What Happens When You Abolish Tipping

[Asteger]

I've worked out front and in back. I found it to be way harder in the back. Yet, generally it seemed servers figured they deserved all the extra $ they'd make and that they were somehow superior to the kitchen plebs. I hated almost the entire FoH.

To be fair, though, there is often also an annoying pecking order in the kitchen, where anyone who cooked would then look down on the poor dishwashers, who were often the nicest staff in my experience. No justice in the world it seems.

I'm all for tips being shared equally amongst all the staff or, better, fair wages being paid and a no-tipping policy.

 

[Vic Cardenas]

I'm all for a no tipping, living wage being paid to all the staff. I feel BOH deserves to make more money than FOH because they tend to work much harder and need more skill. Often times, this is not the case. Wages are all over the map all across the country for FOH positions but typically are the same all across the country for BOH. In a place like california, where the minimum wage for everybody, including servers, is $8 an hour. You have servers making their $8, plus whatever they pocket. Cooks in california, in alot of restaurants probably start at $8/hour and probably get no tips in in most cases. How is this remotely fair when you have two guys with no experience getting different jobs in a restaurant and the lucky guy who gets the FOH job ends up taking home 2,3,4 times as much? These servers in busy california restaurants probably make more than the chefs. Then you have a place like my state, Utah, where servers minimum wage is $2.13 an hour. $7.25 for BOH. In a slow restaurant, an experienced veteran server can be working for $7.25 an hour after mandatory tip credits, or what, maybe $9 an hour after figuring in their dismal tips for the day, which happens to be the same wage the chef is paying his new, inexperienced line cook. Maybe in this same restaurant, the chef (who obviously doesn't work very hard in a slow restaurant) is making $40,000 a year, for example.

One place I worked here, at a ski resort, everybody all pretty much made the same wage. The FOH started at $8/hour and cooks started at 8/hour. I was the sous chef and I was making $10.50, I believe. The bartenders here started at $7.25 an hour. The way it was set up, the FOH would get tips and we would pool it and split it up evenly among FOH and BOH (my policy). One time, I had a big problem with one FOH that refused to give up her tips. She was probably making $20-30 an hour these few days this went on. My manager would not support me at first when I brought this to his attention. I was irate and almost quit because of his lack of support. Finally, he gave in and made her give them up. I always suspected she was pocketing about half of it after that. (Karma got her very quickly. She fell through a pocket in the snow and broke her ankle. LOL)...

Also, our bartenders would participate in the pool. They made their $7.25/hour but they made more money then everybody else there with their tips. On busy days, which we would have quite often, they would take home $400-600 a night. They would cut me about 10-20% of their take for me to split up with the BOH because they did not have a bar back. Whenever they would get a food order, I would personally deliver the food to the guest in the bar in my chef's whites because the bartender's hands were usually full and they had no help. We ended up hiring a new bartender and I explained to her the (unofficial) policy about giving BOH a cut, since we were really helping them out when they got a food order. She refused to give me any money. I decided to show her exactly why she should stop being so greedy. Whenever she was working and I got a food order from her, I would cook the food, then I'd set it in the pass, only to let it die. 15-20 minutes would go by and of course when she was busy, I was usually very busy too. So, it's not like I was just letting her food die and I was just staring at it with nothing to do. I would let it sit. She would come rushing back, wondering what happened to her order. I would point to it and then she would have to take it shamefully to the guest. She never once asked me to re-fire it. I probably would have if she just asked. I did this a few times and then I started to take orders out to the guests for her just to show her what I normally do for the other bartenders. After that, she started tipping out the BOH like a good girl. We were still making much less money than her. If she had $600, she would give me $60 to split between 4-5 of us.

 

[cnochef]

The fairest restaurant I ever worked at, servers made minimum wage and the cooks made about $7 more per hour. Even though that was the case, we tipped out a large percentage to the house, I believe it was 6% of our sales as a server. At that time, 15% tipping was the standard. So that was quite a substantial tip out and a great incentive to work your butt off to get better tips. The tip out was distributed to the bus people, hosts, bartenders and cooks based on hours worked and seniority. The managers also got a cut, but it was a much smaller share than the others, more symbolic than anything. Also, the cooks got free staff meals and a beer every night, whereas servers paid 50%. I think this was the best system I've seen so far as it promoted more kinship between the front and back of the house, rather than the typical animosity that results from servers earning so much. Basically, each department came to realize that they depended on the other for a living. When I opened my own restaurant, I copied this model with great success and low employee turnover.

 

[cheezit]

I don't know, it's all good unless you're the server who sold only $1000 over 7 hours, received $180 in tips, and after tipping out bar, runner, s.a, BoH, hostess, and manager, you may be walking with $110, maybe? With so many hands in the pot taking the money you earned (let's be honest, people tip on the service of the restaurant provided by the server) for the restaurant, I can imagine it gets tough wanting to give it 100%.

 

[Vic Cardenas]

Yeah, but poor Javier in the back was working those same 7 hours and gets paid $9 an hour 9x7= $63 take home pay - taxes. Poor Javier also has forgotten more about food than that server taking home $110 (not taxed since that's up to the server + hourly rate) will ever learn their entire life. I'd say the server can easily afford to tip out Javier a few bucks.

 

[Midsummer]

I don't know, it's all good unless you're the server who sold only $1000 over 7 hours, received $180 in tips, and after tipping out bar, runner, s.a, BoH, hostess, and manager, you may be walking with $110, maybe? With so many hands in the pot taking the money you earned (let's be honest, people tip on the service of the restaurant provided by the server) for the restaurant, I can imagine it gets tough wanting to give it 100%.

I will be honest, I tip based on the cost of the meal (ie. I pay a percentage). I eat out where the meals are costly because of the quality of the product is superior. If I do eat somewhere less expensive; I pay the same percentage; even if the same amount of work was done and the last FN thing I want to think about on my evening off, where I am coughing up a boat load of money, is whether or not the wait staff is "being taken care of properly". One of the big reasons I go out is so I can Forget these type of considerations. I would be much happier if I did not even have to do the percentage math. And yes I would frequent a place with good food and marginal service way over a place with good service and poor product.

 

[franzb69]

Yeah, but poor Javier in the back was working those same 7 hours and gets paid $9 an hour 9x7= $63 take home pay - taxes. Poor Javier also has forgotten more about food than that server taking home $110 (not taxed since that's up to the server + hourly rate) will ever learn their entire life. I'd say the server can easily afford to tip out Javier a few bucks.

amen to you sir!

I would be much happier if I did not even have to do the percentage math. And yes I would frequent a place with good food and marginal service way over a place with good service and poor product.

i am the same, even after moving over to the back of the house after being in sales for years and years. (i still moonlight in sales every now and again! being a family business and all)

 

[cheezit]

Its all about what you provide for the company and how many capable people are out there willing and able to do the same work. Servers do get taxed on credit transactions, you barely get cash now days. Anyway, differing opinions are fun.