Karelia

why do people tip at drive-thru window at Sonic drive-in fast food restaurants?

I've never been to one until recently because there isn't one near where I live.

I drove to the drive-thru lane and placed my order. When I pulled up to the
drive-thru pick-up window, I noticed the lady in the card ahead of me handing
them what looked like two or three dollar bills as tip. Confused, I asked the
employee if that was a tip. She replied that it was because they only get
$4.25/hour, just like real restaurant waiters. I can understand it for
customers who get served and eat in their cars at one of those drive-in
stalls. However, I don't get why I need to tip when I'm just using drive-thru.
I tipped her a couple bucks anyway.

My co-workers told me that they all tip, even at drive-thru windows at Sonic.
They thought that it was odd that I even brought up this question.

Is Sonic the only restaurant where you have to tip the drive-thru workers?

candiru

If they are getting paid less than minimum wage, as waitstaff, it seems reasonable to tip them. Pretty crappy company, that's for sure.

InTokyo

That is ridiculous! I would never tip at a fast food restaurant and certainly not at a drive-thru. Never heard of anyone who has either.

lhrsfo

There is no service at fast food outlets so why tip?

Hoch

With such a low hourly rate I can see why the drive - in workers like the tip, if true. Regardless, I would never tip drive thru workers. They haven't done anything extra.

H

Moderator2

Karella, can you let us know what state this was in? I'm curious to look up the state laws on coding people as waitstaff.

dolcevita

Sonic has a drive-through? The ones I've seen were all drive-ins.

No service - no reason to tip. Keep the change, perhaps, especially in cold weather, but I don't see an obligation.

Karelia

The state where an ex-governor and his wife wer just convicted of multiple corruption charges by a federal jury. (it's south of the People's Republic of Maryland)

I was actually not surprised. The Outback(a.k.a. fake Australian) restaurants there also pay less than 1/3 of the minimum wage to employees who work only at the to-go counter. I do tip them because I knew they depend on tips top make up for the low wages.

Not to take this even further off-topic.... but I also have a neighbor who works for a high-end department store(which I'll refer to as N****m M****s so I don't somehow get her in trouble). The store management routinely make employees work 1 hour less per month by "accidentally" shorting their work schedule on a regular basis, so they can't qualify for health insurance and have to get either Medicaid or buy insurance off Healthcare.gov). That's just cheap and downright illegal(but I guess they know how to to bend the law as much as possible without breaking it, but still....)

wrp96

Several Sonic's where I live have drive throughs in addition to stalls. We have one Sonic though, that due to opposition from neighbors about possible noise, doesn't have any stalls at all, but you either use the drive through, or park and go into the building to order - just like at a normal fast food restaurant.

Often1

People tend to overthink this stuff. There is tipping and there is tipping. Leaving the change or a couple of bucks on a larger order is hardly some major deal.

Moderator2

The minimum wage in the state in question is actually $7.25/hour. However the restaurant can pay servers as low as $2.13/hour directly, but have to make up the difference if their tips do not bring them to the $7.25 rate. My guess is that Sonic has calculated that $4.25 is the proper base wage for that particular role. There may even be some sort of tip pooling going on for people working the windows.

Fact is the federal minimum wage is $7.25. The "make-up" rule applies in any state where a server is paid less than the benchmark.

http://www.dol.gov/elaws/faq/esa/flsa/002.htm

gooselee

1. The people working the Sonic drive thru are probably the same ones serving the drive-in customers, which is how they are being classified as workers that receive a tipped wage.

2. It is not illegal to set an employees schedule to a certain number of hours for whatever reason (seasonal business volume, general slowdown, whatever). The hours requirement in ACA unfortunately means that many businesses now choose to restrict the schedules of their employees to keep them benefits ineligible. It is an unfortunate double-whammy of those who the law was most trying to assist being harmed further by its real-world implications.

fwoomp

I looked at the same Dept. Of Labor site you did. However, I wonder if the $4.25 rate is being calculated or "calculated" by Sonic. Are the window staff really making up the rest of minimum wage in tips? I have my doubts.

Tipping at the drive-thru seems completely bizarre to me. However, I'm not everyone, so I poked around to see if there's been some sort of cultural shift I missed (tip-twerking?). What I learned was:

• most people think tipping at the drive-thru is weird. Exceptions: Starbucks (reasons usually cited: making the coffee can be complex so there's a value-add, already used to it), and Tim Horton's. (Note that OP did not experience this in Canada or a northern border state.)
• some people go to Sonic drive-thrus to avoid having to tip car-hops--so presumably they aren't tipping window staff
• there's some question about whether even carhops should get tips, which makes a tip pool with them seem like a lousy deal, too

My arm-chair lawyering verdict: seems pretty sketchy to me. I would love to see Sonic's actual numbers justifying this.

fwoomp

If that's true (same group alternate car-hop/window) the $4.25 figure might actually work out. Wonder what the rate is for drive-thru only outlets?

JackInThePlane

The tip topic always seems to beat to death. In most cases, there is certainly no obligation ever to tip except, in the most common instance, where it is a standard to add for large group checks.

You're intelligent enough to realize that it is more likely than not a low paying job at Sonic. Social and cultural mores aside, if you have the wherewithal it's alright to help a guy out that is trying to earn a living. Really - it's okay. If you choose not to, that alright as well.

It's okay to help somebody out just because you can.