Originally Posted by
emma69
In the UK minimum wage is pretty similar in its purpose to the US minimum wage - it is what the government deems is enough to live on when you work a regular working week. It is based on things like cost of living, rate of inflation etc. At current exchange rates, it is around $9 US an hour, and then you pay tax, national insurance etc. on that.
I'm not sure how it is in the UK or Canada, but in the US many minimum wage and other low paid service jobs do not come with 40 hours a week. Employers and managers are quite keen to keep from paying overtime and keep hours well below 40 to avoid having to do so even in an emergency situation. It is far easier to earn a living wage through the tipping system, especially if you are good at it and capable of squeezing the extra % out of your customers through friendly, efficient service. Just something to think about.
On the subject of tip-outs (tip sharing as opposed to tip pooling), I always found it ironic to be stiffed by a server (I worked as a busboy in highschool) who would b**** and moan about cheap customers when I could keep track of the cash left on her tables as I cleared them (it was an almost 100% cash economy back in the 60's). Busboys made the server minimum and then got 10% of the servers' tips on the honor system. We knew when we were being treated dishonestly, but the servers were our customers and you know whose tables were cleared last the next night after a stiffing.
