360 replies to this topic

[Matt R.]

You’d end up paying the 20% either way.

[E2V]

Servers and baristas love getting tips, almost none of them would want it any other way.

When Agrius and Fol Epi raised their prices in support of increased pay for staff and “ended tipping” I asked a server how that was going. She said she preferred the new system. At first there was no tip option on the machines but I’ve noticed it’s now back at all three locations. Baguettes, though, are still seven dollars.

[Mike K.]

There you go.

I don’t think these workers initially realize, that when their boss pays a “fair wage,” and discontinues tipping, that they might end up earning less money after taxes and other fees are deducted. In fact, it’s probably guaranteed.

There’s a fine dance between wages and taxes. Unions know how to walk it. But there’s nothing like tax-free cash tips at the end of the night.

[Mike K.]

It’s sort of like the videos you see online. People are asked about supporting a basic universal income. All agree. Then the interviewer says great! Can we put you down for $100/month?

[Matt R.]

A “living wage” is $15-40 and up an hour less than current take home for many tipped employees, whether they be servers, bartenders, baristas or hairstylists. It’s a silly conversation. The system is broken, but not for everyone involved.

Cash, as always, is king.

[spanky123]

When Agrius and Fol Epi raised their prices in support of increased pay for staff and “ended tipping” I asked a server how that was going. She said she preferred the new system. At first there was no tip option on the machines but I’ve noticed it’s now back at all three locations. Baguettes, though, are still seven dollars.

 

Had the same experience. Prices were increased quite a bit and it was explained to me that staff wages had gone up in lieu of tipping. No problems but then I was presented with a terminal which asked me for a tip!

[spanky123]

A “living wage” is $15-40 and up an hour less than current take home for many tipped employees, whether they be servers, bartenders, baristas or hairstylists. It’s a silly conversation. The system is broken, but not for everyone involved.

Cash, as always, is king.

 

The concept of a living wage is great but ultimately businesses pay what they can afford to pay. In many small businesses, the owner has taken home less (on a per hour basis) than employees over the past two years!

[Matt R.]

My hourly rate is terrible, but there are lots of hours available.

[Redd42]

But there’s nothing like tax-free cash tips at the end of the night.

 

Which is one of the reasons I still have cash. For that delivery driver who comes up the 2 flights of stairs. 100% they are not claiming that.

[Victoria Watcher]

[Victoria Watcher]

When Ashley*—who requested her name be changed for anonymity (her and other sources in this story cited fear of retaliation from employers as a concern, given the small size of Victoria’s restaurant industry)—first began her job at 10 Acres, a popular spot in Victoria, she was confused by the policy outlining that, instead of receiving tips based on the amount given by customers, she would instead get a consistent $20 an hour on top of her hourly wage of $15. She found she was averaging $80 an hour in tips during her shifts and her coworkers could rake in up to $1,200 in one night of work—so where was it all going?

 

When she began working, her employee contract stated:

 

“You will be entitled to participate in the 10 Acres employee tip pool in place from time-to-time”—wording that she felt was confusing—“please note that all gratuities received by employees while working on company premises, for the company or during work hours are received for the benefit of all company employees and are subject to allocation and distribution by the administrator appointed under the employee tip pool policy.” 

 

The contract also stated that employees were solely responsible for paying taxes on tips, despite the restaurant preemptively taking those taxes off.

 

Surprised by this, she decided to wait to sign her contract until it could be explained. 

 

But when she asked her managers about the tip pool structure, she received vague and confusing responses. Her emails questioning the system would go unanswered for weeks and would divert her to another person each time. When she asked other front of house (FOH) staff how the tipping worked, nobody could explain it—though, Ashley said, it seemed everyone was as new to the job as she was. 

 

When she got through to the owner, Mike Murphy, he told her this was a standard approach to tipping, though Ashley had never experienced a tip pool like it in her 15 years of hospitality work. Murphy told Capital Daily that at 10 Acres they choose to treat tips as another type of wage, paying EI and CPP taxes on tip paycheques to align with the CRA guidelines for wages. This aligns with the BC Gratuities Act, which clearly states that the only allowable deductions from tips are EI or CPP payments. But at 10 Acres, if there’s a surplus, it isn’t clear to employees where it goes.

 

“Our tip pool is split up very very fairly,” said Murphy, explaining that the kitchen gets 5%, so about a third of tips. Bussers receive an additional tip wage of $6.25 on top of their $16.75 minimum wage, new servers get $13.25 an hour in tips, more experienced servers get $18.25 and $23.25 goes to “the best servers.”

 

“It’s not equally distributed, it depends on performance, what their actual tips were and what their contribution was,” said Murphy. “The extra money goes into the support staff. We’ve been doing this for eight years—it’s definitely allowed for us to do this.”

 

According to Murphy, managers make the smallest amount of tips, with low-end managers right now making a total of $72,000: $48,000 in normal salary and $24,000 from the tip pool. 

 

“Unless a little old lady actually puts the money in your hand, the money is the house money. It’s not the servers’,” said Murphy.

 

__________________________

 

 

Murphy says that with 10 Acres’ approach, everyone gets four cheques a month: two cheques for hourly wages, two for tip wages. 

 

Marzinzik says having a tipping bank that holds employee tips long term is strange—“it’s not the proper purpose of redistributing gratuities to other staff”—though the legality would depend on the specific case.

 

The Gratuities Act clarifies that employers cannot withhold tips or deduct from a tip pool—this includes tip payments made from credit or debit cards, money that belongs to the workers as much as cash tips. 

 

Murphy explained that 10 Acres’ approach guarantees staff make steady wages even during the slow season, when there are fewer customers to tip—but Ashley says a consistent paycheque is still not promised.

 

“I just got hired in the slow season, so much so that my hours had been cut,” said Ashley. “I would go in for two or three hours and then they sent me home. I still made an average of $80 an hour in tips and I had small sections in the back corner—I just know there’s a lot of money missing.”

_____________________

 

She’s not the only employee who felt quickly dismissed after asking Murphy too many questions about tips. When Dan* took a management position at a 10 Acres establishment, he was told his yearly salary would be $60,000. When he received his first pay cheque, he was struck by the fact that part of his wages seemed to be coming from the tip pool. He estimates that about 25% of his salary was coming out of the tips, saying “that’s not tips.”

 

But when he brought up his concerns about this, he was dismissed from his job with little explanation. 

 

____________________

 

When Jenn, who asked not to have her last name used, worked at the Beagle Pub in the late ’90s, she couldn’t understand why the kitchen staff seemed to hate the servers. After all, they were tipping out close to $3,000 every other week for them. Then she and her coworkers found out that these workers never saw a dime of the tip pool. 

 

They started questioning where the money was going, but the owners at the time refused to share this information. So one day, a bartender snuck into the management office while the owners were out in search of the tip box that held their cash. 

 

“We found the tip box and inside were all of our tips that we pooled,” said Jenn. “$250 of it had been taken out and said ‘kitchen’ and $2,600 was divided for ‘Honda car payment’, ‘YMCA gym membership’ and ‘cash for cleaning staff at night.’”

 

 

https://www.capitald...aurant-tip-outs

Edited by Victoria Watcher, 19 September 2023 - 05:30 PM.

[Victoria Watcher]

It's all a bit confusing.  I think Ashley thought she should be taking home $95/hour ($15 in salary, $80 in tips) based on the tips she saw coming through on her own bills, but she found out she was mostly only getting $35/hr. ($15 salary and $20 on top she got from the tip pool automatically).

 

 

 

“Our tip pool is split up very very fairly,” said Murphy, explaining that the kitchen gets 5%, so about a third of tips. Bussers receive an additional tip wage of $6.25 on top of their $16.75 minimum wage, new servers get $13.25 an hour in tips, more experienced servers get $18.25 and $23.25 goes to “the best servers.”

 

 

^ That seems very creative.

 

“Our tip pool is split up very very fairly,” said Murphy, explaining that the kitchen gets 5%, so about a third of tips.

 

 

^ So I presume he means that the kitchen gets 5% of sales, so that's like 1/3 of the average 15% tip.

Edited by Victoria Watcher, 19 September 2023 - 05:47 PM.

[Nparker]

Tipping should just be abolished.

[silentfoto]

What gets me is patrons tipping on the total amount which includes taxes.

Why tip on the tax amount as well? Basically tipping the house for the privilege of being taxed.

May sound trivial but work out what 20% of GST, HST and the eponymous BCHT (aka Bellevilles Tax) adds up to over the course of a year.

You might be surprised.

[Matt R.]

More from your friends at the Cap Daily.

 

"Restaurant work can be a challenge at times—hangry customers, overwhelmed staff and long hours on your feet. But the promise of tip money can make the more unsavoury aspects of service industry work worthwhile."

 

https://www.capitald...aurant-tip-outs
 

Oh, shoot - this is an old article.

Edited by Matt R., 11 October 2023 - 03:44 PM.

[Mike K.]

Especially when tipping expectations are rising, as restaurant meals rapidly rise in cost. Who wouldn’t want perks of a job where patrons are expected to tip 20% on $75, compared to just a few years ago, the expectation being 15% at $50?

[Matt R.]

"Figuring out the paperwork and financial systems has been a steep learning curve for Tayanuth, who feels more confident with the food aspect of restaurants having worked in kitchens for close to two decades. She feels there’s no support for small business owners opening their own restaurant."

 

Just join the BCRFA and/or CFIB, resources aplenty and not expensive.

[Matt R.]

Especially when tipping expectations are rising, as restaurant meals rapidly rise in cost. Who wouldn’t want perks of a job where patrons are expected to tip 20% on $75, compared to just a few years ago, the expectation being 15% at $50?

 

There is a reason we have so many 5-10+ year serving staff, and it's not the killer view or awesome staff parties.

[Mike K.]

Yes. It can be a hard income to replace, if you’re good at the job and enjoy some aspects of it.

[Ismo07]

Yes. It can be a hard income to replace, if you’re good at the job and enjoy some aspects of it.

 

My son just started delivering pizza and he cannot believe the tips...  He thinks it's doctor money.