Reply #56: Actually, most wait staff are paid much less than the minimum wage hourly--

[beac]

often refereed to as "waitresses minimum wage"-- about $2.50 an hour. The idea is that the tips will bring their hourly up to and over the required minimum. Some days it does, some days it doesn't.

Most restaurants require waitstaff and bartenders to report 10-15% of their sales in tips. Again, sometimes that means they are putting down for less than they actually got, but most of the time it's about right b/c, sadly, there are a lot of shitty tippers out there.

I worked in the restaurant business for years, doing everything from cooking to waiting to managing and I can tell you that restaurant workers are not getting rich on unreported tips. That argument reminds me of Dick Cheney claiming that the economy was doing super-terrific b/c of all the money people were making on ebay.

And the tax on whatever percentage waiters/bartenders are currently not taxed on is a drop in the ocean of tax-free cash washing over GE and the super-rich.



And, thanks for recognizing that waiting tables is, indeed, hard work. :applause: Even though I am no longer in the biz, I always appreciate a customer who "gets it."