Lynn's Paradise Kerfuffle

WOW! That is all I can say...

I can not imagine telling employees how much money they have to come to work with.

http://louisville.eater.com/archives/20 ... radise.php

[Robin Garr]

Been out grazing the astroturf, Richard?

I saw this on FB. She's trying to get Eric Flack to investigate. I'm sure he won't, there's no crime or labor violation. Naturally people were piling on about Lynn. I don't her, so I don't have an opinion on that.

Ah, I just now clicked on the link and that makes my previous post redundant.

Been out grazing the astroturf, Richard?

Actually I have been hearing about this for a couple days...

Find it interesting that it has gone all public. What I don't understand is why wait staff have to 'pay' part of bus boys and dishwashers wages by sharing tips. What they aren't going to clean up a table cause you don't share.

If I ever ran a restaurant I would have to give some serious consideration to not allowing tipping. I would pay staff a decent wage and expect decent work from them.

You have to wonder if places like Volare, Lynn's, Olive Garden or Rye would add on 15-18 percent more to the menu prices and simply pay the staff 11-14 an hour based on work ethic and time of employment and such like other private businesses do, would they make it and would they have some good help.

I would certainly look at the numbers and see.

I don't recall a time during my thankfully brief time as a server when I had $100 liquid, much less that much to bring to work to give away.

Sheesh. This is why I'm back of house.

All I can say is..wow. I was wondering why I've been seeing them post job positions a lot lately on Craigslist. I seriously thought about going in to apply, good thing I didn't. The restaurants that I've worked at required us to carry at least $20 cash only so we can give out change to patrons. For them to carry $100 every day so they can tip out the bussers, food runners, etc..well that's just insane. Thank you for posting this and I will remember NOT to apply for a job there.

Yeah, it's crazy shady. I know there are several restaurants around town that won't pay out credit card tips daily and the income is received via check form. However, in those cases the restaurant approximates tip out by server sales. That amount is then deducted from the servers' checks and redistributed to the other tipped positions.

I have never heard of servers being required to bring in cash to tip other people. The idea of going to work is to make money not give it away. If the restaurant isn't going to pay me ALL of my tips on a daily basis, then asking me to pay out other people is ridiculous.

And the nonsense about Obamacare also rubs me the wrong way. Using your right wing paranoia to institute half baked policies that are of serious detriment to your staff is just plain stupid.

Been out grazing the astroturf, Richard?

If I ever ran a restaurant I would have to give some serious consideration to not allowing tipping. I would pay staff a decent wage and expect decent work from them.

You have to wonder if places like Volare, Lynn's, Olive Garden or Rye would add on 15-18 percent more to the menu prices and simply pay the staff 11-14 an hour based on work ethic and time of employment and such like other private businesses do, would they make it and would they have some good help.
.

I want to make this into a Condescending Wonka meme. Something like...

Oh really? Tell me more about how you're going to make barely profitable businesses more successful by tripling their payroll costs.

Been out grazing the astroturf, Richard?

I want to make this into a Condescending Wonka meme. Something like...

Oh really? Tell me more about how you're going to make barely profitable businesses more successful by tripling their payroll costs.

You needed to put the full quote in there. I said I would have to run the numbers. But, European restaurants don't expect you to tip servers. They pay them a good wage. I know, I know, not all but most do.

And if you added 18% to your menu prices and then didn't allow tipping, you could fairly quickly figure out the wages you could pay.

$2.17 an hours plus tips

or

server handles 4 tables an hour... average check is 70 dollars... 18% is ROUGHLY $50 an hour... That is 2% less than tipping my normal 20%... Anyone making that an hour?

CRICKETS....

Again explain to me why I as a server have to give bus boys who work for the restaurant part of my tips? I might maybe could understand almost why an expediter handling my tables should be given a bit, but I would guess they are getting minimum wage +... like a hostess does..

And what's a bartender get per hour in a place like Dittos or Applebees? Is that a PLUS TIPS position as well? If so I can see why waitstaff might pony up a bit for the bartender making them drinks not on his register.

$2.17 an hours plus tips

or

server handles 4 tables an hour... average check is 70 dollars... 18% is ROUGHLY $50 an hour... That is 2% less than tipping my normal 20%... Anyone making that an hour?

CRICKETS....

Again explain to me why I as a server have to give bus boys who work for the restaurant part of my tips? I might maybe could understand almost why an expediter handling my tables should be given a bit, but I would guess they are getting minimum wage +... like a hostess does..

.

Your theoretical income is based around a $70 check average and apparently a I one hour turnover time. You also have to understand that those sections will only be full during peak hours. So that theoretical $50 an hour is only happening for a few hours and only IF you turn those tables.

Also it is not mandatory to tip out other employees. Several chains have got their asses in a sling over just that issue. But we do it anyway because its the way the system works. Servers and bartenders take in the most income in the restaurant and tipping out a relatively small percentage is not really a big deal when you're making pretty great money per hour (hopefully)

And $50 an hour isn't unheard of in this industry. I'd say the high end servers average $30 to $35 an hour based on a six hour dinner shift. No one in that position would be interested in going to the system you are proposing.

So, how DO the restaurants overseas manage payment? When I was in Paris and London, (where typically you don't tip) conversations with some servers indicated a waiting list to become a server in some restaurants. In some cases, server positions were bequeathed within families. I have to agree with Richard - there's got to be a better way than tipping. And, like Gary, I am so very tired of every business problem being blamed on Obamacare. Geesch!

I am a bit confused.. did they ask the server to bring in 100$ of her own money to tip out the bussers? That seems weird.

When I worked at the Half Shell Raw Bar in Key West, the servers, bartenders, etc (all those making tips) donated like 1 or 2% each night and the kitchen staff got a "waitress bonus" at the end of the month. It was a nice perk but granted that place grossed thousands per night but I always like it. But again, I have always been in BOH not on the floor.

Paying all employees an hourly wage would be awesome until that first quarterly payroll tax bill hits. What about an hourly wage plus a flat tip out based on gross sales? I dunno if that would work but I agree it would be nice to see an upward, positive shift in how servers get paid. The 2.13 an hour always seemed... difficult to me.

I want to make this into a Condescending Wonka meme. Something like...

Oh really? Tell me more about how you're going to make barely profitable businesses more successful by tripling their payroll costs.

Because you would be raising their income correspondingly to offset the additional staff costs. The problem would be educating the public You would also have to have a good staff that didn't take advantage of not having their income based on tips.

I would say in Europe there are two classes of servers. Professionals, who are really good at what they do and get a fixed percentage of the take, and students and part-timers who get probably on average €8.50 or around $11 an hour but with rather low tips (depending on the country). The latter class sometimes gives abysmally bad service bo be careful what you wish for.

On edit: Southern European hourly wages are probably lower than that and remember a lot of places are family owned and the whole family works in front and back for whatever wage the family patriarch decides.