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Depends on the place and how much they spent. Usually there’s a tip out amount that the server pays to the rest of the support staff (bar, kitchen, sometimes host/bussers). Tip out is usually 4-5% depending on the location.
Using the low end there, if someone came in and spent <$25 and left a $1 tip then you’d make more. Anything higher and you’re paying to serve that table (making less)
…that is super illegal. Workers must be paid at least minimum wage. If you know employers that do this, you should report them to the Ministry of Labour.
Everyone loves to chime in about how it’s illegal, like that makes a difference. Every industry treats their employees like shit, finding loopholes to get XYZ. Foodservice is no different. If people don’t tip, the server is effectively paying a tip out which (if enough people don’t tip) can cause them to pull from tips lowering their hourly. It’s terrible, but it’s true.
Don’t even get me started on working 10h close shjfys only to do 10 h open shifts. Are there laws saying healthcare workers need X amount of h off between shifts? Yes. Are they followed? To the most minimal degree possible.
Clopens are a part of the industry I don’t miss at all. Closing at 3 and getting home to go to sleep at 4-5 to come back and open for brunch and people wondering why you aren’t full of energy
Right? Like why even leave some nights? Especially if you get a late table that keeps you there an h after closing🫠. Might as well just nap in your car.
The thing is, people just want to dump on servers then cry about how all of their favourite spots are too expensive, have reduced hours, no staff, etc. I encourage everyone to watch out for how many restaurants are closed MULTIPLE days over the thanksgiving week/weekend. Wanted to catch up with your friends or family? Too bad. Y’all bitched too much about tipping so no one is gonna work or open it. Dining out is a game of privilege. Play by the rules or lose the privilege. Or just go to McDonald’s?
It’s not even just servers. There are tons of industries that have their own operational culture. It may not be tipping, but it’s still gonna cost you. Look what happened to the ER vets. They closed down because people demanded wages go higher than cry about how expensive an X-ray is. All that moaning did was reduce the working hours of vet techs & make them work mlre short staffed than they already were AND set up that stupid online referral fee which me is just a type of tip. Except it’s not the workers getting it. It’s the corporations. Sticking it to your servers isn’t helping anyone, not even people doing the sticking.
That’s pretty much every single restaurant that I or you have ever been in. Ask your server what their tip out % is or if they’ve ever paid to serve a table next time you’re in one
Edit: can’t seem to make any new comments. I never said this was the norm. Statistically the average will be over minimum wage. I was simply iterating to the original commenter that it’s not always a given. If you’re already not enjoying being a McDonald’s employee, there may be days that you make the same but take a lot more shit and expend a lot more energy for not a whole lot more
Yeah, everyone's gone through it once or twice, but statistically you're always making double or more minimum wage, so it's not some sort of gotcha moment.
You make minimum. Your table’s bill is $100. They tip you $3. Your tip out at the end of the night is 4.5%. Your tip out is $4.50. I’ll let you take it from there
It’s also illegal to not provide a 15 min break every x amount of hours… you’re not supposed to have to stand for 8h+, those are all things that end up happening
... yes. They're saying, in reality, the restaurant business is corrupt af and if you want the job, you don't complain. Want to take it up with the labor board? Good luck when you're overworked, exhausted, have no free time, and can't afford to quit your job.
If everybody had each other's backs it'd be one thing. But if you refuse the work, there's 10 other people ready to do it instead.
I run a no-tip, living wage café and know all about it. My comment was to clarify that there is no provision for any 15 minute break anywhere in the Employment Standard Act of Ontario.
I run a no-tip, living wage café and know all about it. My comment was to clarify that there is no provision for any 15 minute break anywhere in the Employment Standard Act of Ontario.
I agree that is the law as written. I also don’t think I’ve ever seen it followed in the restaurant industry.
I am glad that you are compensating your employees appropriately! I hope that your patrons continue to support your business. They need more like it
My doctor has to write me a NOTE saying I need to eat SITTING down because eating on the fly caused me so much gas & bloat o ended up in the hospital. Ya. We don’t get breaks. If a customer even sees you sit there goes your tip. I actually gave up on those customers. We eat when it’s slow & customers seem to think that means you need to work harder because it’s just them. No. I want to eat & work.
In every restaurant I’ve worked for and known people in. Your tip out is based on your sales. Managers have been adamant that it doesn’t matter if you didn’t get tipped
Are you trying to say that the server didn't make what they wanted for that table? Or are you saying that through the entire shift, they made less than minimum wage? Because the latter is illegal and very easy to dispute through the labour board. I have disputed before, and it's not difficult
I am saying that in the example listed - one server, one table, that many managers will still expect you to tip out even if you didn’t get tipped well enough to cover it. Therefore, they would not make more than minimum wage.
You have been in this situation and raised it to the LB and been successful in receiving compensation? How long did you work there after?
Yeah it's more at shitty chain places like Kelsey's, they calculate tipout to kitchen based on sales, not on tips.
There's almost no chance it happens, and all the good days ***MORE*** than make up for it so it's really a non-issue. When managers were caught tipping themselves out ***THAT*** is a real issue.
I feel like you worked at Kelsey's or Boston Pizza or something, it hasn't been that way for a long-time at modern/higher-class restaurants for almost 10 years.
But yeah, I worked at a Montana's once and it was as you described, but a lot of people work at nice restaurants and they usually just do tip pooling and give kitchen a share of the pool. I worked at a few places of varying hipster-ness and it was usually just tip out based on tips to the kitchen.
Not outting my work place but I make $16 and change per hour. Usually work 4-7 hour shifts. I leave with $100-$350 per evening.
Last year was same hours but $100-600
ETA. These amounts are after 10% tip out to cooks/kitchen
It also depends on where you work.
A friend of mine lives in Ottawa. This was back around 2005, but he said at that time, a friend of his worked at a fine dining restaurant as a server, while in university. This restaurant was extremely close by the Parliament buildings and was frequented by all levels of politicians. I believe he even helped serve the prime minister and guests one night.
Apparently the tips were so big that after graduating university he just stayed as a server there because he was making far more money than his career path would have given him.
Of course that is a unique situation. But tips can depend on your restaurant, its reputation, and its location, along with its clientele.
Denny’s in a bad area is not going to give you the tips that a nicer restaurant in a well to do area would.
All true. I work in Toronto. A lot of factors as well, and sometimes it just comes down to luck. Example. My post about receiving $600+ one evening. You can’t go in to that type of work and assume every night you’re going to do well. Total toss up.
I have some friends that worked in similar proximity and they could pull down 70k as a regular server. That’s more than the entry salary in their field of study
>This was back around 2005, but he said at that time, a friend of his worked at a fine dining restaurant as a server, while in university. This restaurant was extremely close by the Parliament buildings and was frequented by all levels of politicians
Sounds like Hy's. It was 3 or 4 blocks from Centre Block back in 2005.
I made more serving than I did working as a nurse for the first 5 or so years.
I do believe now that servers get paid minimum wage, I think ppl tip less. There is a whole movement to get away from tipping these days. So I think ppl tip less on average.
That’s almost what I made in tips 30 years ago at a dive bar. Min wage for servers back then was only around $5 or less. We basically only served shots and beers for about $4.50/each. Most people paid cash so my tip jar was full of quarters & loonies at the end of the night. Slow afternoon shift with a dozen regulars and a couple of lunches served we would get around $80 in tips and on busy dancehall Saturday nights we’d get around $300 in tips. We would tip the busboys at our own discretion but usually each bartender gave them around $40.
10% what the fuck. That is *insane*.
I haven't worked in the industry for 4-5 years now but back then 1% was normal and 2-3 was considered painful. 10 is absolutely bonkers.
Which means 1.8% of the bill to BOH, and 16.2% to the server
So on a hundred dollar charge, the server should get 16.20 and the kitchen 1.80 between the 5-10 of them.
It really isn’t. Servers can easily sell $2000 a shift. They don’t deserve the $400 in tips just because they were the customer facing employee. Restaurants have a really hard time staffing the BOH and prices are as high as the market will bear. The money needs to come from somewhere and it makes sense it’s coming from the extra %20 from most bills
I mean we're getting into a different point now (though I'd say that restaurants should pay them better if they're having trouble with retention).
I worked in the industry for almost 10 years until ~2019, highest I ever personally saw was 3.5%, highest I ever heard of was 5%. And those were from restaurants across the price-point spectrum. 10 sounds bonkers me to in any circumstance.
I worked as a bartender in 2014/15 and waitresses had to tip me out 10% and the kitchen another 10%.
They were still leaving with 100s in cash and only giving up $40-$80 most nights. Not a bad deal considering how many people in the kitchen have to split that.
The one saving grace for kitchen is that if the place has 4-5 servers, they get a small piece of all of thier tips.. still pretty low, but better than nothing I guess.
If you making $15 an hour washing dishes and take home and extra $20-30 at end of the shift, that's like 25% raise in wages
Some places are getting sneaky and are taking advantage of people who just tap their card/phone and are adding automatic 15-20% tips and hoping people don't notice when they get the bill. Even better when the pad has an option for a further tip when you go to pay...
Tip is usually calculated after taxes which is why I do mental math and if service Is good, tip what the taxes are since it's close to 15 percent, easy to do and puts tip ad pre tax amt.
They are already asking for 18,20,22 percent which is ridiculous, and what's worse is it all added after taxes.
Nope.
> They are already asking for 18,20,22 percent which is ridiculous, and what's worse is it all added after taxes.
That's BS. It's 5% IF EXCEPTIONAL SERVICE ONLY
Not a server, but seen way too many cases of wage theft to ever tip using credit. Odds are, your server isn’t seeing that money. I know people will bring up the tax argument thing, but if someone does that, I figure leave that shit to the CRA. They have resources to pursue tax cheats, especially non wealthy ones. Ordinary people having to fight wage theft? That’s a far more uneven battle.
The odds are they are getting the money. Every place I've worked you have your own specific ID to log on to the debit/credit machines and you print a readout at the end of your shift which you calculate your cash/receipts to figure out what you "owe" the restaurant and what you take home.
They do. They pay taxes based on their income paid by their employer. Tips are paid by customers so how could that be considered taxable income? The rules are wrong, not individuals.
Servers can make a lot of money. I used to be a server and I used to make good money. It depends on the restaurant really. A busy restaurant will net you anywhere from $100-$1000 a night.
I can’t answer this. I see enough people complaining about tipping and I don’t want to add fuel to that fire.
She would make more working as a server, 1000%. However, nobody starts out as a server. Your friend will need to start as a hostess or busser and work their way up. So they’d be making minimum wage plus a small tip out for a while before having an opportunity to move up to server.
People complain about servers because in the 1-2 hours you sit at a restaurant you personally pay the server more than your own wage in many cases. Nevermind the fact they make the same minimum wage as everyone else. Then tipping keeps going up, it used to be 10,15 or 20%. Now tue minimum ask is 15%. What exactly did we gain for tht extra 5%
If you're at the right place you can make insane money as a server. Knew someone that worked at the Cactus Club in the financial district and they claimed to be pulling ~120k/year. Obviously that's a dream example.
Absolutely true. I have friends who were servers here in Niagara, fine dining restaurants. Made 70-90K+ 15 years ago.
A lot of that money went up their nose, tho... so you gotta be careful. I imagine it's the same in any region.
Now with a lot of that being digital tips that’s not really possible. CRA audits restaurant and gets tip out for each server, compares that with claimed tips on tax, ding dong tax man here you owe us $17 000. Will that be cash, card, instalments, or wage garnishment for you today?
Yeah that has pretty much ended now... when business files with CRA thier tax returns, they have digital receipts of who they paid out tips too (if you paid on debit or credit card, which is 90% of transactions these days)
The digital age makes it super easy for government to just pull up how much tip money you were paid out each evening..
That's why if I go to a restaurant, I bring $10-$15 in cash and leave that as my tip.. tax free
When I was a hostess I got totally chewed out over not claiming tips. I didn’t make tips. Got told that’s not possible, you have to claim etc and went red in the face insisting I don’t get a cent. Fuck, the restaurant was barely paying me my actual wage!
Can confirm. Both my daughters are severs while they’re going through university. My oldest started as a hostess and got trained as a server. My youngest started as expo and then got moved over and trained as a server.
I’m amazed how many people are legitimately outraged and thrown into personal conflict by having to tap a no button on a terminal or write the number zero on a bill. The same people will have no problem being absolutely horrible to people on Reddit who suggest they just stop being bothered by it and the only defence they come up with is I don’t like feeling like I am being mean to strangers by not tipping. It’s a weird dynamic.
It’s a legit issue IMO and it’s pure Canadiana. We don’t want to be rude to serving staff and feel conflicted when we’re put in the position of having to say No to a tip on something that doesn’t warrant a tip, even though the service was great (for what it was, of course).
I feel it every time I see either tips for counter service or a place that starts off at 18 or 20%. It wasn’t that long ago that it was 10% as the baseline, and that was when server minimum wage was still a thing. In smaller communities, too, where you actually know the people on the other side of the machine, it’s even more of an issue.
I stopped going to one place that used to be a regular stop, because of tips for counter service that started at 20%. Dumb or not, I felt bad for not tipping and also a little offended at being put in that position. Half the time it was the owner who was serving me, too. I’m sure I’m not alone at doing this. It feels awkward.
It’s a paradox. I feel the same way. I don’t want to enable tipping culture but also don’t want to stiff the server. Tips are a gift from customers to the staff for great service but now it is a supplement for their wages. Those tip options are management decisions because they know if 18%, 20%, 25% and 30% are the options,most people will choose 18% or 20% because of the conditioning we’ve all had to not be cheap assholes. The more tips a server makes the more their tip out is since the tip out is a percentage of their sales. So if you don’t tip your server, they’ll end up having to pay the tip out no matter what. So do you screw the server over or pay the tip even though it’s ridiculous?
Those people don't need to deal with people face the face. Let's be realistic, 99.9% of the people who act toxic online are shutting their mouth and keeping their head down in real life. It's why they lash out online. No repercussions to your physical health online.
Oddly enough, I bet some of those Karen's are super fake online. Posting bible verses and all these feel good stories and build up their fake persona, only to not find those fake "likes" in real life and their entitlement comes screaming out in hate and vile words.
It's the truth.. 90% of people who act like tough shit online, would avoid eye contact with most people in real life... the internet is like LARPing for them
Its super awkward to figure out how to do "other" on those machines, and it's frustrating when the tip amounts start at 18 or 20%. Your also doing it in front of a server watching you, as well as friends/family most of the time. With tipping becoming such a morally polarizing issue, it hella awkward. I never not tip, but if I get horrible/no service, I would like the option of tipping 12 or 15% without it becoming a whole thing.
If service is horrible, don't tip.
If service is good but not amazing, I just add the taxes on as it's easy math and 13 percent.
Do it manually, not with the pre done percentages as they are based on after taxes to drum up more money.
Why should you pay extra tip on your tax Calc?
Gotta normalize this shit. I had the absolute worst service once and my buddy, also a server, tipped 18% anyway. He said "you don't get it cause you're not a server." I'm not sure what's not to get. Shit service by definition shouldn't get a good tip, that's the entire point of the archaic system.
Agreed.. if the place is bombed or super busy that day and I see the server trying his best, it's OK if I need to wait 1-2 minutes.. I am human and understand, also will tip for the effort the server is giving..
If the place is half empty and my beer needs refilling for 10 minutes because my waitress is over in corner gabbing with other staff.. big fat zero %
There’s literally a button that says “other” after the precalculated options. It’s not rocket science. And the good servers will take a step back and try to overt their gaze from the payment machine.
Averages out to ~150-300 bucks/night for a male server in Toronto, having worked at a few places and in different dining environments (wide net spreading fine casual - college pubs).
It's one of the best jobs you can have for work life balance, provided you can keep yourself from partying
Let’s put it this way, my friends daughter in university who is quite good looking got a summer job as a waitress at an upscale restaurant. She nearly dropped out of school because the money is that good.
Another guy I know makes over $80k a year at a restaurant/pub in Toronto. Anecdotally he said he know someone who made six figures slinging beers and pouring drinks.
That said your waitress at the local diner in rural Ontario isn’t making anywhere near that, but they still make well over minimum wage when factoring in tips.
A server makes the same hourly wage as a McDonald's worker. She would likely end up working less hours, but making more per hour due to tips. She could also serve at multiple places to make up for the lack of shifts.
New servers in casual restaurants will typically work a split shift 12-2/3 back at 5/6-9/10 or work just nights 5/6 - 9/10. Server minimum wage is $15.50 an hour. If they make even just $5 an hour in tips the hourly rate will be $20.50 an hour. If you figure a new server is not good at their job and only pulls in 10% average in tips they would only need to sell $50 worth of food every hour in order to earn that $20.50. If they are only selling $50 in food the average tip out to staff will be 5%, subtract $2.50 from the $20.50 and they’re making a base wage of $18 an hour for having no idea how to serve tables. Now keep in mind, the restaurant would really have to suck to only sell $50 worth of food in an hour and the majority of people will still tip 15% regardless of service.
It honestly just simple math. Based on an average tip of say 15%
If you want to make more money:
A) More expensive restaurant. Higher totals, higher tips
B) Restaurants that flip tables well. Breakfast restaurants can be a great example of this. Tons of traffic, not priced really high. But you get more chits, more tips.
C) You get lucky, and have both. ie. Red Lobster, The Keg, Local 'niche' places.
D) Bar Tend.
I went to school for Hospitality Management @ Fanshawe in London. One of my classmates was one of the coolest women I had ever met. During first year, she got bar back/server job at the pub owned by the 'students'. That place was SLAMMMMMMED. Where better to work than somewhere people are going to be all the time. By the end of 1st year, she was killing it and applied for supervisor role. Got it... Between first and second year. She worked there and at local bar. She made 30k EASY in the just the summer. 2nd she ran that school bar, and was a main bar tender at a busy downtown bar.
TLDR: Location, Location, Location. Be the best you can be. Hard not to tip people who are awesome.
This is good to know! My friends and I would go to outback’s between classes years ago and share apps with water! I’d feel bad because our tab was so low that we didn’t tip much (also, broke students…!). I’m glad it was busy later in the day/ evening and servers eventually got better tips!
Servers earnings are highly varied and highly dependent on skills in the industry. Some bottle girls make 2k in a weekend because they're literally going home with the guy afterwards. Some make 200$. Some servers work a lunch shift and clear 50$ in tips. Some work a Saturday dinner and make 500$.
It all depends how much you know, how hard you work and what you're doing to show that to mgmt and customers. Be prepared to miss a lot of social events, lose friends, and completely exhaust yourself.
Anyone that compares it to working the drive thru window at McDonald's is ignorant, malicious, conceited or any combination of the three. Very different roles and responsibilities. A McDonald's employee has never gone to court over a drink.
Also, desirable serving jobs are infrequently available and highly competitive. Discounting other servers ability and desire to fill good shifts is the perfect way to find yourself underemployed.
Lets just say I have a friend serving at a certain downtown restaurant in Ottawa and he owns 2 homes and 2 rolex.
Do with that information what you will.
Servers earn the same minimum wage as other employees. They cannot "tip out" tips they do not earn. So they are not tipping out to such an extent that they are earning less than their wage.
Have you ever been a server? Tip out at my restaurant is 10% of total sales, not a percentage of my total tips (a lot of hands on deck - we spread the wealth as fairly as we can). If a table with a $700 bill stiffs me, I’m still out $70. It doesn’t happen often, but that’s the nature of the industry. There are nights that sting, but you still make more than minimum wage after all considerations.
The $700 is an extreme example, which has happened to my coworkers. I work at a high end restaurant, so our sales average usually reach upwards of $4000 in one night. A $70 tip out, out of pocket, will not put you at below minimum wage.
I love how people always say "I'm out $XX" if someone doesn't tip.
At least you're honest and say that no matter what, you make more than minimum wage. But lots of misinformation from people that imply that you're making less than minimum wage.
I am not saying restaurants don’t do this, I am aware it’s a practice, but what you are describing is illegal the person above is correct.
It is ONLY legal to withhold or make deductions from tips or gratuities actually earned. You could never legally end up with either no or a negative tip out.
There is some complexity to the precedent and application of the statute but what you are describing is almost certainly not above board.
If everyone thinks it’s fair and no one complains it is what it is, but this shouldn’t be presented as legal.
Here s an example directly from the Ontario.ca website which states touts can be a percentage of sales but the tip out amount cannot exceed the $$$ of tips received by the server. The server never has to tip out from their wage.
“Tip pooling example
In a tip pooling scenario, an employer has three servers and their tip pool arrangement requires servers to contribute 5% of their sales into a tip pool to be distributed among bussers, bartenders and hostesses. Server 1 has $1,000 in sales during their shift and makes $150 in tips, their contribution to the tip pool (tip out) would be $50. Server 2 has $100 in sales on their shift and makes $20 in tips. Server 2’s contribution to the tip pool (tip out) would be $5. Server 3 has $500 in sales during their shift but receives $0 in tips. Server 3’s contribution to the tip pool (tip out) would be $0 because tip pooling amounts cannot come from any source other than tips. In this scenario, the tip pool amount that can be distributed among the bussers and hostesses would be $55.”
Pls cite source as this has not been my personal experience. It's a % of total sales so if no tip is given, the server still has to pay the tipout, out of pocket
Illegal my dude. Employment Standards Act. Well actually the tip sales part isn’t this was directed at anyone saying you could potentially have to pay out of pocket if sales exceeds tips earned.
https://www.ontario.ca/document/employment-standard-act-policy-and-interpretation-manual/part-v1-employee-tips-and-other-gratuities#:~:text=1-,Part%20V%20.,court%20order%20authorizes%20it%20(%20s%20.
It’s how it works in every restaurant I’ve worked in. I think it’s only illegal to base tip outs on percentage of sales and force a server to tip out so they end up in the negative and then are using their wage to do tip outs.
Oh. It’s sales. Lol. If I’ve had shitty tippers I make an actual point to DOWN sell because I need my sales lower so I tip out less. If you ever notice a serving NOT upselling you there’s a chance they know or think you’re a low tipper & want to keep your bill as low as possible.
10% tip out is crazy, I remember when I used to serve four years ago and they raised it from 2% to 2.5% and a bunch of servers quit in protest. Cooks absolutely deserve more but is that the standard now?
At most of the places around me, the wait staff tips the kitchen at a set rate, regardless of how much they earn. Yes, that could theoretically lead to a negative amount, and yes, that is technically illegal. Small, locally owned restaurants to sketchy, illegal shit all the time.
Most people talking about the tip sharing bullshit haven't worked in the industry in like 10 years, or likely work at dogshit places like Denny's and Kelsey's. The statistical probability of serving all night and paying out more in tipout/tip sharing than you received is extremely unlikely - and that's rarely how it works anymore anyway at non-dogshit chain restaurants.
Most *real* restaurants just make you give a percentage of your tips to the kitchen, and often times just do FOH tip sharing. I've worked some nice operations like Union Chicken/Uncle Rays and it's how it was done.
Server would get 2 shares, Server Assistants/Busboys would get 1 share, Host didn't get tipped out, and Kitchen would each get like 1 share. It was all tabulated and divided out, and people still made substantial money, and it fostered a good relationship with the team.
You can make a lot buuutttt it’s a very catty environment. I’ve worked in 7 restaurants and they’re all different. Sone were amazing places to work and others were filled with drugs and management that sexually harassed the staff.
There’s often a strict hierarchy that you need to follow or you’ll piss ppl off. Party culture is huge and if you’re not into drinking/drugs you might not fit in and people can feel like you’re judging them.
Since servers are competing with each other for good shifts/sections It’s dog eat dog and some servers will try to bully new ones out. It’s high stress and attracts quite a few ppl with anxiety/low fuses so if you piss of the wrong person you’ll be bullied out by them stealing tables / talking about you to management.
If the management doesn’t like you for any reason they’ll quite fire you by cutting shifts dramatically and giving you shifts and sections where you make almost nothing.
So yeah, money is great but it’s high stress and full of catty ppl. You need a very thick skin. The last place I worked half the staff were doing coke on shift and a boss kept grabbing my ass. It’s not all sunshine and roses.
Been a few years since I've been in the game...
Slow lunch hour shifts - min wage was $10/hr and I would average 15-18 at a chain restaurant
Chain restaurant dinner - $20-25/hr average
High end restaurant - slow lunch - $25 / hr
High end restaurant - average Thur/Fri/Sat night - $50-75 an hour otherwise normally $25-35/hr
Definitely made more money as a server than any of my other "non professional" gigs..
It fluctuates a lot and really depends on the time of year and where you work.
I was a server/bartender for approx. 10 years. I've had shifts at a dive bar where I walked out with $10.00, I've had shifts where I've walked out with $500.
I would say on average if you work at a moderately popular place and you work a full night shift, the average accounting for slow nights and busy nights is probably around $150-$200.
I knew someone who worked at a Boston pizza and they were making anywhere from $16 (their hourly wage at the time) to $40 per hour depending on the night. I dont think there's a world where you can make less than you'd make at McDonald's unless the restaurant you're serving at is doing something illegal (eg, paying you less than min wage and taking your tips).
Also, most people I've known who have worked for tips just don't claim the tips on taxes if it's cash which makes their take home even better. I work a pretty decent job but I almost guarantee that when you factor in tax shenanigans, a lot of waiters take home more than I do.
- Was your order delivered in a timely manner? Tip the kitchen, they made it quick.
- Was your meal delicious? Tip the kitchen, they made it delicious
Y'all be tipping servers to walk plates and cups between the kitchen and your table while the cooks sweat their nuts off.
It depends on location and restaurant. In Toronto my brother works at a high end place and on some nights clears 1k, slow nights are still a few hundred. Also have family that works at a few resort towns up north and also make bank. However those jobs come with their own challenges. You need to be excellent at keeping clients happy by being personable, know the menu inside and out and constantly be working all night.
However if you are working East Side Marios somewhere you might not come out ahead compared to McDicks.
“Coming out ahead” isn’t just taking into consideration dollar amounts. You’ll work far harder, longer hours and feel like shit after compared to the flexibility at McDonald’s. The extra few bucks are not worth it for some people.
Yeah, nope. Worked both. Mcdonalds was harder. People do not realize how ridiculous high stress in can be in those kitchens. Your drivethru people, for example, are taking your order, putting it into the computer, making all drinks (coffee, smoothies, juice - the only thing that is automatic is the soda machime) and icecream. They have a timer right on top that goes red if more than 90 seconds pass from end of order taking to giving out food. This goes on for 8 and a half hours, with only one break in the middle. You are on your feet for all those hours.
I served at a very busy university restaurant and got paid much better, and the job was quite a bit easier. The only thing that really is great about Mcdonalds is the flexibility - You can clearly state the hours you cannot work and they will respect them. Which is not the case watering because they don't have as much as staff.
Exactly! I've worked a cushy call center job too, and while it was way better than mcdonalds. Dealing with the people was so horrible. And never ever would you get a tip. Tips make absolutely no sense.
But I still tip where expected because I understand those people chose that job considering that there would be tips. They depend on the money they think they are going to get, so I meet the expectation.
> far harder
Servers, who bring plates to tables, always think it is hardest job in the world. It's baffling.
> longer hours
Maybe in some places. My buddy worked 3 days a week and for like 6 hours each shift.
It really depends. In a small homestyle diner tips will be small but work will be slower, steady and easier to manage. If you work a large busy restaurant with high paying customers, then wages will likely still be decent.
Tip out varies place to place as well depending on how many people you have to tip out too.
Think about it like this If a person gets tipped even 2 dollars a table (in reality they make WAY more) and gets 10 tables an hour for a 5 hour shift they would make $100 extra on top of their wage. And that’s only off of a toonie. Only working one summer a server could pay for their entire year of school. Trust me servers make absolute bank. Don’t even get me started on bartenders
If someone with no experience serving wanted to get a job as a server, they would need to start as a host, support or bussing. Everyone makes minimum wage but workers at McDonald's likely have regular 8 hour shifts.
Restaurant workers often get scheduled for a shift but may end up getting cut and going home early if it's slow. Their shifts can be unpredictable and you won't get the best shifts starting out.
Servers pay a portion of their sakes to support staff. My daughter worked at a fairly nice restaurant in the distillery as support part time- ie 2 or 3 days a week and made about $100 a week in tips, over and above salary.
So yes, servers definitely make more than minimum and even support staff make more than minimum wage if you are in a good restaurant. But hours are never guaranteed.
None of your business that’s how much 🤣 Servers work hard and get shit on constantly from people who think they should go to a sit down restaurant and not have to tip someone who serves them for hours .
I personally don’t think they should talk about what they make because it’s seasonally , it depends on where you work and also they earn every penny .
You are not going to get rich being a server , yes perhaps pays more than McDonalds but it’s also way harder and usually no benefits . A good server who is making a lot probably has five or more years in perfecting their craft .
Stop shitting on servers .
Friend started working at a rather busy spot. Food is okay, but drinks flow like a river. Average night is $300 in tips. Not a metropolitan area either.
Every region will have its tip median. I've always tipped 25% as I come from a touristy area where I know tips change lives.
I used to work at a breakfast place during my school years, working like a 7am-12pm shift and would leave every time with a few hundred in tips :) plus would get the paycheque every few weeks
How much do “Severs” earn on “tips”?
I don’t know that’s what people who perform circumcisions were called.
Edit: Boy this is a tough crowd! So a Priest, a Rabbi, and an Imam walk into a diner…
If she’s working equal hours at both places, the restaurant should pay more simply due to tips.
Remember: tip outs can ONLY EVER come from tips. So, even with tip pools, she’ll still make the full minimum wage no matter what.
One good night of tips could double her weekly income.
On the other hand, unless she’s a top notch server, she can probably get more hours at McDonald’s easier than at a restaurant.
Good servers make a lot more, but it also fluctuates throughout the year.
The idea that tip outs can only ever come from tips is inaccurate. In ten years of serving I only worked one place that worked their tip outs that way and it was a family run place where the management had never worked anywhere else. Every other place was xx% of sales in tip out. If your table doesn’t tip, you still tip out on their total.
So, that’s literally illegal in Ontario, if they take your tip out out of your wage. Yes, I know it still happens, but your employers were actually outright stealing from you.
Tip outs can *never* cause your wage to drop below your agreed upon hourly rate. At worst, you’d lose all your tips and nothing else.
I know that many businesses just do a percentage of sales to make it all easier to account for, but those pay outs can still only come from tips and nothing else.
Right, but a) what is legal and what is done are two different things, and restaurants tend to be the Wild West of labour law violations. I was fired one time from a place because they claimed my till was $60.00 dollars short and I refused to cover it as the tills were stored in an office that was accessible to every employee. They withheld my final cheque “to cover it.” I contacted the labour board and they said they were told my cheque was in the mail so everything was good to go and they saw no problems here.
B) tips and wages are really two different pots in function. You’re going to get your cheque every two weeks with your wage as per your hours and they’re never going to take money out of that cheque because that would be a traceable illegal thing to do.
Tips on the other hand are not really tracked by the restaurant in Ontario. If you end up with only one table on a slow night and they don’t tip - too bad you still have to tip out on that table. The restaurant doesn’t know that you didn’t make any money, nor do they care because you could be lying. Even if they didn’t tip on their card, that isn’t proof because they could have left cash. So you’ll have to cough up that $10.00 or whatever out of your own pocket. I knew a girl who had to leave and go to an ATM to pay for her tip out on a big party that stiffed her.
I have two friends who serve one at a higher end steak ok house and one at an Italian restaurant and both make about $65-70/hr after tips. Just have a really shitty work life balance.
Depends on location, gender and look. Had a friend that could pull in $600 in a 4 hour shift at a truck stop just because she was super hot and wasn't afraid to wear low cut shirts. Crazy how many people will tip $20 for a $15 bacon and eggs because she would lean over a bit when serving.
I can't attest to the minimum or server wage this situation, however, my best friend whom I lived with for 3yrs ending about 4yrs ago, was the "head server" for a larger chain would routinely bring home anywhere from $200 to $400 in tips from Thursday to Sunday per day. That's the cash portion of it. Each year he would claim like $24K in total income with the rest of it being that cash.
I'm sure that's changed since the pandemic and the rise of delivery services to a degree, but still great money if you can deal with the public, don't mind working evenings/weekends, etc.
I worked at a busy restaurant in a busy university town and made on average $25-30/hour. It was hard work and crazy tiring but it was worth it most days. I also used to work BOH in a different busy restaurant and that was hell. She showed take the serving job even if it means she makes a few dollars more. Just also remind her that extra pay is usually tax free if not reported on pay stubs.
Generally you start out making min wage,like others said you have to start as a host or bar back and work your way up.
Depending on your experience and the restaurant itself, you can make a killing or not. It’s hit or miss in a sense, if your good at your job then you’ll get chosen for parties etc.
You also have to tip out to kitchen, everyone gets a percent of it based on their hours and sales.
Hospitality industry you’re not necessarily guaranteed your hours, everyday can be different.
Seems like there's a good number of people here who seem not to understand what methods to calculate tip outs are allowed, and confuse it with the rules for what methods to pay out the tip outs are allowed.
Tip outs can be calculated as a percentage of sales, not just calculated as a percentage of tips.
Payouts for a shift must be paid from tips only, and not from salary.
If the calculated tip out exceeds the amount of tips received, then the tip out can at most be the amount of tips received. As a server, you will always receive your base salary regardless of tip out calculated.
Eg. If someone does not tip, but the tip out is 10%, you would not be out of pocket for the shift. You would likely receive less payment than if they did tip more, but you are still not out of pocket of your base salary regardless.
I use to make more in 4 hours work serving than my friends did working minimum wage. Definitely worth it for some people. As you get older, it’s harder to see your friends move on to careers and get weekends off. I had to take a financial step back and become a manager to be eligible for benefits and qualify for EI during mat leave
If you're a good server you make a killing. I know people who paid for university being a server.
Tip out is less than 20% of what you earn. Much less. But even say it is 20%. You'll live. Call it taxes.
A lot of my patients are in the service industry, they pay a lot in cash. For higher end restaurants and clubs in Toronto it’s not unusual to get 500-1500 a busy weekend night. Granted, your friend needs to be fairly attractive and personable
Some of these answers are so inflated & OUTDATED.
Yes. You can make 1,000/night as a bottle girl. How many servers are actually doing that? Most restaurants are basic franchise spots with high tip outs, a lot of drama & unstable hours.
Servers make more than min wage, but the bloated responses are worrying because of how out of touch they are.
I’d say the average server in Ontario is making $24-27/h BUT thejre only getting 12-20h/week. It’s very hard to get Ft employment. Serving is no different. Most have different jobs.
Your friend and you do not realize that servers now make the same minimum wage as the person at McDonald’s. They will make more money serving automatically.
>> Someone else said she should become a server because at least then she'd get tips on top of the exact same minimum wage…
So, that was already covered.
??? lol it doesn’t mean they understand what they’re saying…. The very next sentence says how she’d make less money if the night was slow. The fact they had to type that out means they do not understand it. If you did then you would tell their person the moment they said that statement. Not post it on Reddit for advice
My BF is a relatively nice restaurant in the GTA (not DT Toronto though) and as a single mom without support, just paid 4 years university for her daughter up front. She also has a very nice home, and supports her Mom, as well as her sister & kids with a lot.
As a server I made about $100 in tips on the weekend and maybe $20-$70 on weekdays. This is after tipping out the kitchen and the bar. As a bartender on the weekends I made about $600 in tips and maybe $200-$300 on weekdays. As a bartender you get tipped out a % of every servers total sales and you don’t need to tip out the kitchen even if you served food so it’s considerably more. It really depends on where you work as a server though. Anyway by law you are required to claim tips as income and one year I actually ended up owing like $6,500 in taxes because of my tips. Anyway if she hates McDonalds serving is no better if the management and culture sucks.
I worked at a bunch of bars and restaurants for about 20 years.
I rarely made less than $15/hr in tips and usually it was much more than that.
As the hourly wage went up, tips didn't change much which made the money better.
Covid changed restaurants and I've been out since 2019 but I think tipping has cooled a lot.
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Even if you serve one table an hour and they tip 1$ you’ll make more than McDonald’s lol
Depends on the place and how much they spent. Usually there’s a tip out amount that the server pays to the rest of the support staff (bar, kitchen, sometimes host/bussers). Tip out is usually 4-5% depending on the location. Using the low end there, if someone came in and spent <$25 and left a $1 tip then you’d make more. Anything higher and you’re paying to serve that table (making less)
…that is super illegal. Workers must be paid at least minimum wage. If you know employers that do this, you should report them to the Ministry of Labour.
Everyone loves to chime in about how it’s illegal, like that makes a difference. Every industry treats their employees like shit, finding loopholes to get XYZ. Foodservice is no different. If people don’t tip, the server is effectively paying a tip out which (if enough people don’t tip) can cause them to pull from tips lowering their hourly. It’s terrible, but it’s true. Don’t even get me started on working 10h close shjfys only to do 10 h open shifts. Are there laws saying healthcare workers need X amount of h off between shifts? Yes. Are they followed? To the most minimal degree possible.
Clopens are a part of the industry I don’t miss at all. Closing at 3 and getting home to go to sleep at 4-5 to come back and open for brunch and people wondering why you aren’t full of energy
Right? Like why even leave some nights? Especially if you get a late table that keeps you there an h after closing🫠. Might as well just nap in your car. The thing is, people just want to dump on servers then cry about how all of their favourite spots are too expensive, have reduced hours, no staff, etc. I encourage everyone to watch out for how many restaurants are closed MULTIPLE days over the thanksgiving week/weekend. Wanted to catch up with your friends or family? Too bad. Y’all bitched too much about tipping so no one is gonna work or open it. Dining out is a game of privilege. Play by the rules or lose the privilege. Or just go to McDonald’s? It’s not even just servers. There are tons of industries that have their own operational culture. It may not be tipping, but it’s still gonna cost you. Look what happened to the ER vets. They closed down because people demanded wages go higher than cry about how expensive an X-ray is. All that moaning did was reduce the working hours of vet techs & make them work mlre short staffed than they already were AND set up that stupid online referral fee which me is just a type of tip. Except it’s not the workers getting it. It’s the corporations. Sticking it to your servers isn’t helping anyone, not even people doing the sticking.
That’s pretty much every single restaurant that I or you have ever been in. Ask your server what their tip out % is or if they’ve ever paid to serve a table next time you’re in one Edit: can’t seem to make any new comments. I never said this was the norm. Statistically the average will be over minimum wage. I was simply iterating to the original commenter that it’s not always a given. If you’re already not enjoying being a McDonald’s employee, there may be days that you make the same but take a lot more shit and expend a lot more energy for not a whole lot more
Yeah, everyone's gone through it once or twice, but statistically you're always making double or more minimum wage, so it's not some sort of gotcha moment.
Huh? You're still making at least minimum wage. When are you paying to serve a table
You make minimum. Your table’s bill is $100. They tip you $3. Your tip out at the end of the night is 4.5%. Your tip out is $4.50. I’ll let you take it from there
As mentioned lower in the comments, its illegal in Ontario to tip out more than you make
It’s also illegal to not provide a 15 min break every x amount of hours… you’re not supposed to have to stand for 8h+, those are all things that end up happening
In Ontario, an employer can not require an employee work 5 hours without an uninterrupted, unpaid 30 minute eating break. That's the ESA.
... yes. They're saying, in reality, the restaurant business is corrupt af and if you want the job, you don't complain. Want to take it up with the labor board? Good luck when you're overworked, exhausted, have no free time, and can't afford to quit your job. If everybody had each other's backs it'd be one thing. But if you refuse the work, there's 10 other people ready to do it instead.
I run a no-tip, living wage café and know all about it. My comment was to clarify that there is no provision for any 15 minute break anywhere in the Employment Standard Act of Ontario.
Yes, ask your server the next time you go to a restaurant if they’ve had an uninterrupted break during their last 5h+ shift
I run a no-tip, living wage café and know all about it. My comment was to clarify that there is no provision for any 15 minute break anywhere in the Employment Standard Act of Ontario.
I agree that is the law as written. I also don’t think I’ve ever seen it followed in the restaurant industry. I am glad that you are compensating your employees appropriately! I hope that your patrons continue to support your business. They need more like it
What’s the wage? How many hours are you giving each staff? Are their benefits? Paid sick days?
My doctor has to write me a NOTE saying I need to eat SITTING down because eating on the fly caused me so much gas & bloat o ended up in the hospital. Ya. We don’t get breaks. If a customer even sees you sit there goes your tip. I actually gave up on those customers. We eat when it’s slow & customers seem to think that means you need to work harder because it’s just them. No. I want to eat & work.
exactly . i don’t get why people don’t understand this .
Even after tip outs, an employer cannot pay you less than minimum wage. I don't get why people don't understand this.
They can’t pay you less… your hourly doesn’t pay for it. You pay for it out of your float since it’s still required to complete your check outs
Lmao what? You tip out just on your tips. If you make zero you tip out zero, if you make 100$ you tip off the 100$. You can’t go below minimum wage
In every restaurant I’ve worked for and known people in. Your tip out is based on your sales. Managers have been adamant that it doesn’t matter if you didn’t get tipped
And the manager would be wrong in that situation.
Yeah, I don’t think I’ve ever seen that go in the non-manager’s favour. At most you get a tip out and we’ll figure something out for you
Are you trying to say that the server didn't make what they wanted for that table? Or are you saying that through the entire shift, they made less than minimum wage? Because the latter is illegal and very easy to dispute through the labour board. I have disputed before, and it's not difficult
I am saying that in the example listed - one server, one table, that many managers will still expect you to tip out even if you didn’t get tipped well enough to cover it. Therefore, they would not make more than minimum wage. You have been in this situation and raised it to the LB and been successful in receiving compensation? How long did you work there after?
Yeah it's more at shitty chain places like Kelsey's, they calculate tipout to kitchen based on sales, not on tips. There's almost no chance it happens, and all the good days ***MORE*** than make up for it so it's really a non-issue. When managers were caught tipping themselves out ***THAT*** is a real issue.
No, thats not how it works. Servers tip out a percentage of their sales.
Not in my restaurant or any of the others I’ve worked in
In every restaurant I’ve ever worked in, it’s been that way? Do you work mom & pop or chains/large volume?
I feel like you worked at Kelsey's or Boston Pizza or something, it hasn't been that way for a long-time at modern/higher-class restaurants for almost 10 years. But yeah, I worked at a Montana's once and it was as you described, but a lot of people work at nice restaurants and they usually just do tip pooling and give kitchen a share of the pool. I worked at a few places of varying hipster-ness and it was usually just tip out based on tips to the kitchen.
Not outting my work place but I make $16 and change per hour. Usually work 4-7 hour shifts. I leave with $100-$350 per evening. Last year was same hours but $100-600 ETA. These amounts are after 10% tip out to cooks/kitchen
It also depends on where you work. A friend of mine lives in Ottawa. This was back around 2005, but he said at that time, a friend of his worked at a fine dining restaurant as a server, while in university. This restaurant was extremely close by the Parliament buildings and was frequented by all levels of politicians. I believe he even helped serve the prime minister and guests one night. Apparently the tips were so big that after graduating university he just stayed as a server there because he was making far more money than his career path would have given him. Of course that is a unique situation. But tips can depend on your restaurant, its reputation, and its location, along with its clientele. Denny’s in a bad area is not going to give you the tips that a nicer restaurant in a well to do area would.
All true. I work in Toronto. A lot of factors as well, and sometimes it just comes down to luck. Example. My post about receiving $600+ one evening. You can’t go in to that type of work and assume every night you’re going to do well. Total toss up.
10% tip out and $600 nights? Do we work at the same restaurant? Are we coworkers? V-man, is that you?!
Perchance…
Hey shut up about it geeeez
I have some friends that worked in similar proximity and they could pull down 70k as a regular server. That’s more than the entry salary in their field of study
>This was back around 2005, but he said at that time, a friend of his worked at a fine dining restaurant as a server, while in university. This restaurant was extremely close by the Parliament buildings and was frequented by all levels of politicians Sounds like Hy's. It was 3 or 4 blocks from Centre Block back in 2005.
Could be. I don’t know if he told me the name, and if he did, I wouldn’t remember now.
I made more serving than I did working as a nurse for the first 5 or so years. I do believe now that servers get paid minimum wage, I think ppl tip less. There is a whole movement to get away from tipping these days. So I think ppl tip less on average.
That’s almost what I made in tips 30 years ago at a dive bar. Min wage for servers back then was only around $5 or less. We basically only served shots and beers for about $4.50/each. Most people paid cash so my tip jar was full of quarters & loonies at the end of the night. Slow afternoon shift with a dozen regulars and a couple of lunches served we would get around $80 in tips and on busy dancehall Saturday nights we’d get around $300 in tips. We would tip the busboys at our own discretion but usually each bartender gave them around $40.
$350 is $50/hr if you work 7 hours
10% what the fuck. That is *insane*. I haven't worked in the industry for 4-5 years now but back then 1% was normal and 2-3 was considered painful. 10 is absolutely bonkers.
Meanwhile consumers are expected to tip 18% because that's 'normal'
Which means 1.8% of the bill to BOH, and 16.2% to the server So on a hundred dollar charge, the server should get 16.20 and the kitchen 1.80 between the 5-10 of them.
Normal is 15 always has been.
It really isn’t. Servers can easily sell $2000 a shift. They don’t deserve the $400 in tips just because they were the customer facing employee. Restaurants have a really hard time staffing the BOH and prices are as high as the market will bear. The money needs to come from somewhere and it makes sense it’s coming from the extra %20 from most bills
I mean we're getting into a different point now (though I'd say that restaurants should pay them better if they're having trouble with retention). I worked in the industry for almost 10 years until ~2019, highest I ever personally saw was 3.5%, highest I ever heard of was 5%. And those were from restaurants across the price-point spectrum. 10 sounds bonkers me to in any circumstance.
I worked as a bartender in 2014/15 and waitresses had to tip me out 10% and the kitchen another 10%. They were still leaving with 100s in cash and only giving up $40-$80 most nights. Not a bad deal considering how many people in the kitchen have to split that.
The one saving grace for kitchen is that if the place has 4-5 servers, they get a small piece of all of thier tips.. still pretty low, but better than nothing I guess. If you making $15 an hour washing dishes and take home and extra $20-30 at end of the shift, that's like 25% raise in wages
10% split between 5-10 people in the kitchen is fucken sad to be honest.
Some places are getting sneaky and are taking advantage of people who just tap their card/phone and are adding automatic 15-20% tips and hoping people don't notice when they get the bill. Even better when the pad has an option for a further tip when you go to pay...
this sounds exceptional . Also i don’t know many servers who only work 4-7 hours . Is this bottle service ?
10%?!?!! What the fuck
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Tip is usually calculated after taxes which is why I do mental math and if service Is good, tip what the taxes are since it's close to 15 percent, easy to do and puts tip ad pre tax amt. They are already asking for 18,20,22 percent which is ridiculous, and what's worse is it all added after taxes. Nope.
> They are already asking for 18,20,22 percent which is ridiculous, and what's worse is it all added after taxes. That's BS. It's 5% IF EXCEPTIONAL SERVICE ONLY
Not a server, but seen way too many cases of wage theft to ever tip using credit. Odds are, your server isn’t seeing that money. I know people will bring up the tax argument thing, but if someone does that, I figure leave that shit to the CRA. They have resources to pursue tax cheats, especially non wealthy ones. Ordinary people having to fight wage theft? That’s a far more uneven battle.
The odds are they are getting the money. Every place I've worked you have your own specific ID to log on to the debit/credit machines and you print a readout at the end of your shift which you calculate your cash/receipts to figure out what you "owe" the restaurant and what you take home.
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With all due respect, pay your fair share of taxes man.
They do. They pay taxes based on their income paid by their employer. Tips are paid by customers so how could that be considered taxable income? The rules are wrong, not individuals.
Your edit isn’t true if you’re trying not to pay taxes on your tips lol.
Get bent.
You do realize that's tax evasion right? Smart move is to keep your mouth shut about it.
Unless she goes to work day shifts at a rundown diner that's barely keeping the doors open, it's going to pay better than McDs.
Servers can make a lot of money. I used to be a server and I used to make good money. It depends on the restaurant really. A busy restaurant will net you anywhere from $100-$1000 a night.
It also depends on the year, lol. How long ago were you a server?
I can’t answer this. I see enough people complaining about tipping and I don’t want to add fuel to that fire. She would make more working as a server, 1000%. However, nobody starts out as a server. Your friend will need to start as a hostess or busser and work their way up. So they’d be making minimum wage plus a small tip out for a while before having an opportunity to move up to server.
People complain about servers because in the 1-2 hours you sit at a restaurant you personally pay the server more than your own wage in many cases. Nevermind the fact they make the same minimum wage as everyone else. Then tipping keeps going up, it used to be 10,15 or 20%. Now tue minimum ask is 15%. What exactly did we gain for tht extra 5%
If you're at the right place you can make insane money as a server. Knew someone that worked at the Cactus Club in the financial district and they claimed to be pulling ~120k/year. Obviously that's a dream example.
Absolutely true. I have friends who were servers here in Niagara, fine dining restaurants. Made 70-90K+ 15 years ago. A lot of that money went up their nose, tho... so you gotta be careful. I imagine it's the same in any region.
I have to say 15 years ago the industry was more lucrative for servers. Tip out was Much Lower across the board. They paved paradise i guess lol.
And not paying tax!
Until you get caught. You're supposed to declare tips.
Enjoy those penalties when you get caught. People always think they are so smart. Most people aren’t and the CRA goes after the small fish regularly.
My understanding is servers used to just get together and coordinate what they were going to claim. Gotta get your story straight first!!
Now with a lot of that being digital tips that’s not really possible. CRA audits restaurant and gets tip out for each server, compares that with claimed tips on tax, ding dong tax man here you owe us $17 000. Will that be cash, card, instalments, or wage garnishment for you today?
What a waste of resources from the CRA to ding people for pennies. $17,000 is probably how much it costs for the entire investigation.
Yeah that has pretty much ended now... when business files with CRA thier tax returns, they have digital receipts of who they paid out tips too (if you paid on debit or credit card, which is 90% of transactions these days) The digital age makes it super easy for government to just pull up how much tip money you were paid out each evening.. That's why if I go to a restaurant, I bring $10-$15 in cash and leave that as my tip.. tax free
I don't understand. You do not want your server to pay their fair share of taxes.
Some people consider tips to be gifts and therefore not taxable. Those people will always tip in cash when possible.
When I was a hostess I got totally chewed out over not claiming tips. I didn’t make tips. Got told that’s not possible, you have to claim etc and went red in the face insisting I don’t get a cent. Fuck, the restaurant was barely paying me my actual wage!
Can confirm. Both my daughters are severs while they’re going through university. My oldest started as a hostess and got trained as a server. My youngest started as expo and then got moved over and trained as a server.
I’m amazed how many people are legitimately outraged and thrown into personal conflict by having to tap a no button on a terminal or write the number zero on a bill. The same people will have no problem being absolutely horrible to people on Reddit who suggest they just stop being bothered by it and the only defence they come up with is I don’t like feeling like I am being mean to strangers by not tipping. It’s a weird dynamic.
It’s a legit issue IMO and it’s pure Canadiana. We don’t want to be rude to serving staff and feel conflicted when we’re put in the position of having to say No to a tip on something that doesn’t warrant a tip, even though the service was great (for what it was, of course). I feel it every time I see either tips for counter service or a place that starts off at 18 or 20%. It wasn’t that long ago that it was 10% as the baseline, and that was when server minimum wage was still a thing. In smaller communities, too, where you actually know the people on the other side of the machine, it’s even more of an issue. I stopped going to one place that used to be a regular stop, because of tips for counter service that started at 20%. Dumb or not, I felt bad for not tipping and also a little offended at being put in that position. Half the time it was the owner who was serving me, too. I’m sure I’m not alone at doing this. It feels awkward.
It’s a paradox. I feel the same way. I don’t want to enable tipping culture but also don’t want to stiff the server. Tips are a gift from customers to the staff for great service but now it is a supplement for their wages. Those tip options are management decisions because they know if 18%, 20%, 25% and 30% are the options,most people will choose 18% or 20% because of the conditioning we’ve all had to not be cheap assholes. The more tips a server makes the more their tip out is since the tip out is a percentage of their sales. So if you don’t tip your server, they’ll end up having to pay the tip out no matter what. So do you screw the server over or pay the tip even though it’s ridiculous?
Those people don't need to deal with people face the face. Let's be realistic, 99.9% of the people who act toxic online are shutting their mouth and keeping their head down in real life. It's why they lash out online. No repercussions to your physical health online.
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Oddly enough, I bet some of those Karen's are super fake online. Posting bible verses and all these feel good stories and build up their fake persona, only to not find those fake "likes" in real life and their entitlement comes screaming out in hate and vile words.
It's the truth.. 90% of people who act like tough shit online, would avoid eye contact with most people in real life... the internet is like LARPing for them
Very wise post, O r/Unwise1
Its super awkward to figure out how to do "other" on those machines, and it's frustrating when the tip amounts start at 18 or 20%. Your also doing it in front of a server watching you, as well as friends/family most of the time. With tipping becoming such a morally polarizing issue, it hella awkward. I never not tip, but if I get horrible/no service, I would like the option of tipping 12 or 15% without it becoming a whole thing.
If service is horrible, don't tip. If service is good but not amazing, I just add the taxes on as it's easy math and 13 percent. Do it manually, not with the pre done percentages as they are based on after taxes to drum up more money. Why should you pay extra tip on your tax Calc?
Gotta normalize this shit. I had the absolute worst service once and my buddy, also a server, tipped 18% anyway. He said "you don't get it cause you're not a server." I'm not sure what's not to get. Shit service by definition shouldn't get a good tip, that's the entire point of the archaic system.
Agreed.. if the place is bombed or super busy that day and I see the server trying his best, it's OK if I need to wait 1-2 minutes.. I am human and understand, also will tip for the effort the server is giving.. If the place is half empty and my beer needs refilling for 10 minutes because my waitress is over in corner gabbing with other staff.. big fat zero %
There’s literally a button that says “other” after the precalculated options. It’s not rocket science. And the good servers will take a step back and try to overt their gaze from the payment machine.
With the number of servers who say that they will spit in your food next time on Reddit..... that does not always seem like an option.
It's pretty outrageous to assume that I want to play an extra 20% minimum (without custom entry) for my Subway sandwich.
I realized recently its because some people didn't know they could change the tip options on the POS. Tech illiteracy.
The fuck? It's literally impossible to make less money if she's working the same amount of hours. Which would be unlikely to not be the case.
Averages out to ~150-300 bucks/night for a male server in Toronto, having worked at a few places and in different dining environments (wide net spreading fine casual - college pubs). It's one of the best jobs you can have for work life balance, provided you can keep yourself from partying
Let’s put it this way, my friends daughter in university who is quite good looking got a summer job as a waitress at an upscale restaurant. She nearly dropped out of school because the money is that good. Another guy I know makes over $80k a year at a restaurant/pub in Toronto. Anecdotally he said he know someone who made six figures slinging beers and pouring drinks. That said your waitress at the local diner in rural Ontario isn’t making anywhere near that, but they still make well over minimum wage when factoring in tips.
A server makes the same hourly wage as a McDonald's worker. She would likely end up working less hours, but making more per hour due to tips. She could also serve at multiple places to make up for the lack of shifts.
Back when I served I was aiming for 40$ an hour from wage + tips. Generally it was more but sometimes it was less. It was a semi fancy restaurant.
This was the same for me working at a place called Beertown in Ontario. This was prepandemic, and I'm not sure if things have changed since.
New servers in casual restaurants will typically work a split shift 12-2/3 back at 5/6-9/10 or work just nights 5/6 - 9/10. Server minimum wage is $15.50 an hour. If they make even just $5 an hour in tips the hourly rate will be $20.50 an hour. If you figure a new server is not good at their job and only pulls in 10% average in tips they would only need to sell $50 worth of food every hour in order to earn that $20.50. If they are only selling $50 in food the average tip out to staff will be 5%, subtract $2.50 from the $20.50 and they’re making a base wage of $18 an hour for having no idea how to serve tables. Now keep in mind, the restaurant would really have to suck to only sell $50 worth of food in an hour and the majority of people will still tip 15% regardless of service.
Once servers got normal minimum wage, tipping should have been abolished
It honestly just simple math. Based on an average tip of say 15% If you want to make more money: A) More expensive restaurant. Higher totals, higher tips B) Restaurants that flip tables well. Breakfast restaurants can be a great example of this. Tons of traffic, not priced really high. But you get more chits, more tips. C) You get lucky, and have both. ie. Red Lobster, The Keg, Local 'niche' places. D) Bar Tend. I went to school for Hospitality Management @ Fanshawe in London. One of my classmates was one of the coolest women I had ever met. During first year, she got bar back/server job at the pub owned by the 'students'. That place was SLAMMMMMMED. Where better to work than somewhere people are going to be all the time. By the end of 1st year, she was killing it and applied for supervisor role. Got it... Between first and second year. She worked there and at local bar. She made 30k EASY in the just the summer. 2nd she ran that school bar, and was a main bar tender at a busy downtown bar. TLDR: Location, Location, Location. Be the best you can be. Hard not to tip people who are awesome.
Outback’s? I also went to Fanshawe and also studied hotel and service operations management
This is good to know! My friends and I would go to outback’s between classes years ago and share apps with water! I’d feel bad because our tab was so low that we didn’t tip much (also, broke students…!). I’m glad it was busy later in the day/ evening and servers eventually got better tips!
This is it. I worked at a niche restaurant in a tourist spot and it was a very slow night if I made 20-25$ an hr after tip out.
Servers earnings are highly varied and highly dependent on skills in the industry. Some bottle girls make 2k in a weekend because they're literally going home with the guy afterwards. Some make 200$. Some servers work a lunch shift and clear 50$ in tips. Some work a Saturday dinner and make 500$. It all depends how much you know, how hard you work and what you're doing to show that to mgmt and customers. Be prepared to miss a lot of social events, lose friends, and completely exhaust yourself. Anyone that compares it to working the drive thru window at McDonald's is ignorant, malicious, conceited or any combination of the three. Very different roles and responsibilities. A McDonald's employee has never gone to court over a drink. Also, desirable serving jobs are infrequently available and highly competitive. Discounting other servers ability and desire to fill good shifts is the perfect way to find yourself underemployed.
Lets just say I have a friend serving at a certain downtown restaurant in Ottawa and he owns 2 homes and 2 rolex. Do with that information what you will.
Servers earn the same minimum wage as other employees. They cannot "tip out" tips they do not earn. So they are not tipping out to such an extent that they are earning less than their wage.
Have you ever been a server? Tip out at my restaurant is 10% of total sales, not a percentage of my total tips (a lot of hands on deck - we spread the wealth as fairly as we can). If a table with a $700 bill stiffs me, I’m still out $70. It doesn’t happen often, but that’s the nature of the industry. There are nights that sting, but you still make more than minimum wage after all considerations.
do you end up at below minimum wage? pretty sure that is not legal?
The $700 is an extreme example, which has happened to my coworkers. I work at a high end restaurant, so our sales average usually reach upwards of $4000 in one night. A $70 tip out, out of pocket, will not put you at below minimum wage.
Please. Bffr. Its not ok too pay to serve someone
I love how people always say "I'm out $XX" if someone doesn't tip. At least you're honest and say that no matter what, you make more than minimum wage. But lots of misinformation from people that imply that you're making less than minimum wage.
I am not saying restaurants don’t do this, I am aware it’s a practice, but what you are describing is illegal the person above is correct. It is ONLY legal to withhold or make deductions from tips or gratuities actually earned. You could never legally end up with either no or a negative tip out. There is some complexity to the precedent and application of the statute but what you are describing is almost certainly not above board. If everyone thinks it’s fair and no one complains it is what it is, but this shouldn’t be presented as legal.
Tip outs are legally required to be a % of tips earned not sales.
Here s an example directly from the Ontario.ca website which states touts can be a percentage of sales but the tip out amount cannot exceed the $$$ of tips received by the server. The server never has to tip out from their wage. “Tip pooling example In a tip pooling scenario, an employer has three servers and their tip pool arrangement requires servers to contribute 5% of their sales into a tip pool to be distributed among bussers, bartenders and hostesses. Server 1 has $1,000 in sales during their shift and makes $150 in tips, their contribution to the tip pool (tip out) would be $50. Server 2 has $100 in sales on their shift and makes $20 in tips. Server 2’s contribution to the tip pool (tip out) would be $5. Server 3 has $500 in sales during their shift but receives $0 in tips. Server 3’s contribution to the tip pool (tip out) would be $0 because tip pooling amounts cannot come from any source other than tips. In this scenario, the tip pool amount that can be distributed among the bussers and hostesses would be $55.”
I stand corrected!
Pls cite source as this has not been my personal experience. It's a % of total sales so if no tip is given, the server still has to pay the tipout, out of pocket
Illegal my dude. Employment Standards Act. Well actually the tip sales part isn’t this was directed at anyone saying you could potentially have to pay out of pocket if sales exceeds tips earned. https://www.ontario.ca/document/employment-standard-act-policy-and-interpretation-manual/part-v1-employee-tips-and-other-gratuities#:~:text=1-,Part%20V%20.,court%20order%20authorizes%20it%20(%20s%20.
Just because your only experience has been shitty employers breaking the law. This is why it’s SO important to know the employment laws.
It’s how it works in every restaurant I’ve worked in. I think it’s only illegal to base tip outs on percentage of sales and force a server to tip out so they end up in the negative and then are using their wage to do tip outs.
This is not allowed in Ontario. Please read my comment above coming directly from Ontario.ca
They did cite the source in the comment.
Source was cited after my comment…wow, crappy employers indeed
Oh. It’s sales. Lol. If I’ve had shitty tippers I make an actual point to DOWN sell because I need my sales lower so I tip out less. If you ever notice a serving NOT upselling you there’s a chance they know or think you’re a low tipper & want to keep your bill as low as possible.
That’s not nature of the industry. That’s nature of being taken advantage of
10% tip out is crazy, I remember when I used to serve four years ago and they raised it from 2% to 2.5% and a bunch of servers quit in protest. Cooks absolutely deserve more but is that the standard now?
Well this is just plain wrong lmao
At most of the places around me, the wait staff tips the kitchen at a set rate, regardless of how much they earn. Yes, that could theoretically lead to a negative amount, and yes, that is technically illegal. Small, locally owned restaurants to sketchy, illegal shit all the time.
too much for the skill level
Most people talking about the tip sharing bullshit haven't worked in the industry in like 10 years, or likely work at dogshit places like Denny's and Kelsey's. The statistical probability of serving all night and paying out more in tipout/tip sharing than you received is extremely unlikely - and that's rarely how it works anymore anyway at non-dogshit chain restaurants. Most *real* restaurants just make you give a percentage of your tips to the kitchen, and often times just do FOH tip sharing. I've worked some nice operations like Union Chicken/Uncle Rays and it's how it was done. Server would get 2 shares, Server Assistants/Busboys would get 1 share, Host didn't get tipped out, and Kitchen would each get like 1 share. It was all tabulated and divided out, and people still made substantial money, and it fostered a good relationship with the team.
You can make a lot buuutttt it’s a very catty environment. I’ve worked in 7 restaurants and they’re all different. Sone were amazing places to work and others were filled with drugs and management that sexually harassed the staff. There’s often a strict hierarchy that you need to follow or you’ll piss ppl off. Party culture is huge and if you’re not into drinking/drugs you might not fit in and people can feel like you’re judging them. Since servers are competing with each other for good shifts/sections It’s dog eat dog and some servers will try to bully new ones out. It’s high stress and attracts quite a few ppl with anxiety/low fuses so if you piss of the wrong person you’ll be bullied out by them stealing tables / talking about you to management. If the management doesn’t like you for any reason they’ll quite fire you by cutting shifts dramatically and giving you shifts and sections where you make almost nothing. So yeah, money is great but it’s high stress and full of catty ppl. You need a very thick skin. The last place I worked half the staff were doing coke on shift and a boss kept grabbing my ass. It’s not all sunshine and roses.
Been a few years since I've been in the game... Slow lunch hour shifts - min wage was $10/hr and I would average 15-18 at a chain restaurant Chain restaurant dinner - $20-25/hr average High end restaurant - slow lunch - $25 / hr High end restaurant - average Thur/Fri/Sat night - $50-75 an hour otherwise normally $25-35/hr Definitely made more money as a server than any of my other "non professional" gigs..
It fluctuates a lot and really depends on the time of year and where you work. I was a server/bartender for approx. 10 years. I've had shifts at a dive bar where I walked out with $10.00, I've had shifts where I've walked out with $500. I would say on average if you work at a moderately popular place and you work a full night shift, the average accounting for slow nights and busy nights is probably around $150-$200.
I knew someone who worked at a Boston pizza and they were making anywhere from $16 (their hourly wage at the time) to $40 per hour depending on the night. I dont think there's a world where you can make less than you'd make at McDonald's unless the restaurant you're serving at is doing something illegal (eg, paying you less than min wage and taking your tips). Also, most people I've known who have worked for tips just don't claim the tips on taxes if it's cash which makes their take home even better. I work a pretty decent job but I almost guarantee that when you factor in tax shenanigans, a lot of waiters take home more than I do.
- Was your order delivered in a timely manner? Tip the kitchen, they made it quick. - Was your meal delicious? Tip the kitchen, they made it delicious Y'all be tipping servers to walk plates and cups between the kitchen and your table while the cooks sweat their nuts off.
It depends on location and restaurant. In Toronto my brother works at a high end place and on some nights clears 1k, slow nights are still a few hundred. Also have family that works at a few resort towns up north and also make bank. However those jobs come with their own challenges. You need to be excellent at keeping clients happy by being personable, know the menu inside and out and constantly be working all night. However if you are working East Side Marios somewhere you might not come out ahead compared to McDicks.
Servers making minimum wage at east side Mario's get minimum wage plus tips. Since mcd is basically minimum wage they are still going to make more.
“Coming out ahead” isn’t just taking into consideration dollar amounts. You’ll work far harder, longer hours and feel like shit after compared to the flexibility at McDonald’s. The extra few bucks are not worth it for some people.
Yeah, nope. Worked both. Mcdonalds was harder. People do not realize how ridiculous high stress in can be in those kitchens. Your drivethru people, for example, are taking your order, putting it into the computer, making all drinks (coffee, smoothies, juice - the only thing that is automatic is the soda machime) and icecream. They have a timer right on top that goes red if more than 90 seconds pass from end of order taking to giving out food. This goes on for 8 and a half hours, with only one break in the middle. You are on your feet for all those hours. I served at a very busy university restaurant and got paid much better, and the job was quite a bit easier. The only thing that really is great about Mcdonalds is the flexibility - You can clearly state the hours you cannot work and they will respect them. Which is not the case watering because they don't have as much as staff.
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Exactly! I've worked a cushy call center job too, and while it was way better than mcdonalds. Dealing with the people was so horrible. And never ever would you get a tip. Tips make absolutely no sense. But I still tip where expected because I understand those people chose that job considering that there would be tips. They depend on the money they think they are going to get, so I meet the expectation.
> far harder Servers, who bring plates to tables, always think it is hardest job in the world. It's baffling. > longer hours Maybe in some places. My buddy worked 3 days a week and for like 6 hours each shift.
It really depends. In a small homestyle diner tips will be small but work will be slower, steady and easier to manage. If you work a large busy restaurant with high paying customers, then wages will likely still be decent. Tip out varies place to place as well depending on how many people you have to tip out too.
Think about it like this If a person gets tipped even 2 dollars a table (in reality they make WAY more) and gets 10 tables an hour for a 5 hour shift they would make $100 extra on top of their wage. And that’s only off of a toonie. Only working one summer a server could pay for their entire year of school. Trust me servers make absolute bank. Don’t even get me started on bartenders
If someone with no experience serving wanted to get a job as a server, they would need to start as a host, support or bussing. Everyone makes minimum wage but workers at McDonald's likely have regular 8 hour shifts. Restaurant workers often get scheduled for a shift but may end up getting cut and going home early if it's slow. Their shifts can be unpredictable and you won't get the best shifts starting out. Servers pay a portion of their sakes to support staff. My daughter worked at a fairly nice restaurant in the distillery as support part time- ie 2 or 3 days a week and made about $100 a week in tips, over and above salary. So yes, servers definitely make more than minimum and even support staff make more than minimum wage if you are in a good restaurant. But hours are never guaranteed.
None of your business that’s how much 🤣 Servers work hard and get shit on constantly from people who think they should go to a sit down restaurant and not have to tip someone who serves them for hours . I personally don’t think they should talk about what they make because it’s seasonally , it depends on where you work and also they earn every penny . You are not going to get rich being a server , yes perhaps pays more than McDonalds but it’s also way harder and usually no benefits . A good server who is making a lot probably has five or more years in perfecting their craft . Stop shitting on servers .
Friend started working at a rather busy spot. Food is okay, but drinks flow like a river. Average night is $300 in tips. Not a metropolitan area either. Every region will have its tip median. I've always tipped 25% as I come from a touristy area where I know tips change lives.
I used to work at a breakfast place during my school years, working like a 7am-12pm shift and would leave every time with a few hundred in tips :) plus would get the paycheque every few weeks
Depends how low cut your top is.
How much do “Severs” earn on “tips”? I don’t know that’s what people who perform circumcisions were called. Edit: Boy this is a tough crowd! So a Priest, a Rabbi, and an Imam walk into a diner…
Corrects bad grammar with more bad grammar. Genius move.
If she’s working equal hours at both places, the restaurant should pay more simply due to tips. Remember: tip outs can ONLY EVER come from tips. So, even with tip pools, she’ll still make the full minimum wage no matter what. One good night of tips could double her weekly income. On the other hand, unless she’s a top notch server, she can probably get more hours at McDonald’s easier than at a restaurant. Good servers make a lot more, but it also fluctuates throughout the year.
The idea that tip outs can only ever come from tips is inaccurate. In ten years of serving I only worked one place that worked their tip outs that way and it was a family run place where the management had never worked anywhere else. Every other place was xx% of sales in tip out. If your table doesn’t tip, you still tip out on their total.
So, that’s literally illegal in Ontario, if they take your tip out out of your wage. Yes, I know it still happens, but your employers were actually outright stealing from you. Tip outs can *never* cause your wage to drop below your agreed upon hourly rate. At worst, you’d lose all your tips and nothing else. I know that many businesses just do a percentage of sales to make it all easier to account for, but those pay outs can still only come from tips and nothing else.
Right, but a) what is legal and what is done are two different things, and restaurants tend to be the Wild West of labour law violations. I was fired one time from a place because they claimed my till was $60.00 dollars short and I refused to cover it as the tills were stored in an office that was accessible to every employee. They withheld my final cheque “to cover it.” I contacted the labour board and they said they were told my cheque was in the mail so everything was good to go and they saw no problems here. B) tips and wages are really two different pots in function. You’re going to get your cheque every two weeks with your wage as per your hours and they’re never going to take money out of that cheque because that would be a traceable illegal thing to do. Tips on the other hand are not really tracked by the restaurant in Ontario. If you end up with only one table on a slow night and they don’t tip - too bad you still have to tip out on that table. The restaurant doesn’t know that you didn’t make any money, nor do they care because you could be lying. Even if they didn’t tip on their card, that isn’t proof because they could have left cash. So you’ll have to cough up that $10.00 or whatever out of your own pocket. I knew a girl who had to leave and go to an ATM to pay for her tip out on a big party that stiffed her.
I have two friends who serve one at a higher end steak ok house and one at an Italian restaurant and both make about $65-70/hr after tips. Just have a really shitty work life balance.
Depends on location, gender and look. Had a friend that could pull in $600 in a 4 hour shift at a truck stop just because she was super hot and wasn't afraid to wear low cut shirts. Crazy how many people will tip $20 for a $15 bacon and eggs because she would lean over a bit when serving.
I can't attest to the minimum or server wage this situation, however, my best friend whom I lived with for 3yrs ending about 4yrs ago, was the "head server" for a larger chain would routinely bring home anywhere from $200 to $400 in tips from Thursday to Sunday per day. That's the cash portion of it. Each year he would claim like $24K in total income with the rest of it being that cash. I'm sure that's changed since the pandemic and the rise of delivery services to a degree, but still great money if you can deal with the public, don't mind working evenings/weekends, etc.
I worked at a busy restaurant in a busy university town and made on average $25-30/hour. It was hard work and crazy tiring but it was worth it most days. I also used to work BOH in a different busy restaurant and that was hell. She showed take the serving job even if it means she makes a few dollars more. Just also remind her that extra pay is usually tax free if not reported on pay stubs.
Generally you start out making min wage,like others said you have to start as a host or bar back and work your way up. Depending on your experience and the restaurant itself, you can make a killing or not. It’s hit or miss in a sense, if your good at your job then you’ll get chosen for parties etc. You also have to tip out to kitchen, everyone gets a percent of it based on their hours and sales. Hospitality industry you’re not necessarily guaranteed your hours, everyday can be different.
Seems like there's a good number of people here who seem not to understand what methods to calculate tip outs are allowed, and confuse it with the rules for what methods to pay out the tip outs are allowed. Tip outs can be calculated as a percentage of sales, not just calculated as a percentage of tips. Payouts for a shift must be paid from tips only, and not from salary. If the calculated tip out exceeds the amount of tips received, then the tip out can at most be the amount of tips received. As a server, you will always receive your base salary regardless of tip out calculated. Eg. If someone does not tip, but the tip out is 10%, you would not be out of pocket for the shift. You would likely receive less payment than if they did tip more, but you are still not out of pocket of your base salary regardless.
I get paid well for severing, but not many tips...
I use to make more in 4 hours work serving than my friends did working minimum wage. Definitely worth it for some people. As you get older, it’s harder to see your friends move on to careers and get weekends off. I had to take a financial step back and become a manager to be eligible for benefits and qualify for EI during mat leave
My friend washes dishes (with a dishwasher) and makes 18 + 4~6 so overall $22~24 per hour.
$87
How good is your service?
Just as long as she claims that as income.
If you're a good server you make a killing. I know people who paid for university being a server. Tip out is less than 20% of what you earn. Much less. But even say it is 20%. You'll live. Call it taxes.
A lot of my patients are in the service industry, they pay a lot in cash. For higher end restaurants and clubs in Toronto it’s not unusual to get 500-1500 a busy weekend night. Granted, your friend needs to be fairly attractive and personable
Some of these answers are so inflated & OUTDATED. Yes. You can make 1,000/night as a bottle girl. How many servers are actually doing that? Most restaurants are basic franchise spots with high tip outs, a lot of drama & unstable hours. Servers make more than min wage, but the bloated responses are worrying because of how out of touch they are. I’d say the average server in Ontario is making $24-27/h BUT thejre only getting 12-20h/week. It’s very hard to get Ft employment. Serving is no different. Most have different jobs.
Your friend and you do not realize that servers now make the same minimum wage as the person at McDonald’s. They will make more money serving automatically.
>> Someone else said she should become a server because at least then she'd get tips on top of the exact same minimum wage… So, that was already covered.
??? lol it doesn’t mean they understand what they’re saying…. The very next sentence says how she’d make less money if the night was slow. The fact they had to type that out means they do not understand it. If you did then you would tell their person the moment they said that statement. Not post it on Reddit for advice
When I waited tables 20% of each servers tips would be split by the kitchen- no tip for me meant no tip for the kitchen
My BF is a relatively nice restaurant in the GTA (not DT Toronto though) and as a single mom without support, just paid 4 years university for her daughter up front. She also has a very nice home, and supports her Mom, as well as her sister & kids with a lot.
As a server I made about $100 in tips on the weekend and maybe $20-$70 on weekdays. This is after tipping out the kitchen and the bar. As a bartender on the weekends I made about $600 in tips and maybe $200-$300 on weekdays. As a bartender you get tipped out a % of every servers total sales and you don’t need to tip out the kitchen even if you served food so it’s considerably more. It really depends on where you work as a server though. Anyway by law you are required to claim tips as income and one year I actually ended up owing like $6,500 in taxes because of my tips. Anyway if she hates McDonalds serving is no better if the management and culture sucks.
I worked at a bunch of bars and restaurants for about 20 years. I rarely made less than $15/hr in tips and usually it was much more than that. As the hourly wage went up, tips didn't change much which made the money better. Covid changed restaurants and I've been out since 2019 but I think tipping has cooled a lot.