Did any of the staff leave when they switched over? As a current server, if tipping was eliminated and I was switched to an hourly rate, I would be trying to find another job.
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Tipping
- Thread starter scritchell
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Did any of the staff leave when they switched over? As a current server, if tipping was eliminated and I was switched to an hourly rate, I would be trying to find another job.
Jedi Stitch
Well-Known Member
I hope not. It was all the minimum wage Restaurant workers who protester and staged boycott, sit ins and a few other shenanigans to get the 15 bucks an hour. Having worked in the service industry, I could make more on tips, but at the same time I could get stiffed. As a chauffeur I had plenty of clients decide to pay in cash, and only pay the car charge and not pay my gratuity that was my wage. In the end, Tipping is not meant to be a source of income. It is a way for a patron to reward excellent service. It was not meant to be a way for the restaurant to not pay you in such a fashion as to require tipping. I never thought it was right to tip for generic or lackluster service. I think paying a living wage is a better method, and letting TIP which is an acronym BTW, for To Insure Promptness, and it was generally given before service as an incentive for better service. I want to be honest, I found my self just paying a gratuity, when the DDP covered everything else.
DryerLintFan
Well-Known Member
When I first met my husband he was a bartender and it was not abnormal for him to make $1000 a week in tips. He had a nominal paycheck that covered his taxes, so basically all he lived on was tips. At $15 an hour, he would need to work 67 hours a week to have comparable pay. And that's not considering that they take a third of that money back for taxes and deductibles.
Tipping can be and IS a source of income for many people.
All 15 bucks an hour has done in Seattle is put places out of biz... It is simple math... The margins are so thin.... They changed it in Ontario as well and places are closing left or right... Or cutting down biz hours.... Or cutting staff...
But surely this just emphasises an already existing underlying problem? Places shouldn't rely on tips to stay open. If they cannot afford to stay open on a self supporting business model then something somewhere else is seriously wrong! Whether that is something further down the scale such as tarrifs, charges or high rent, or something else, it still means someone somewhere is taking too big a cut for themselves and then leaving the serving staff as an after thought. Tips should never be the answer to support any business or job and should never be relied on by anyone. It is like relying on charitable handouts.
No not 20 % at all, a tip is earned not required, if you feel they earned 20% but in no way do you have to
The other argument of raising prices by 18-20% in order to pay staff better is invalid as well. Yes prices would go up but, they wouldn’t be paying the servers the difference. They would make them all 10 an hour and pocket the rest.
As for reasons why things work different in the US as compared to the rest of the world, the American dining experience is different. Restaurants overseas make money off of other things we give out for free in America like soda refills and bread. Other diners also claim space for longer periods of time and do starters and desserts. They don’t have the get in get out mentality we do in the states. Also, the American diner expects more from their servers than overseas with constant refills of drinks and bread, being more personable ect.
Don’t mean this aggressively, just genuinely curious. I don’t know why people fight tipping so hard. People don’t get upset or have strong feelings about a salesman’s or real estate agent’s commission. Same concept. They are just a salesman of food. The only difference is their commission isn’t laid out for you on your reciept or bill of sale. I think because people can openly see and choose what someone else is making is where people get touchy. What people make isn’t something openly discussed, and it’s kinda obvious in a tipping situation.
As for reasons why things work different in the US as compared to the rest of the world, the American dining experience is different. Restaurants overseas make money off of other things we give out for free in America like soda refills and bread. Other diners also claim space for longer periods of time and do starters and desserts. They don’t have the get in get out mentality we do in the states. Also, the American diner expects more from their servers than overseas with constant refills of drinks and bread, being more personable ect.
Don’t mean this aggressively, just genuinely curious. I don’t know why people fight tipping so hard. People don’t get upset or have strong feelings about a salesman’s or real estate agent’s commission. Same concept. They are just a salesman of food. The only difference is their commission isn’t laid out for you on your reciept or bill of sale. I think because people can openly see and choose what someone else is making is where people get touchy. What people make isn’t something openly discussed, and it’s kinda obvious in a tipping situation.
Tom P.
Well-Known Member
I know tipping can be a heated subject on these boards, and I'm certain that's not what the original poster intended. But allow me to just throw in my own personal perspective, FWIW.
While I have never worked in a restaurant, I have worked in relatively low paid service jobs. I've worked a cash register and the guest service desk at Target, for example -- that can be an adventure some days. I know what people in any job that provides customer service have to deal with, and I can only imagine that the stress level for waitstaff at restaurants is even worse.
Now that I have a career in IT and am reasonably well paid, and am able to afford things like a trip to Walt Disney World, I just try to remember what I experienced dealing with the public at a place like Target and how small a percentage of my vacation budget a 20% tip at a restaurant is. Leaving a few bucks extra in tip is not going to make a difference in my budget. But people leaving that money may make a big difference in the life of that Disney cast member.
Therefore, my own personal rule is that I never leave less than a 20% tip at any restaurant and if service is very good, I will leave more. I have very, very rarely experienced truly horrid service at a restaurant, and never at a Disney restaurant, but even if I did, I'd rather handle that situation differently than not leaving a tip, or leaving a tiny one. If I talk to the person I have a problem with, or talk to the manager, then they know why I am upset and hopefully can correct the issue. If I just fail to leave a tip, they just may think I'm cheap and get an even bigger chip on their shoulder.
That is my own opinion and experience and, of course, YMMV. Just offering one perspective.
While I have never worked in a restaurant, I have worked in relatively low paid service jobs. I've worked a cash register and the guest service desk at Target, for example -- that can be an adventure some days. I know what people in any job that provides customer service have to deal with, and I can only imagine that the stress level for waitstaff at restaurants is even worse.
Now that I have a career in IT and am reasonably well paid, and am able to afford things like a trip to Walt Disney World, I just try to remember what I experienced dealing with the public at a place like Target and how small a percentage of my vacation budget a 20% tip at a restaurant is. Leaving a few bucks extra in tip is not going to make a difference in my budget. But people leaving that money may make a big difference in the life of that Disney cast member.
Therefore, my own personal rule is that I never leave less than a 20% tip at any restaurant and if service is very good, I will leave more. I have very, very rarely experienced truly horrid service at a restaurant, and never at a Disney restaurant, but even if I did, I'd rather handle that situation differently than not leaving a tip, or leaving a tiny one. If I talk to the person I have a problem with, or talk to the manager, then they know why I am upset and hopefully can correct the issue. If I just fail to leave a tip, they just may think I'm cheap and get an even bigger chip on their shoulder.
That is my own opinion and experience and, of course, YMMV. Just offering one perspective.
Jedi Stitch
Well-Known Member
Many places are closing or cutting staff in Seattle too, if they are not they have the customer base and client that can adsorb the price hike.
HoneyBee1991
Active Member
No, it doesn't need to be 20% as a minimum. 20% or more is typically what I would tip for great or excellent service. If you go outside Orlando in the U.S. (or even just off Disney Property sometimes) the suggested tips on your receipt will have multiple options for examples. Usually I see suggestions for 15%, 18% and 20% tips at the bottom of receipts respectively.
I worked managing food service for a couple years and here are some things I know to be true for mid-west waiters/waitresses.
#1- They usually don't look at how much you have tipped them until you leave. It is considered rude to do so.
#2- If you give them less than 20% they won't be rude to you if they do happen to see the amount. As long as you give them at least 15% they are typically happy. (As long as you were not rude or difficult)
#3- They have to claim at least 10% of their tips as taxable income. So tipping anything under that is in fact rude.
#4- Always tip at least $5 even if that is less than 15% of your bill. Why? Because you are taking up their table! Just because you only want dessert and coffee doesn't mean they should have to suffer a loss in their earnings. Myself personally, I tip $5 for every 30 minutes I am holding up a table if I want to hangout and talk more than I want to order and eat.
Those are just the guidelines I go by and like I said I'm from the mid-west not Florida. I also tend to over tip, maybe to make up for all the crap I got while working in food service.
We are similar. My father in law was a waiter his entire life so we know it's a difficult way to earn a living. Since we are pretty well off, we always leave 20%. Sometimes people have a bad day. It's a tough job and people are working hard to make living. I may make a bunch more money, but it would be hard for me to argue that service industry folks aren't working a hell of a lot harder than I have to.
Well, for a first generation American with English as a second language and an elementary school education, it's not always a choice. But it still put two kids through college.
Everyone's path isn't the same as yours. Maybe open your mind and be less judgemental.
I do not agree with you, we all have choices , some paths are harder for sure, but we all have the choice to do what we want, I work very hard to do what I do and choose to not work in that industry, I had for many years and decided it was not the FOREVER job for me, so I CHOSE a different path, I am not being judgmental at all, just stating fact, I have been given nothing in my life, I do not come from money, but I DECIDED I wanted more and CHOSE to work hard and long to get where I am now, it would have been very easy to CHOSE to stay in the food industry
YorkshireT
Well-Known Member
Lots of wrong info on minimum wage etc on here. Simply incorrect. The employer (Disney) by law HAS to make it up to minimum if tips do not do it, and minimum wage is well over $8 an hour. Not saying that’s a large sum, but people are not paid $2.50 per hour as suggested on here.
But this topping up to minimum is a moot point anyway as WDW servers in table service restaurants are earning extremely good wages in the main from tips. There is a 2 year plus wait to be a server because it is so lucrative. Even after any tipping out, the patrons of WDW are rewarding table service staff very handsomely indeed when they are working. I even saw an article saying security is having to accompany wait staff to cars due to the large amount of cash they have on them.
Yes you should tip, but whether 20% in a place with mediocre service (often) and vastly overpriced food and drink, where the restaurant is a WDW table service and one of the biggest grossing restaurants on earth, thus resulting in more tip, is reasonable or not is the question I think. Did you know O’Hana serves 1300 customers a night? How much are they grossing per annum and how many staff. I tried to do some maths on the tips received and the mind boggles. Being non Disney we see from Boathouse accounts they gross over 30m a year. Assuming average tip of 15% that’s 4.5m a year in tips. Even with tipping out (typically 20% of the waiters tip) look at the number of waiters there and try to work out how much they are earning per shift.
Another fallacy is staff are taxed on tips not received, again incorrect. The employer is expected to account for 8% of turnover as tips to the IRS because the IRS know in many places tips go straight in the pocket. It is not the employee that has to do this. The employer can get its 8% revised down if it completes paperwork and shows its staff don’t get 8% tip.
Like anyone else a server needs to keep records and only gets taxed on what they earn.
But this topping up to minimum is a moot point anyway as WDW servers in table service restaurants are earning extremely good wages in the main from tips. There is a 2 year plus wait to be a server because it is so lucrative. Even after any tipping out, the patrons of WDW are rewarding table service staff very handsomely indeed when they are working. I even saw an article saying security is having to accompany wait staff to cars due to the large amount of cash they have on them.
Yes you should tip, but whether 20% in a place with mediocre service (often) and vastly overpriced food and drink, where the restaurant is a WDW table service and one of the biggest grossing restaurants on earth, thus resulting in more tip, is reasonable or not is the question I think. Did you know O’Hana serves 1300 customers a night? How much are they grossing per annum and how many staff. I tried to do some maths on the tips received and the mind boggles. Being non Disney we see from Boathouse accounts they gross over 30m a year. Assuming average tip of 15% that’s 4.5m a year in tips. Even with tipping out (typically 20% of the waiters tip) look at the number of waiters there and try to work out how much they are earning per shift.
Another fallacy is staff are taxed on tips not received, again incorrect. The employer is expected to account for 8% of turnover as tips to the IRS because the IRS know in many places tips go straight in the pocket. It is not the employee that has to do this. The employer can get its 8% revised down if it completes paperwork and shows its staff don’t get 8% tip.
Like anyone else a server needs to keep records and only gets taxed on what they earn.
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DfromATX
Well-Known Member
It's considered very rude not to leave a tip. If you are a party of 6 or more, your bill will already have an added 18% added to it for gratuity, so no need to tip more than that.