In this week’s Field Report: A push to improve federal food purchasing heats up, the first food-focused COP kicks off, dust storms accelerate, and new evidence suggests that fair-trade certifications are failing to protect farmworkers.
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February 10, 2014
1. The real minimum wage in the U.S. is $2.13 an hour.
The regular hourly minimum wage is a paltry $7.25 an hour. If you earn tips, your only hourly guarantee is $2.13.
2. It’s been $2.13 since 1991. That’s pretty much before the internet was a thing.
3. In 1991, this is what the Olsen sisters looked like.
4. And this guy, his pants and timeless dance moves ruled the airwaves.
5. The tipped minimum wage was on track to increase in 1996, but Herman Cain, then head of the corporate restaurant lobby—the National Restaurant Association—swooped in to block it.
At the behest of the National Restaurant Association, he brokered a deal with Congress, allowing the regular minimum wage to increase so long as the tipped minimum wage stayed put at $2.13 an hour … forever.
6. More than 70 percent of servers are women.
In the restaurant industry, five million workers are women. Two million of them have children, one million have kids under the age of 18.
7. The restaurant industry is the single largest source of sexual harassment charges filed by women with the Equal Employment Opportunity Commission (EEOC), accounting for 37 percent of all claims.
That’s more than five times the rate for the general female workforce.
8. In addition to being the largest low-wage industry in the country, it’s also the largest employer of people of color.
9. The restaurant industry provides six of the 10 worst paying jobs in the country.
And the two absolute lowest paying jobs. Yum! (Source: Department of Labor.)
10. Servers use food stamps at double the rate of the rest of the U.S. workforce.
They’re also three times as likely to fall below the poverty line.
11. And most servers are employed by corporate chains like Red Lobster, Olive Garden, and Applebee’s.
Although some servers make great money, most don’t. A server’s median pay is just $8.00 an hour (including tips).
12. Servers typically get $0 paychecks.
…which means they’re living off tips.
13. But aren’t employers required by law to pay their tipped workers at least minimum wage when tips fall short?
Yes, but most don’t. In fact, enforcement is so weak and disorganized that an average employer has just a 0.001 percent chance of being investigated in a given year. And most restaurant workers don’t make enough to money to afford taking their employers to court. (Source: Economic Policy Institute)
14. Tips aren’t something “extra,” they’re the majority of a server’s wage.
Living off tips means you’re quite literally living shift-to-shift. Your wages can fluctuate based on a customer’s “belief” in tipping, your physical appearance or that day’s snow storm.
15. The corporate restaurant industry pretty much figured out how to avoid paying wages altogether.
The biggest chains (like Red Lobster, Olive Garden, Applebee’s) actually operate at an expense to the consumer (a la WalMart) because their employees depend on public subsidies to make ends meet.
16. Naturally, servers are FED UP.
They’re joining the Living off Tips campaign to demand Congress take action and raise the tipped minimum wage. It’s time for one Fair Wage!
For more information, see ROC’s reports: Tipped Over the Edge – Gender Inequity in the Restaurant Industry and Realizing the Dream – How the Minimum Wage Impacts Racial Equity in the Restaurant Industry and In America.
This post originally appeared on Buzzfeed.
November 29, 2023
In this week’s Field Report: A push to improve federal food purchasing heats up, the first food-focused COP kicks off, dust storms accelerate, and new evidence suggests that fair-trade certifications are failing to protect farmworkers.
November 28, 2023
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I have been served by folks who don't much care for what they are doing and some who padded the check, some substituted wines by the glass. Some just got the order wrong. On the other hand some Servers go out of their way to learn to give better service by actually knowing what is on the menu.
Right now the Restaurant Industry is not doing as well as many beleive. Is this really the right time to try to get the Feds involved in this?
BTW. At one time I did work in the business. When I did act as a Server, I made more money that any of the managers. Servers can make alot of money if they put forth some honest effort.
To site only the worst examples of low earnings concerning restarurant servers is a disservice to them all.
I have friends who are servers, and they get really good tips, especially when they work for big chains.
Servers do live off their tips so I would encourage everyone who eats at restaurants to be generous when their server is taking care of them well. And don't forget to remember to be kind!
In the end it depends on where you live, whether your employer is treating you right, and if your area does good business. Being a waiter at a golf course or wealthy county is very different than being a waiter in the cheapest place on the bad side of town.
Anyway, anecdotes aren't going to win this argument. The truth is that the statistics are saying it all. If it's true that waiters are 2x more likely to be on food stamps, then it can't be going well for everyone in the industry.....
However, I pay rent, bills, and am drowning in loans that I have to pay back for all of the schooling I attended.
Like I said I make a decent amount of money during the spring and summer. That doesn't translate over to the winter where most customers we get are tourist that don't know they are expected to tip 20%.
In addition, using the same math as a previous commentor, I have 4 tables that have watched tipped me $5 with an hour. Then correct I have $20 in total tips before I tip out. I then proceed to tip out 38% in my restaurant which gets divided between the busser, food runner, and bartender as their tips for the day. So that is $8 sent back to the other employees that have a job in serving a patron their meal. A server is the face that you see but clearly other people are involved in making sure you have a good dining experience. So in this scenario, I have only made $12 in this hour you speak of and not your assumed $20.
Most restaurants pool tips or use a tip out system because clearly if you order a cappuccino or margarita your sever is not running beyond the bar to make it.
Partons needs to stop assuming that the server is taking home every penny in that $2 left on a $20 check because that's not the case. People also should stop making judgements as to why a server chooses to be a server.
With that being said, I admit most companies, nearly none actually, offer any type of benefits like this. So as unreal as it may seem , many hardworking americans are living on $2.13 an hour. Plus tips if your feeling generous. So please, dont forget to tip your waiter.