in small print (at the time) on the menu and it was at the bottom of the receipt so very easy to miss. Turns out, this was an "electronic card tip" that the customer most of the time didn't notice (as most would also leave a cash tip on leaving the restaurant). I asked one of the waiting staff about this and they had been told NOT to tell customers about the service charge (including reminding them that it was optional and had already been added onto their bill) and who it went too, and only to answer questions when asked - bit strange I thought. They also were NOT allowed to tell customers, if asked, that the service charge goes to topping up management salaries and not just the restaurant team - again, very strange - even though on the menu it said the "10% discretionary service charge is distributed amongst the team".

    A couple of months and some payslips later, I soon realised I wasn't being paid correctly. I discussed this with my manager. I had had some pay issues as I was a new employee, so again, didn't think much of it at the time. Turns out, my salary was being topped up by this service charge and I was being under-paid as I wasn't being paid enough of the service charge. To clarify, I was being paid minimum wage for my age per hour, and then it was topped up with this service charge to make it up to my agreed monthly salary in my contract. This would probably explain WHY the floor staff were not allowed to make the customers aware of the service charge on their receipt.
  • sinbinjack
    sinbinjack Posts: 26
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    edited 25 September 2019 at 9:02PM
    I am told by staff that the management keep all the tips so they can pay the wages of the staff. I would like to know why we even bother with tips to wait staff as they are just workers like any others ,but if In do tip then I tip the person who serves me not the owners.
  • We were owner/operators of a small, independent restaurant. We had a very firm policy that all tips were pooled (if paid on card, the cash was taken from the till and placed in the pool) and shared equally among ALL staff working on that evening. This included both waiting and kitchen staff as they were all an important part in the customer experience.
  • Interesting topic, but why is it under the Marriage, Relationships & Families sub-board?
    (I only found it through a link from the MSE's Money Tips email.)
  • I've run restaurants for 20 years, both independent and branded, and there is often misconceptions over service charges and tips - sometimes purposely so.

    Largely credit card tips get shared and paid along with usual pay, so taxed and NI'd, and usually dependent on hours worked, though some places pay them out as cash. This is usually just waiting staff, though often a share of this is then "tipped out" to bar and kitchen staff.

    A handful of companies also include managers in this to top up salaries and save the company money. Whilst most managers, including myself, aren't necessarily comfortable with this, it does provide a source of motivation to be active in the service side of the business. Managers will usually have bonus opportunities which more than compensate them enough in my eyes, but as I say it may be their employer who "suggests" the policy.

    It is worth remembering that cash tips taken by any staff outside of their normal pay isn't taxed. I've run places where they can earn several hundred pounds a week in cash tips and I think it's commonly accepted that they won't declare these. This money alone would be a decent income to many who pay tax on their earnings so it is fair to say this is basically tax avoidance, which contributes to higher tax rates to others. It's a nice idea to think giving cash to your server or chef means they get it, but if in the rare occasion they do it is likely they are earning a good (illegal) tax-free income as you won't be the only one handing over cash.

    Most employers have safeguards to ensure tips are properly recorded and distributed evenly across the team and compliant with tax law. It is a very grey area in terms of fairness and tax regulations, but it is worth remembering that the people your server my be sharing tips with are often at least equally as good and hard-working as they are!
  • Hi I work as a waitress in a Tiptree tearoom for the company Wilkin & Sons on minimum wage.


    All of the tips whether given in cash or by card have to be put in a pot which the manager counts at the end of each day and sends to head office.


    At head office they are taxed and divided between all staff on site including managers based on the number of hours worked.


    This is really annoying as I give extremely good customer service and the customers would like the tip to go to the waitress that has served them but the reality is that it goes in the pot and we see about a pound a day on our payslips!



  • Kim_kim
    Kim_kim Posts: 3,725
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    edited 30 September 2019 at 9:39PM
    frugal2 wrote: »
    Hi I work as a waitress in a Tiptree tearoom for the company Wilkin & Sons on minimum wage.


    All of the tips whether given in cash or by card have to be put in a pot which the manager counts at the end of each day and sends to head office.


    At head office they are taxed and divided between all staff on site including managers based on the number of hours worked.


    This is really annoying as I give extremely good customer service and the customers would like the tip to go to the waitress that has served them but the reality is that it goes in the pot and we see about a pound a day on our payslips!




    So you think you should earn more for doing your job properly?

    I pay tax & NI on every penny I earn too.
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