Omaha Steve is still alive.
The link:
http://www.democraticunderground.com/1017235101The OP:
Omaha Steve (45,409 posts)
$2.13 an hour means widespread sexual harassment in the restaurant industry
http://www.dailykos.com/story/2014/12/26/1346536/--2-13-an-hour-means-widespread-sexual-harassment-in-the-restaurant-industry
FRI DEC 26, 2014 AT 03:20 PM PST
$2.13 an hour means widespread sexual harassment in the restaurant industry
Women make up 66 percent of all tipped restaurant workers, which means a federal minimum wage of $2.13 an hour, a rate that hasn't changed in two decades. That means they live in or near poverty at high rates and are vulnerable to harassment both from managers and coworkers and from the customers on whom they depend for the tips that account for most of their income. According to a report from the Restaurant Opportunities Centers:
This dynamic contributes to the restaurant industry’s status as the single largest source of sexual harassment claims in the U.S. While seven percent of American women work in the restaurant industry, more than a third (an eye-opening 37 percent) of all sexual harassment claims to the Equal Employment Opportunity Commission (EEOC) come from the restaurant industry.
The report found that 90 percent of women working for tips in the restaurant industry had experienced harassment, with much higher rates in states that have the $2.13 subminimum wage for tipped workers than in states that pay the full minimum wage.
According to one woman:
As a young woman who was dependent on tips, I felt a constant pressure to dress and act in ways I didn’t always feel totally comfortable with. This meant heels, make-up, close-fitting outfits—but it’s hard to maintain that ultra positive, friendly attitude the job requires while still standing up at the front for hours and hours in stilettos, usually doubling up on bussing tables for busier shifts. Especially as a woman, I couldn’t get tips if I didn’t embody a certain appeal. And a lot of the time my experience on the job was sort of demoralizing–I fielded a lot of sexist behavior, and it made me feel awful because I felt as if I could either have an income or a sense of self-respect.
It's crazy that the restaurant industry has been able to persuade lawmakers to preserve such a low wage for so many years. If there's a move to raise the minimum wage where you live, push to have tipped workers included.
Now right off the top of my head this should be a boring bonfire, right?
Well maybe not...
BlueJazz (20,986 posts)
1. Two dollars and thirteen cents is a disgrace. I don't care what business I owned, I just..
...couldn't pay my help that low.
If you had a business. Which you don't.
pipoman (13,739 posts)
2. Even if their average hourly wage with tips
Was higher than any other job in the business?
ALERT!!!!
BlueJazz (20,986 posts)
4. Yep. The tips are extra. If it's a slow week, I'll eat the loss. If the business fails, it fails..
...but, at least, I can sleep at night.
Somebody else may feel free or think otherwise and act accordingly. I have no problem with that.
I'm not the holy judge.
The business would not get off the ground. Restaurant work is damned hard. Owning one is even harder. Dummie wouldn't make it two days.
pipoman (13,739 posts)
7. How valant
And silly. Waiting tables isn't easy...neither is cooking, washing dishes, bussing tables, or hostessing. My wait staff average hourly rate with tips in November (and consistently) was $14.50. Average hourly for cooks is $12...
"If the business fails, it fails.."
How cavalier. ...and sounds like someone never responsible for a business. Ten full time people depend on their paycheck to pay their bills and feed their families. ..not to mention 30 part time people. ...
ALERT!!!!!!
BlueJazz (20,986 posts)
10. I'd give them plenty to live on for awhile. Remember I said "I feel that way"
No..I didn't earn it. I inherited it.
"sounds like someone never responsible for a business" You got me. Now you know why I don't have a business.
Plus I've said too much on this forum....
If I am reading this correctly...Dummie practically admits he could not own a business and admits he probably has never had a job. Bet he never donates any of his inherited wealth.
Control-Z (9,843 posts)
5. But it's not.
Last edited Sun Dec 28, 2014, 10:11 PM - Edit history (1)
There is an automatic assumption that each tab will be tipped accordingly and the amount of the bill is reported to the IRS. The waitress has to pay taxes on an assumed amount. If she gets stiffed or less than is expected she still pays taxes on that amount. So, let's say she waits on a table of 10 college boys who run up a tab of say, 400.00, but leave no tip (you know how alcohol can get in the way of manners). She still has to pay taxes on the amount she should have been tipped. Not to mention the harassment she's bound to receive from a group like that.
Your assumption is ridiculous.
Yep.
pipoman (13,739 posts)
6. I don't know where you're talking about
It isn't that way in my state or Colorado. Wait staff declare tips at the end of the shift. I have never heard of any places doing what you're describing, frankly I don't believe it is even legal.
I have made no assumption, I manage a restaurant and server's average hourly wage including tips are consistently the highest in the restaurant...to the point I can't keep hostesses, they all move to wait after a month or two.
I have.
Control-Z (9,843 posts)
8. Do you do the restaurant's taxes? (nt)
Catfight in the making?
pipoman (13,739 posts)
9. I manage a very large budget
Including a restaurant and 5 health care food service kitchens/dining rooms, my assistant is a CPA and I report to the CFO (also a CPA)...I approve every paycheck and weekly, monthly, quarterly, and annual report. I'll ask my assistant if she has ever heard of this.
Suuure you do.
Control-Z (9,843 posts)
11. That would be great!
Check back once you've inquired. It kind of sounds like the particular restaurant you work for has found a way to make it more fair to their help. RE: Meeting the real minimum wage if not met with tips.
"States with lower tipped worker hourly rate still require the restaurant to guarantee non-tip minimum wage. IOW, if at the end of the shift when tips are declared the server doesn't make at least minimum wage the employer has to make up the difference."
Even then, think about it. Minimum wage for grueling work. They tip the busboys, bartenders and cooks out of their tips. And still, depending on the customers' tab and tip, they still may be paying taxes on money never earned. Some restaurants add 10% gratuity for a table with 8 or more people to help make up the deficit.
Nice way to put the idiot in his place.
pipoman (13,739 posts)
3. Just to be clear....
States with lower tipped worker hourly rate still require the restaurant to guarantee non-tip minimum wage. IOW, if at the end of the shift when tips are declared the server doesn't make at least minimum wage the employer has to make up the difference.
Not when I was working in the business. Might have changed. Dunno.
Now this is funny....
Control-Z (9,843 posts)
12. I once worked at a character theme
restaurant. Each waiter/waitress had her/his own character, chosen by management. I was a Dallas Cowboys Cheerleader. The top of my white shorts came way below the hip and were so short they just barely covered my butt. I wore a shorty short little vest top with a star on each boob and high healed white boots. That's it. And this was a family restaurant. Some of the costumes fully covered the waiter/waitress. They based our costumes on our size and what we looked like in the costume.
Some guy actually bit me on the ass one night when I bent over to set down his drink. He and his friends got a good laugh out of that.
There was never a day that I made enough money in tips to make up for the kind of treatment I had to put up with.
So the dummie is saying that:
1. It is a family themed restaurant
2. The dummie was dressed as a Dallas Cowboy Cheerleader with her ass hanging out and some guy bit her on the ass
That is it for now. I'm betting it will grow into a large bonfire.
