I'm not saying cooks should get tips. I'm saying overall servers make more money. It doesn't matter where the money comes from tips or wage. What matters is your total income and you should pay taxes in the bracket your income falls in. This policy grants privilege to some and not others within that bracket. IMO it isn't much different then affirmative action, both policies give preference to one group over another.
Trump has hinted at using tariffs to fund the government while eliminating the federal income tax.
I'm not sure that would work without sizably reducing government. Which I'm all for.
This policy grants privilege to some and not others
Servers are already a disenfranchised group, they aren't paid minimum wage like everyone in the kitchen.
It's kind of like a successful 4-year degreed engineer in engineering development getting paid $100K/yr to design/develop/manufacture widgets vs some schmoozer Marketing and Sales dude with a 2 year degree getting $250K selling those widgets. In my mind the guy creating the widget should get more than the guy selling it ... but that's not how it usually works.
I'm not sure that would work without sizably reducing government. Which I'm all for.
A forced diet with real House approved budgets. 3/4 of Federal Govt would disappear overnight.
Servers are already a disenfranchised group, they aren't paid minimum wage like everyone in the kitchen.
I think this is where we mainly disagree. I feel their minimum wage is irrelevant. It's about total income. I don't see how they are disenfranchised when they make more money in total.
The owner may disagree. The server is the face the customer sees. The server helps the customer decide what they want to order, addresses any issues they or the customer finds with the order, provides full services of delivery and follow-up, orchestrates the full customer experience while representing the restaurant and the wishes of the owner. The kitchen manager/chef and bar manager should be the only people making more than the servers+tips.
The reduced server wage was my states attempt to offset their wage against the established minimum wage such that those in the kitchen are paid a salary more similar to the server's salary + tips. It helps the restaurant reduce payroll and incentivises servers to go above and beyond. Servers can have bad nights with few customers or too many servers, the guys in the kitchen still get paid just for showing up. Not a perfect system but what has evolved over the past century. I was part owner of a restaurant/bar/venue 25 years ago when servers were paid $1.60/hr. You want to keep the best servers happy or they will go apply at your competition. I can imagine the financial stress in that industry today, hard decisions are being made. BTW, servers seldom claimed cash tips on their income tax anyway. Credit card tips have to be claimed.
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