Originally Posted by
VidaNaPraia
Quite right. I stand corrected. There's been a significant raise in server pay. In Massachusetts, one of the most expensive places in the country to live, state law currently says "Tipped employees (meaning those who receive more than $20 a month in tips) may be paid a service rate of $3.00 per hour."
Biiiiiiiiiig difference! That 50 cents per hour makes it soooooo much easier to live on. Don't need tips to live well on 3 bucks an hour, being stiffed by someone who the server has treated well during a U$150 breakfast.
Ugh, the way we pay tipped employees in this country is insane. I'd be so happy to get rid of the whole system. I had a lot of friends who worked through college making $2.13 per hour plus tips. The $2.13 pretty much always goes to taxes, so tips are literally all they take home. A slow day and bad tables leads to making almost nothing. Of course they did it for the good days, but it's hard to have such a variable income.