I could walk out into the street right now and line up about 500 people who would take your job, no questions asked, within 5 minutes. So could your boss. It is called a recession.
Stop bitching.
You are pulling $200 a week plus tips for delivering food to tables. Sure, it ain't a great wage for being on your feet 8 hours a day, 6 days a week, but we ain't exactly talking rocket science here either.
Your boss knows it is off season even better than you do, yet he (assumption - could be she) is keeping your hours up instead of cutting back on his overhead by giving you fewer hours. That'd be the sensible thing for him to do, right? When things slow down in the restaurant trade, it's usually the boss that takes the biggest hit in pay.
I'd cut your hours in a heartbeat. I got a family of my own to feed, I assume your boss does too. So asking for a raise is probably not such a great idea.
Yes, she should be grateful for her job when other people can't find employment. No, she doesn't deserve to get harangued for asking a simple question. Have some tact.
Tact? Sorry, not in my job description. Or my personality.
If she wanted a nicer answer she should have seen the discription under his picture when asking questions.
I agree with this answer, the boss could be cutting her hours. she could ask for a raise, and might get it sure. but chances are, he'd cut her hours serverly if she got the raise, and more likely he;d let her go and find one of the many people lined up to get that job.
does it suck? hell yes. but life is life. the economy sucks, and you gotta do what you gotta do to live.
I agree with you, Erika. Though, the asker should have probably have picked one of the other guys to ask. It was a bit too rough of an answer, even for MM.
As of 2009, the federal minimum wage was $7.25. If your tips are not enough to bring you up to minimum wage, your employer is required by law to pay you the difference so that you are making minimum wage on your shift. As a server, it might be a good idea to keep close track of how many tips you are receiving. So if you are working an eight hour shift, you must make a minimum of $26 in tips during that time period, or $3.25 in tips an hour to bring you up to minimum wage. If you don't make that much, let your manager know. I used to get paid $3.25 an hour as a server and it was very rare, even during slow times for me to make so little in tips that I didn't even make minimum wage. Best of luck! I understand slow times are difficult, but MM is right, those of us who have jobs at this point in time are very lucky!
Pssh. I work at Hooters, where I'm paid a whopping 2.13 an hour ONLY if I don't break minimum wage in tips. They don't pay the difference to bring me up to minimum if I don't make it, I just have to deal with it. I almost always make well over minimum, but not always. If I made 4 bucks an hour PLUS my tips, I'd be a pretty happy camper.
Some people don't know how well they have it.
Look into the laws in your state. If they're the same as what tinydancer described, bring proof to your boss. If they refuse, you have a case that will fly through courts if you want to take it that far. The law isn't "pay them the rest, but only if you feel like it" thing. It's a "you're cheap enough to pay them this little, you can at least make sure they get the rest from somewhere else" thing. It's not an option, it's mandatory.
As of 2009, the federal minimum wage was $7.25. If your tips are not enough to bring you up to minimum wage, your employer is required by law to pay you the difference so that you are making minimum wage on your shift. As a server, it might be a good idea to keep close track of how many tips you are receiving. So if you are working an eight hour shift, you must make a minimum of $26 in tips during that time period, or $3.25 in tips an hour to bring you up to minimum wage. If you don't make that much, let your manager know. I used to get paid $3.25 an hour as a server and it was very rare, even during slow times for me to make so little in tips that I didn't even make minimum wage. Best of luck! I understand slow times are difficult, but MM is right, those of us who have jobs at this point in time are very lucky!
Dismissing the worth and challenge of the server's job as "not rocket science." is demeaning. I think she deserves to be respected.
I have a very demanding job that drains me mentally, physically and emotionally and yet I still think a servers job is tough.
Good luck OP.
one more reason why i never want to live in the US... (no offense)
I love the USA, I have often tossed around the idea of nursing in the US. It wouldn't be a better job, just better weather depending on the state.
My 17 yr old daughter is a server in British Columbia earning $9.50/hr plus her tips. The boss takes 20% of her tips and shares it with the non-waiter staff. Because tips benefit the other staff members, the servers earning better tips get first dibs on the better tip-earning shifts, like the weekends. She is also welcome to chose one meal per shift for 15 minutes wages- so $2.37. She is a lucky girl, her take home pay averages $18/hr.
I'm super glad that I don't live in the USA, too. $4 an hour???? Who can live on that?
There is a lot more to a serving job than people think. Along with taking your drink and food order of just your table, servers have to do the same for 5 to 10 other tables as well, sometimes at the same time if customers decide to be picky and NEED to sit at a specific table. It messes up the seating rotation. On top of Bringing appetizer plates, refills, sides of ketchup etc, extra napkins, and whatever else you may need servers have to prepare food and make sure the kitchen made it up to standards (which often needs a little tweeking) bring out your food as well as every other table in the restaurant, Bring drinks to tables other than just theirs, Stock plates that were washed, pick up plates from not only your table but everyone in the restaurants table that need to be washed, and get your bill to you and swipe the card. All of these things don't sound like a big deal if you are only worrying about your one table but almost always you will have at least 5 tables at a time that each need you to be doing something for them. We spend half the time at your table getting you whatever you need and half the time in the kitchen also getting what you needand making sure your food comes out right so next time you want to say all servers do is bring food to tables please reconsider judging a job on only what you can see. If I did that I would say you get to sit at home all day and give your opinion on a computer.
While I would normally agree with you, I spent 3 years working in the kitchens. You know, the guys that make the food in 110 degree heat, get no tips, earn below minimum wage and get their pay docked for wrong orders and wasted dishes which are 50% servers fault and 50% customer being a jerk.
I got very little sympathy for servers who whine when they are getting good hours in a slow season.
I have no idea how MM's reply can be disliked. His experience sounds brutal..
The servers giving 20% of their tips to the kitchen staff seems to be a fair system then. The better the server, the better the tips for everyone.Then obviously the better the kitchen staff treats the server.
If my daughter hauls ass and really works the tips and she can sucker even the biggest complainers into tipping, on a or five hour dinner time shift she can earn $100 in tips, so $20 bucks for the kitchen staff.
I cooked for two years in a shopping mall food court joint and it was hard work.
this kitchen must be an exception. my boss is an ex souis chef so the kitchen staff get paid twice as much as minimum wage and are also very skilled and well respected. I love the kitchen staff they are great and my boss would never dock their pay knowing what they go through if they make a mistake which is not likely their fault.
I think your system is flawed. Here in new zealand we don't have tipping. Minimum wage is $14. The public and tourists shouldn't be made to subsidize wages through tipping because of the governments shitty wage laws. But then again, it's a tough time there right now for everyone so I guess not much can be done at the moment.
Just to be clear, There is no magic system that keeps all things ideal and symbiotic. The goal of the restaurant is to earn a profit for the owners and this in part might be reflected in higher meal costs or low wages. So someone subsidizes the wages.
In Canada the servers get higher wages but in general the food is expensive, plus there is a tax added. In B.C. that tax is 12%
Minimum wage is mandatory and is strictly adhered to. A diner hamburger meal for two is easily $20. With 2 sodas add $4.
Plus $3. tax and a tip. Voila- you can spend 30 bucks for two hamburger meals. Fast food takeout is cheaper and no tip is expected.
I can and often do dine for significantly less in the USA than in Canada. Also, the tax added is lower in the US. I've always assumed the servers are payed less, so I tip well. I'm very glad of this now as I never knew they were grossly underpaid.
I've noticed both in Canada and the US that any place that serves booze will get the server well tipped.
They don't get paid less than min or docked for mistakes in my restaurant...
I respectfully disagree with you that serving is a job that requires minimal education...perhaps this is true of a serving job at Denny's or Shari's. But I work at a high end restaurant where we have to be very knowledgable about hundreds of different wines, cognacs, scotches, and exotic foods that take more than just a couple training sessions to learn. Pair that with formal serving techniques and entertaining the clientele while catering to their every need. Most of the people applying for serving/bartending positions where I work have bachelors degrees. Why? Because where else can you make a minimum of $50k a year working 15 to 20 hours a week?
I respectfully disagree with you that serving is a job that requires minimal education...perhaps this is true of a serving job at Denny's or Shari's. But I work at a high end restaurant where we have to be very knowledgable about hundreds of different wines, cognacs, scotches, and exotic foods that take more than just a couple training sessions to learn. Pair that with formal serving techniques and entertaining the clientele while catering to their every need. Most of the people applying for serving/bartending positions where I work have bachelors degrees. Why? Because where else can you make a minimum of $50k a year working 15 to 20 hours a week?
WOW, really, just WOW, I'm in Australia and wonder how Americans can consider themselves in the greatest country on earth when people earn $4 an hour (and less, so it seems). And its called 'minimum wage' for a reason isn't it? Isn't minimum wage set up as just that...a minimum?? And I thought America had abolished slave labour?
This is not exactly slave labor were talking about here. This is a survival mode time and It's really quite simple how management gets away with it.
In good economic times, business is good, so there are plenty of shifts and tips are flowing. When the tips are abundant the employee takes home a reasonable amount. If the employee is dissatisfied with that and does complain about the wages, the boss can find any number of reasons to let the employee go. There is due process in place to protect the laborer but good luck with that happening fast enough to keep the food on the table and bills paid. The server can move on to a new job faster.
In bad economic times, business is not so great and jobs are not in abundance. there are so many people scrambling for whatever jobs are available that if you decided to be the one rogue server that asserted his or her rights, management would let you go for any number of reasons. So while there are laws in place to protect you, you would starve before you succeeded in getting justice.
In certain areas of Canada employees are hard to find. Since there are almost ten times more people in the USA than Canada, with USA being the smaller of the two countries, I can imagine there are many people wanting any job they can find. Plus the US has many illegals that would gladly work for the tips alone.
Point A, if a person works more than 40 hours in a week they are entitled to overtime. Point B, I work as a server part time and make $3.00 an hour plus tips, and most nights that equates to $20.00 an hour, I have worked enough restaurants to know that every one is different as are the rules. That being said, if the server is good and not happy then look for another job! Even in this economy, it is not that difficult to find a position as a server. Otherwise, I agree stop complaining! For those who have never served, you do not know how difficult it is, and how gifted one needs to be at multitasking to keep up in a busy section...
As the OP I knew that if I were in the wrong MM would give a harsh answer, but I'm ok with that. In a seasonal job, almost every other server found something else so the hours are falling to me which I have to deal with in some way either by sucking it up or quitting. unfortunately everyone else has already quit so I feel bad to do the same, plus I do like the job. Just between class it's a lot and I'm feeling run down. I am fortunate to have a job but was feeling at the end of my rope money and energy wise. Thanks for all the feedback- and to the people who look down upon servers, what ever they have probably never been a server, let alone a server, a student and a nanny. So I feel sorry for their quickness to speak and slowness to understand.
Another thing that I havn't seen mentioned here is location. Alot of people have been telling this girl how lucky she is to make $4 an hour but say she lived in new york, that just wouldn't cut it. But, here in Missouri where i live, $4 an hour as a waitress is pretty good pay. Cost of living in your area plays a big part on the value of the money you're earning. You can get 2 hot dogs for $2 at just about any gas station around where I live however in NY or other big cities you'd be hard pressed to find a hot dog and a coke for under $10. It's not so much about the number as it is about whether the earnings are fair for her area.