Restaurants and Minimum Wage – Yes

From 3arf

To answer the question of whether service employees should receive the US minimum wage or not, first we have to decide on what the purpose of a tip should be.  Should it be to pay the server’s paycheck, or should it be to reward a server for a job well done (and possibly as a bribe for them to do well next time)?  If the intent of a tip is to reward a server for doing a good job, and not to pay the server’s salary, perhaps we should give servers at least the minimum wage (or perhaps more), and let the customer choose to tip (or not to tip) based on the service that is received.

Minimum Wage Assures that All Servers Get a Check

Paying service workers the U.S. minimum wage assures that all employees will get a check, regardless of their performance, or who their customer is.  Under the current payment scheme, servers have taxes deducted from their paycheck based on the tips that the restaurant expects them to receive.  Some of these workers end up with little or no money in their actual paycheck, and are only left with the tips, which they have to share with the busboys, bartenders, and other people that help them.  If the server ends up with poor tippers or is having a bad day and doesn’t perform as well as they should, they could be left with little in the way of tips as well.

A tip is meant to be a reward for a job well done.  Under the current system, diners are expected to leave generous tips even if the server spills their drink on them, spends the evening ignoring their customers, and forgets to bring the check in a timely manner because they are busy talking to friends.  This kind of performance does not deserve a reward; however, they should still receive a fair wage.  Because servers are not fairly compensated by their employers, diners are expected to leave a reward because tips are part of their salaries.  Some people would leave no tip in this extreme circumstance, but this leaves the worker with what amounts to slave wages.

It’s Okay if Food Prices Go Up

One of the arguments that some people have against giving service workers the U.S. minimum wage is that doing so will cause food prices to go up, yet in the same debate, they will tell you that if you can’t afford to leave a good tip, you can’t afford to eat out.  If food service workers were paid a higher salary, yes, food prices would go up.  That’s okay though.  Under the current system, the cost of the food is lower than it should be, because diners are expected to supplement the labor costs.  If the price of dining out is shifted so that the cost of food goes up, yet diners are only expected to tip when their servers are adequate, the cost of eating out wouldn’t change much; however, when diners tip, it could send a message that the servers were doing a good job, not that the tipper was cheap or generous.

People Would Still Tip for Good Service

If service workers were paid minimum wage (or higher, especially in places with a high cost of living), people would still tip for good service.  There could be some that would leave without tipping, but they do that today.  The only difference is: when servers are paid less than minimum wage and aren’t tipped, they are left with next to nothing, but when servers are paid a minimum wage and aren’t tipped, at least they are getting some money for their work.

People should be encouraged to tip (and generously, at that), when they receive great service.  Servers often work extremely hard, and good wait staff deserve a reward for a job well done.  Giving service workers a decent starting salary allows people to use their tips to show their appreciation for an outstanding server, instead of forcing them to supplement the worker’s salary, regardless of how that worker performed.

Related Articles

Retrieved from "https://3arf.org/en/index.php?title=Restaurants_and_Minimum_Wage_–_Yes&oldid=15036"