To tip or not to tip---NOT at Beyond the Bull
I recently watched an interview with the author of a book,
the objective of which was the defense of the argument to raise the tipped
minimum wage. The tipped minimum wage is
the hourly wage earned by servers in the food industry and has remained the
same for more than twenty years at $ 2.13.
Yes, it sounds low and when all of the arguments for raising it compare
that wage to the federal minimum wage which at the time of publication is fixed
at $ 7.25, it sounds even more ominous.
But, what proponents of the increase do not tell you is that
the $ 2.13 is just a portion of the server’s wage. As anyone knows who has ever eaten at a
restaurant that has tableside service, the customer is expected to leave a
tip. Nowadays, it is customary for the
tip to be at least 20% of the cost of food and beverage. That means, the total wage is $ 2.13 per hour
plus tip. In other words, the restaurateur guarantees
to pay the $ 2.13 per hour (enough to cover taxes) and the remainder comes from
the customer. And since the cost of
eating out has kept up with the increase in the cost of living, the server’s
tips must therefore, also, have increased accordingly. After all, 20% of a steak sandwich costing $
5.00 twenty years ago would have meant a tip of $ 1.00, but 20% of a steak
sandwich costing $ 20.00 today would mean a tip of $ 4.00.
Yes, there are many servers who are living at or below
poverty level, just as many as there are retail clerks, domestic helpers and
hotel workers. But, if they are working
in those positions, they are being paid wages in accordance with the skill
level required. In the restaurant
industry, tipped workers are truly paid for performance. A well trained, experienced, knowledgeable server,
one who lands a job at a high end fine dining establishment, one who knows how
to up-sell and provide first class service, will and should earn more than a
server in a short order diner. Raising
the minimum tipped wage might help
the server working at the diner. Or, as
many economists believe, raising the minimum tipped wage might just eliminate some of those jobs altogether.
The other “tipping” debate is whether or not to eliminate
tipping altogether and replace it with higher hourly wages. The argument to eliminate tipping is that if servers
are paid an hourly wage based on the minimum hourly wage or performance, doing
so would bring foodservice workers out of the poverty status. My years of business experience lead me to
believe that performance based compensation is the better choice of the two, in
order to ensure that the higher the skill that is required and the better the
performance, the higher the wage, as it should be in any industry.
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| Chimichurri leg of lamb platter, fresh tomato salsa and cucumber yogurt dipping sauce |
Whatever the outcome of the ever ongoing debate, here in
Central at Beyond the Bull, the
debate is over. Our policy is no tipping! I am often asked why? My answer is this, for fast and casual counter
service, whether the guest is being served a sandwich, burrito, salad, hot
dog, burger, pizza or a platter of chimichurri leg of lamb, it
is NOT tableside service, and therefore, NO tip should be expected. If you pick up your order and throw away your
disposable dishes, the only tip that we
at Beyond the Bull expect is that you
tip others off to try us out.
Buon Appetito e Buona Salute, Chef Angela
Bell
Beyond the Bulll (an "eat smart" kitchen)
233 W. Main St., Central, SC 29630
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