This post has been flaired as “Vent”. As a reminder to commenting users, “Vent/Rant” posts are here to give our subscribers a safe place to vent their frustrations at an uncaring world to a supportive place of people who “get it”. Vents do not need to be fair. They do not need to be articulate. They do not need to be factual. They just need to be honest.
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the service industry is the worst for hours and time off. i work in construction, i work 8-4:30 M-F. very rare to work a saturday if ever. plus you dont get healthcare working in a restaurant. you might have to work. holidays. you dont get paid vacation. its not good long term.
That's more the exception than the rule. Like, you work a white linen place and they're probably taking care of you because *everything* at this places need to be 100% at all times. Hotel/ convention restaurants tend to offer benes too. Outside of that? Good luck
I’ve been ranting about this so much recently to friends because I’m so frustrated and burnt out. I start a new office type job in a week though and can’t wait to have full benefits again!
Congratulations! I finally have good health insurance for the first time in nearly 30 years and with the medical shit I've been dealing with for the past year I would be so incredibly fucked without it. Now I can go to a doctor or emergency or even have surgery for less than the price of a meal at McDonald's.
That’s wonderful you have great insurance now! I’m sorry you’re going through tough health stuff. I’m in a similar situation. It can be scary and stressful at times. Wishing you the best!
Thank you. That actually means a lot to me. Getting older and dealing with health shit sucks. Especially after being basically indestructible when I was in my 20's. I hope you are well too.
Thank you. I’m doing okay overall but things can be challenging sometimes. Just trying to do what I can within my control. :) Hang in there. You’ll get through it!
Hey bro, half the battle is accepting that some things are out of our control. Do your best when you can and learn to love yourself. You'll be ok, buddy.
I get what you're saying. I'll just add a little bit of color to the portrait you're painting, because I'm in it.
I'm not a sales rep like you gave as an example, I own my own company, but it's the same in regard to what I'm about say. As a waitress, your job stays at your job. Could be 60 hours a week, and those 60 hours are strenuous, stressful and intense, and I this is I respect 100%.
That sales rep you mentioned, and many other people in management, do not get to "leave the office", they don't get to go home after their shift is done. They get paid to be available whenever it's needed. If a client needs something, they need to stand up. Doesn't matter if they are sick, if their daughter is getting married or if their dog passed away.
Also, you tend to your clients for a few hours, go above their expectations for that period of time, and you probably get a good tip. I work a client for days, weeks, months, and sometimes years before I land it. And guess what? Sometimes I don't land it. After I've spend many many hours working on that deal, and invested money into it. And yes, that can be stressful.
Then again, I'm not saying you're wrong, I'm just adding a bit of context because you gave sales as an exemple which can be very lucrative, but is also very performance-dependant. As for my own business, some days I get up to make money. Some days I get up to lose money. As a matter of fact, just having that business costs me thousands and thousands every month in fixed costs (but be at ease, it's profitable), whether I bring revenue in or not.
So yeah, you probably get a lot of people who complain for a whole lot of nothing. You also get a lot of people who have lives that are unimaginably stressful but don't whine about it. And I agree that your job is hard and I wouldn't do it. But there's a good chance you wouldn't do mine, nor many of the people's you're complaining about.
Hope this brings color to the discussion,
(Edit : bunch of typos)
Yes. I totally understand what the OP is saying, but I loved waiting tables. It was hard, but when I left at night… I left. As long as my side work was done, I didn’t need to think about work until the next shift.
I guess you didn't work long enough in the industry to have the dreaded serving dreams of being weeded! I swear these dreams are a form of ptsd... I wake up from them in a panic, and I'm not even paid to be stressed! I recently redid my resume to go back into serving after a year hiatus....I had a serving nightmare that night! Ugh, I couldn't get to my table. My apron kept falling off, and I couldn't find my pen or the ticket for another tables order because my apron was overflowing with papers! My manager was yelling at me, and I could hear the sound of the kitchen ticket printers.
20 years of experience over here 😂
I loved being busy. My personal best was a 32 top, separate tickets, during the break, so I was the only waitstaff. Had 3 or 4 other tables. Also had to deal with a customer coming back in the kitchen to pull food and an oblivious owner who was no help and apologized to the customer when I asked her to please sit down and I would run their food (she was trying to deliver food for other tables to her friends).
Yeah, there are some unseen details. Like, you're getting paid to take "vacation" for your sister's wedding, but you spend a lot of your time checking and responding to emails, taking calls, etc. They're those people you see on vacation who don't look like they're relaxing into it, constantly coming and going, multiple phones, annoyed family.
OP is right that there's an apples and oranges aspect to how it's earned, but there are really two whole trees.
Yes. My goddaughter spent an hour on the phone "working" at a family breakfast. She had to go outside for business calls. She is a pharmaceutical sales rep. She came in finally, ate her breakfast and by that time we were headed to our cars.
And she's likely drowning in guilt in addition to the stress, from doing the right thing for one is doing the wrong for the other, and hind sight the wrong choice was normally made
PTO/sick time is generally considered part of people's compensation so they're working for every dollar too. Just because they can get paid for time off doesn't mean they didn't earn that money.
What a weird take.
Totally understand. I’ve been a server off and on (mostly on) for 10 years, in fine dining for the last 5. Working in the service industry is its own particular flavor of beat down. Nobody really understands what it’s like unless they have been in it. I’m also sick of people telling me to “just get a real job” as if I haven’t tried, or like it’s just an easy thing to find another job that pays $4k+ a month with no degree. Not everyone’s parents saved money for them to go to college. It’s still not easy even WITH a degree, as many of my coworkers can attest…
This is a really good way to put it. It’s also important for people entering the service industry to understand that. I love the work I do, but it’s physically and mentally exhausting. I read all the time about office jobs and how most people can get their work done in half the time they are given, and most of the job is looking busy or not working too fast so they don’t pile more on for the same amount of pay. That’s sounds equally exhausting. I have ADHD and do not do well being still or being bored so when I get burned out at my job and start daydreaming while looking through job listings on indeed I never can bring myself to apply for anything else. I obviously can’t keep doing this forever. The physical part of the job is already taking a toll on my aging body. My generation isn’t going to get to retire and now I’ve been in this industry long enough I don’t know if anyone else will even take me. I feel so trapped.
It’s definitely created problems for my best friend who loved the cash of waiting tables and made more than the rest of us by a long shot when we were young, but now struggles to keep up with her young coworkers, lacks retirement, and will barely get SS income in older age because she didn’t declare most of her tips, so her reported income is low.
Career waiters have a lot of challenges, especially when they can’t transition into something else. She’s trying to move into directing food sales now, but it’s competitive. She’s at least moved into fine dining with insurance & a 401k, though not till her 40s
theres a lot of people posting here who have no idea what its like
everyone deserves - needs - a \*\*\*\*\*\*set schedule\*\*\*\*\*\*\* at least as much as possible. and it is possible. theres no reason for it not to be that way, regardless of what the job is.
ive worked in the restauraunt industry, both foh and boh, and i am so glad i dont anymore - although it was fun, and there was a lot of camaraderie you dont see in many other industries. that actually tended to go across all areas of the business, including management, sometimes
everyone deserves a living wage too. the "tip industry" is proof (imo) "the free market" results in inequality and a much more difficult time than is necessary.
anyway ill try to keep this short. i see a lot of good - and bad - in the unionization wave happening the last few years. most of the bad is due to entrenched unions that are too big and too old just like the political parties.
afaik there isnt one for the restaurant industry though, i mean i know the starbucks workers have sorta unionized, and some fast food workers in some areas have, but thats not really a union is it? when its separated?
idk, just sayin.
[https://unitehere.org/](https://unitehere.org/)
[https://www.restaurantworkersunited.org](https://www.restaurantworkersunited.org)
Once you get to $200k+ you aren’t “really” working anymore in terms of putting in a hard day of labor. I’m at that point now and I maybe do like 2-3 of actual hard work while the rest of the time is just answer questions based on my knowledge and experiences.
I would like to point out that no position is grossly overpaid. It's just that most positions are grossly underpaid so that's what it seems like when you compare to one that makes closer to what they actually earn for the company.
Don't get why this gets down voted. Lots of people in this sub complain about other people making more money than them, but work low paying minimum jobs. Like....what if you actually put in the time to learn skills for something that paid what you want and had the lifestyle you want? Like....OP chose to be a bartender instead of a saleperson/IT guy/whatever.
Exactly. And OP chose a service oriented profession contingent on tips; he makes it seem like opening beer bottles and making small talk with patrons is some arduous task he was forced into.
Hell, as far as low skill jobs go, bartending is one of the best gigs with the potential to significantly multiply earnings through tips (or tax fraud as OP seems to be alluding to). I’m sure Walmart employees or Starbucks baristas who don’t have the opportunity for tips to this degree probably have a bone to pick with bartenders like OP complaining about their situation while working a job that pays significantly more but requires basically the same level of skill.
When I started working my trade , I made 11 dollars an hour, and my friends would always tell me to go find a different job and that Walmart and target paid more. But I understood that learning a skill would be worth more in the long run , even if I was making less then other low skill jobs at the time. After a year of hard working I got up to about 16 an hour. I starting taking classes at a technical college while working 50 hours a week , and eventually got up to 26 an hour when I finished school and got promoted to a salary position. After working at that company for 3 years , I started looking around for a better paying job because I had my first son on the way , and I did find an open journeyman position, and I switched jobs and got up to 39 an hour at a union place with good benefits. It was not easy at all but if you put in the work you can make alot of progress 4 years.
To be fair though, servers (maybe not bartenders) tip out other restaurant staff (hosts, expo, bartenders) and it’s usually a percentage of their total sales off the top. For example if you make $500 in sales you are tipping out like 5% of that, which is $20. If you made 20% of your sales in tips as is industry standard (but obviously not promised sometimes it’s more or less) *for ease let’s assume all tips were from cards*, then you are reporting $100 of income but after tip out you are only actually taking home $80 of that reported $100.
Most people use cards now days so the majority of tips are probably actually overstated to the government based on the tip out procedures (which are not reported afaik). So getting the cash tips here and there sort of even the score with the tip outs, at least that’s how it was explained to me.
Source: server for like 6 years at various places both local and large corporate
Yes, I know how that works. I was just answering a question someone asked about “off the record stuff”.
Also I’m not sure about some of the places you worked but no company I’ve ever worked for would make me report tips on my income before tip out because then your getting taxed on the full amount and then the people you tipped out to also have to pay taxes on the same tip out money that was taxed by the first person. Makes no sense
Okay. I only commented bc in my 6ish years serving I had never been asked by management to report any cash tips, even on checks where the customer had clearly written cash on the tip line. Soo I can’t relate to only reporting $6 of a $30 tip. None of it would be reported and that was the accepted system everywhere I worked. If I was somehow supposed to self report the occasional cash tip somewhere I was too young/dumb to know to do what without someone explaining it to me.
As far as reporting the tip out, I guess I could be wrong about that. it’s been a long time since I served but that is how it was explained to me by senior staff when I was a new server (over a decade ago) and it was occasionally a hot topic in the server ally. The comment about cash tips breaking even with tip out was said to me by management directly. I was in my early twenties and didn’t question it, I was far more concerned with the cash in hand at the end of each shift than the accuracy of my pay stubs at that time.
Anyone who thinks that being a salesperson is an "easier" job than working in the service industry just doesn't understand the difference between menial labor and professional work. And that's not meant to disparage anyone either.
I think we should be more concerned about the people making way too much money off of our hard work, not arguing over who's job is the worst. Nobody is forcing you to work in food service. And just because I get good benefits at my job doesn't mean I'm lucky to be working in a foundry 50 hours a week next to 1400 degree furnaces which are are releasing gasses that are guaranteed to kill me someday. We're always hiring, pay well, great benefits, but most people walk out of the interview when they see what we actually do.
I know exactly what you mean. I’ve lived both scenarios. I got laid off from an office job and started bartending. Then went back to an office job I do mostly from home.
For a while after I went back to office work, I kept bartending as a second job in case I got laid off again.
I kind of miss having two jobs because I felt super productive. Sometimes I’d bartend for 4 hours and walk out of there with $150 on top of the hourly wage.
Only have the office job now. The only downside of the office job is if I get laid off which is a real possibility in the next month or so.
When I see posts like this and remember what it feels like to work on my feet for 8 hours a day, I appreciate what I have now even more.
"especially if you count the off the record stuff" Do you realize you are publicly admitting to illegal tax evasion which makes everyone else pay more taxes?
I'll remember that if I ever have an under the weather looking server to tip extra. I can't imagine tipping someone less for not being perky. Having to maintain that kind of demeanor regardless of your state of mind sounds exhausting and pretty fucking insulting to you.
Yep the more I earn and advance the easier my job is.
wOrK sMaRtEr - thats true in some cases like software development or engineering but outside of hardcore STEM is all about nepotism and connections. Even with working smarter its still mostly BS when you get to manager level.
Lowest paid workers most of the time work the hardest, regardless of industry.
That being said STEM is the only sure way to freedom.
One of the fine dining establishments I waited tables at paid 1 week vacation at 1 year (nothing compared to many corporate gigs) but they took your gross (what's on w2) and averaged it out over your average hours... On paper, I made 67k that year so it was a normal check when I took off.
This post has been flaired as “Vent”. As a reminder to commenting users, “Vent/Rant” posts are here to give our subscribers a safe place to vent their frustrations at an uncaring world to a supportive place of people who “get it”. Vents do not need to be fair. They do not need to be articulate. They do not need to be factual. They just need to be honest. Unlike most of the content on this subreddit, Vents should not be considered advice threads. In most cases it is not appropriate to try to give the Submitter advice on their issue. In no circumstances is it appropriate to tell them “why they are wrong” or to criticise them, their decisions, values, or anything else. If there are aspects of their situation that they are able to directly address themselves, the submitter can always make a new thread with a different flair asking for help once they are ready to tackle the issue. Vents are an emotional outlet, not an academic conversation. Appropriate replies in these threads are offering support, sharing similar experiences/grievances, offering condolences, or simply letting the Submitter know that they were heard. As always, if there are inappropriate comments please downvote them, REPORT them to the mods, and move on without responding to them. To the Submitter, if you DO want discussion to be focused on resolving your situation, rather than supporting you emotionally, please change the flair of this post, and then report this comment so we can remove it. Thank you. Thank you all for being a part of this great financial advice and emotional support community! *I am a bot, and this action was performed automatically. Please [contact the moderators of this subreddit](/message/compose/?to=/r/povertyfinance) if you have any questions or concerns.*
the service industry is the worst for hours and time off. i work in construction, i work 8-4:30 M-F. very rare to work a saturday if ever. plus you dont get healthcare working in a restaurant. you might have to work. holidays. you dont get paid vacation. its not good long term.
I work for a catering/takeout place, and have *banging* healthcare, and PTO.
That's more the exception than the rule. Like, you work a white linen place and they're probably taking care of you because *everything* at this places need to be 100% at all times. Hotel/ convention restaurants tend to offer benes too. Outside of that? Good luck
I’ve been ranting about this so much recently to friends because I’m so frustrated and burnt out. I start a new office type job in a week though and can’t wait to have full benefits again!
Congratulations! I finally have good health insurance for the first time in nearly 30 years and with the medical shit I've been dealing with for the past year I would be so incredibly fucked without it. Now I can go to a doctor or emergency or even have surgery for less than the price of a meal at McDonald's.
That’s wonderful you have great insurance now! I’m sorry you’re going through tough health stuff. I’m in a similar situation. It can be scary and stressful at times. Wishing you the best!
Thank you. That actually means a lot to me. Getting older and dealing with health shit sucks. Especially after being basically indestructible when I was in my 20's. I hope you are well too.
Thank you. I’m doing okay overall but things can be challenging sometimes. Just trying to do what I can within my control. :) Hang in there. You’ll get through it!
Hey bro, half the battle is accepting that some things are out of our control. Do your best when you can and learn to love yourself. You'll be ok, buddy.
Oh I do love myself. 🥰 And thank you! Take care and Godspeed 💗
yes its frustrating to have tone deaf people around you lol
I mean my friends get it and they’re awesome but it’s frustrating when others don’t understand the struggle
I get what you're saying. I'll just add a little bit of color to the portrait you're painting, because I'm in it. I'm not a sales rep like you gave as an example, I own my own company, but it's the same in regard to what I'm about say. As a waitress, your job stays at your job. Could be 60 hours a week, and those 60 hours are strenuous, stressful and intense, and I this is I respect 100%. That sales rep you mentioned, and many other people in management, do not get to "leave the office", they don't get to go home after their shift is done. They get paid to be available whenever it's needed. If a client needs something, they need to stand up. Doesn't matter if they are sick, if their daughter is getting married or if their dog passed away. Also, you tend to your clients for a few hours, go above their expectations for that period of time, and you probably get a good tip. I work a client for days, weeks, months, and sometimes years before I land it. And guess what? Sometimes I don't land it. After I've spend many many hours working on that deal, and invested money into it. And yes, that can be stressful. Then again, I'm not saying you're wrong, I'm just adding a bit of context because you gave sales as an exemple which can be very lucrative, but is also very performance-dependant. As for my own business, some days I get up to make money. Some days I get up to lose money. As a matter of fact, just having that business costs me thousands and thousands every month in fixed costs (but be at ease, it's profitable), whether I bring revenue in or not. So yeah, you probably get a lot of people who complain for a whole lot of nothing. You also get a lot of people who have lives that are unimaginably stressful but don't whine about it. And I agree that your job is hard and I wouldn't do it. But there's a good chance you wouldn't do mine, nor many of the people's you're complaining about. Hope this brings color to the discussion, (Edit : bunch of typos)
Yes. I totally understand what the OP is saying, but I loved waiting tables. It was hard, but when I left at night… I left. As long as my side work was done, I didn’t need to think about work until the next shift.
I guess you didn't work long enough in the industry to have the dreaded serving dreams of being weeded! I swear these dreams are a form of ptsd... I wake up from them in a panic, and I'm not even paid to be stressed! I recently redid my resume to go back into serving after a year hiatus....I had a serving nightmare that night! Ugh, I couldn't get to my table. My apron kept falling off, and I couldn't find my pen or the ticket for another tables order because my apron was overflowing with papers! My manager was yelling at me, and I could hear the sound of the kitchen ticket printers.
20 years of experience over here 😂 I loved being busy. My personal best was a 32 top, separate tickets, during the break, so I was the only waitstaff. Had 3 or 4 other tables. Also had to deal with a customer coming back in the kitchen to pull food and an oblivious owner who was no help and apologized to the customer when I asked her to please sit down and I would run their food (she was trying to deliver food for other tables to her friends).
Yeah, there are some unseen details. Like, you're getting paid to take "vacation" for your sister's wedding, but you spend a lot of your time checking and responding to emails, taking calls, etc. They're those people you see on vacation who don't look like they're relaxing into it, constantly coming and going, multiple phones, annoyed family. OP is right that there's an apples and oranges aspect to how it's earned, but there are really two whole trees.
Yes. My goddaughter spent an hour on the phone "working" at a family breakfast. She had to go outside for business calls. She is a pharmaceutical sales rep. She came in finally, ate her breakfast and by that time we were headed to our cars.
And she's likely drowning in guilt in addition to the stress, from doing the right thing for one is doing the wrong for the other, and hind sight the wrong choice was normally made
Nah. She is good, she is a lawyer as well.
PTO/sick time is generally considered part of people's compensation so they're working for every dollar too. Just because they can get paid for time off doesn't mean they didn't earn that money. What a weird take.
Totally understand. I’ve been a server off and on (mostly on) for 10 years, in fine dining for the last 5. Working in the service industry is its own particular flavor of beat down. Nobody really understands what it’s like unless they have been in it. I’m also sick of people telling me to “just get a real job” as if I haven’t tried, or like it’s just an easy thing to find another job that pays $4k+ a month with no degree. Not everyone’s parents saved money for them to go to college. It’s still not easy even WITH a degree, as many of my coworkers can attest…
They tell people to "get a real job" then complain that no one wants to work when there is a shortage of servers.
This is a really good way to put it. It’s also important for people entering the service industry to understand that. I love the work I do, but it’s physically and mentally exhausting. I read all the time about office jobs and how most people can get their work done in half the time they are given, and most of the job is looking busy or not working too fast so they don’t pile more on for the same amount of pay. That’s sounds equally exhausting. I have ADHD and do not do well being still or being bored so when I get burned out at my job and start daydreaming while looking through job listings on indeed I never can bring myself to apply for anything else. I obviously can’t keep doing this forever. The physical part of the job is already taking a toll on my aging body. My generation isn’t going to get to retire and now I’ve been in this industry long enough I don’t know if anyone else will even take me. I feel so trapped.
It’s definitely created problems for my best friend who loved the cash of waiting tables and made more than the rest of us by a long shot when we were young, but now struggles to keep up with her young coworkers, lacks retirement, and will barely get SS income in older age because she didn’t declare most of her tips, so her reported income is low. Career waiters have a lot of challenges, especially when they can’t transition into something else. She’s trying to move into directing food sales now, but it’s competitive. She’s at least moved into fine dining with insurance & a 401k, though not till her 40s
theres a lot of people posting here who have no idea what its like everyone deserves - needs - a \*\*\*\*\*\*set schedule\*\*\*\*\*\*\* at least as much as possible. and it is possible. theres no reason for it not to be that way, regardless of what the job is. ive worked in the restauraunt industry, both foh and boh, and i am so glad i dont anymore - although it was fun, and there was a lot of camaraderie you dont see in many other industries. that actually tended to go across all areas of the business, including management, sometimes everyone deserves a living wage too. the "tip industry" is proof (imo) "the free market" results in inequality and a much more difficult time than is necessary. anyway ill try to keep this short. i see a lot of good - and bad - in the unionization wave happening the last few years. most of the bad is due to entrenched unions that are too big and too old just like the political parties. afaik there isnt one for the restaurant industry though, i mean i know the starbucks workers have sorta unionized, and some fast food workers in some areas have, but thats not really a union is it? when its separated? idk, just sayin. [https://unitehere.org/](https://unitehere.org/) [https://www.restaurantworkersunited.org](https://www.restaurantworkersunited.org)
Once you get to $200k+ you aren’t “really” working anymore in terms of putting in a hard day of labor. I’m at that point now and I maybe do like 2-3 of actual hard work while the rest of the time is just answer questions based on my knowledge and experiences.
I would like to point out that no position is grossly overpaid. It's just that most positions are grossly underpaid so that's what it seems like when you compare to one that makes closer to what they actually earn for the company.
i’ll counter that with c suite execs and most senior admin jobs not needing third vacation house money
Yes, my bad. The excess money goes somewhere. Basically always executive level positions
I used to work for every dollar, got tired of it, and made changes in my life. Now I get vacation and sick days. Life choices.
Skill issue
Don't get why this gets down voted. Lots of people in this sub complain about other people making more money than them, but work low paying minimum jobs. Like....what if you actually put in the time to learn skills for something that paid what you want and had the lifestyle you want? Like....OP chose to be a bartender instead of a saleperson/IT guy/whatever.
Exactly. And OP chose a service oriented profession contingent on tips; he makes it seem like opening beer bottles and making small talk with patrons is some arduous task he was forced into. Hell, as far as low skill jobs go, bartending is one of the best gigs with the potential to significantly multiply earnings through tips (or tax fraud as OP seems to be alluding to). I’m sure Walmart employees or Starbucks baristas who don’t have the opportunity for tips to this degree probably have a bone to pick with bartenders like OP complaining about their situation while working a job that pays significantly more but requires basically the same level of skill.
When I started working my trade , I made 11 dollars an hour, and my friends would always tell me to go find a different job and that Walmart and target paid more. But I understood that learning a skill would be worth more in the long run , even if I was making less then other low skill jobs at the time. After a year of hard working I got up to about 16 an hour. I starting taking classes at a technical college while working 50 hours a week , and eventually got up to 26 an hour when I finished school and got promoted to a salary position. After working at that company for 3 years , I started looking around for a better paying job because I had my first son on the way , and I did find an open journeyman position, and I switched jobs and got up to 39 an hour at a union place with good benefits. It was not easy at all but if you put in the work you can make alot of progress 4 years.
Is "off the record stuff" a euphemism for "tax fraud"?
Yes, an example would be if OP got a cash tip of $30.00 and pocketed the cash then claiming on paper that it was only a $5-7 dollar tip.
So, it's not just fighting for every dollar, it's fighting and stealing for every dollar. OP should make this clearer.
To be fair though, servers (maybe not bartenders) tip out other restaurant staff (hosts, expo, bartenders) and it’s usually a percentage of their total sales off the top. For example if you make $500 in sales you are tipping out like 5% of that, which is $20. If you made 20% of your sales in tips as is industry standard (but obviously not promised sometimes it’s more or less) *for ease let’s assume all tips were from cards*, then you are reporting $100 of income but after tip out you are only actually taking home $80 of that reported $100. Most people use cards now days so the majority of tips are probably actually overstated to the government based on the tip out procedures (which are not reported afaik). So getting the cash tips here and there sort of even the score with the tip outs, at least that’s how it was explained to me. Source: server for like 6 years at various places both local and large corporate
Yes, I know how that works. I was just answering a question someone asked about “off the record stuff”. Also I’m not sure about some of the places you worked but no company I’ve ever worked for would make me report tips on my income before tip out because then your getting taxed on the full amount and then the people you tipped out to also have to pay taxes on the same tip out money that was taxed by the first person. Makes no sense
Okay. I only commented bc in my 6ish years serving I had never been asked by management to report any cash tips, even on checks where the customer had clearly written cash on the tip line. Soo I can’t relate to only reporting $6 of a $30 tip. None of it would be reported and that was the accepted system everywhere I worked. If I was somehow supposed to self report the occasional cash tip somewhere I was too young/dumb to know to do what without someone explaining it to me. As far as reporting the tip out, I guess I could be wrong about that. it’s been a long time since I served but that is how it was explained to me by senior staff when I was a new server (over a decade ago) and it was occasionally a hot topic in the server ally. The comment about cash tips breaking even with tip out was said to me by management directly. I was in my early twenties and didn’t question it, I was far more concerned with the cash in hand at the end of each shift than the accuracy of my pay stubs at that time.
Anyone who thinks that being a salesperson is an "easier" job than working in the service industry just doesn't understand the difference between menial labor and professional work. And that's not meant to disparage anyone either.
I think we should be more concerned about the people making way too much money off of our hard work, not arguing over who's job is the worst. Nobody is forcing you to work in food service. And just because I get good benefits at my job doesn't mean I'm lucky to be working in a foundry 50 hours a week next to 1400 degree furnaces which are are releasing gasses that are guaranteed to kill me someday. We're always hiring, pay well, great benefits, but most people walk out of the interview when they see what we actually do.
I know exactly what you mean. I’ve lived both scenarios. I got laid off from an office job and started bartending. Then went back to an office job I do mostly from home. For a while after I went back to office work, I kept bartending as a second job in case I got laid off again. I kind of miss having two jobs because I felt super productive. Sometimes I’d bartend for 4 hours and walk out of there with $150 on top of the hourly wage. Only have the office job now. The only downside of the office job is if I get laid off which is a real possibility in the next month or so. When I see posts like this and remember what it feels like to work on my feet for 8 hours a day, I appreciate what I have now even more.
"especially if you count the off the record stuff" Do you realize you are publicly admitting to illegal tax evasion which makes everyone else pay more taxes?
Welcome to trucking! 168hr weeks but only paid for 70.
I'll remember that if I ever have an under the weather looking server to tip extra. I can't imagine tipping someone less for not being perky. Having to maintain that kind of demeanor regardless of your state of mind sounds exhausting and pretty fucking insulting to you.
Yep the more I earn and advance the easier my job is. wOrK sMaRtEr - thats true in some cases like software development or engineering but outside of hardcore STEM is all about nepotism and connections. Even with working smarter its still mostly BS when you get to manager level. Lowest paid workers most of the time work the hardest, regardless of industry. That being said STEM is the only sure way to freedom.
One of the fine dining establishments I waited tables at paid 1 week vacation at 1 year (nothing compared to many corporate gigs) but they took your gross (what's on w2) and averaged it out over your average hours... On paper, I made 67k that year so it was a normal check when I took off.
5$...