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she comps their meals. Table one gets their check and leaves a 3% tip. Table two leaves a 10% tip, table three leaves no tip and a note that blames you for the bad food.
Table four gets their meal for free, because your manager never charges her friends to eat there, but leaves you ten dollars.

This repeats itself 3-4 times per night. You are 'cut' at 8:15pm. You are forced to do 'side-work' at the same rate of pay after your serving shift. For an hour, you roll silverware into napkins, refill salt and pepper and clean trays. You've just made $10.84 in salary for the shift. You made a total of $38 in tips. Since you sold $53 in alcoholic drinks, you owe the bartender $5.30 in tips. But everyone knows you have to round up. You are told everyday that if you don't tip the bartender, your drinks will be made last or not at all. So you tip $6. There were 5 bussers on during the shift. You are required to tip at least $1 for each busser. Since there were 16 servers on the floor tonight, the bussers are making $16 in tips each plus they are being paid minimum wage. You are leaving with $27 in tips. You are then required to claim your tips when you clock out. You MUST claim 10% of your total sales for the night. You sold $280.97. You have to claim with the IRS that you made $28, but you're going home with $27.

Overall, for a 5 hour and fifteen minute shift you made $37.84 in salary and tips. This works out to $7.20 an hour. You get yelled at daily, you are blamed for bad food that you didn't cook and you are exhausted and stinky by the end of the night. If you're lucky, one table each night will leave you a 15% tip. $38 a shift, 5 shifts a week, means that you are supporting yourself on a job that makes $724 per month. Before taxes. Not to mention that you don't get insurance or paid vacation. You aren't given a shift meal.

Not all restaurants are like the one described above. Some pay minimum wage plus tips. Some give you a shift meal and even a shift drink. But, sadly, there are more of the bad than the good. Once you've been a food server, you never again consider NOT leaving a tip. That is tantamount to cruelty. Hopefully, now that you've read this, you won't leave a restaurant after stiffing your server, even if you haven't ever served food yourself.

Learn more about this author, Jaci Burton.
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