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Related: Editorials & Other Articles, Issue Forums, Alliance Forums, Region ForumsNew York Sushi Restaurant Eliminates Tipping Because It Pays Waiters A Salary With Benefits
New York Sushi Restaurant Eliminates Tipping Because It Pays Waiters A Salary With Benefits
By Aviva Shen Jun 11, 2013
Sushi Yasuda, an upscale restaurant in New York City, is attracting attention for its decision to get rid of tips for waitstaff. Instead of a line for diners to write in a tip amount on their receipts, Sushi Yasuda has printed the following statement: Following the custom in Japan, Sushi Yasudas service staff are fully compensated by their salary. Therefore gratuities are not accepted.
Indeed, Sushi Yasudas waitstaff enjoy rare stability in an industry that justifies its long-standing minimum wage of $2.13 an hour by factoring in tips. Waiters generally support tips because of the potential windfalls on busy nights but come away empty-handed if theyre stuck with a bad shift or stingy customers. Sushi Yasudas staff, on the other hand, is paid a salary with a benefits package complete with vacation days, sick leave, and health insurance. Tips were accepted but went directly to the restaurant, not to the servers.
Most restaurants use tips as an excuse to pay their servers less, even though surveys find employers often duck the federal requirement that only allows them to pay below minimum wage if tips make up the difference. As a result, servers poverty rate is nearly triple that of the entire workforce. They are also almost twice as likely to rely on food stamps than the general population.
And their ranks are swelling; the restaurant and service industries enjoy much stronger job growth than other sectors. Most of those jobs are low-wage, low-benefit, and part-time. Fast food workers are striking all over the country over unlivable wages and casual exploitation.
Sushi Yasudas benefit package is also a rarity in the industry. Nearly 90 percent of servers do not get health insurance through their employer, a dangerous status quo many restaurant chains have fought hard to maintain in the face of new Obamacare requirements.
Other upscale restaurants have also eliminated tipping, instead using a flat service charge that can then be distributed fairly among the staff. But it remains to be seen if this practice will become the norm or stay the exception in an unjust industry.
http://thinkprogress.org/economy/2013/06/11/2134891/new-york-sushi-restaurant-eliminates-tipping-because-they-pay-waiters-a-salary-with-benefits/
Wait Wut
(8,492 posts)...but I'd be stuffing money into server's pants or sumthin'.
Aristus
(66,465 posts)Make me a sammich!
Aristus
(66,465 posts)You know where to put the money...
Wait Wut
(8,492 posts)...what kind of restaurant is this????
tkmorris
(11,138 posts)What exactly IS the compensation given to servers there? Minimum wage? More? How much more? Are other benefits affordable or are they the Walmart style "you don't work enough hours to qualify for them and couldn't afford the premiums in any case" ?
It's an interesting phenomenon but it is portrayed in the article as a win of sorts for the servers. Whether it actually is or not cannot be determined from the information given. I am skeptical.
corkhead
(6,119 posts)Puzzledtraveller
(5,937 posts)cbdo2007
(9,213 posts)so I should do well at this place.
godai
(2,902 posts)In fact, you never need to tip in Japan.
ErikJ
(6,335 posts)I just got off the phone with a guy living in THailand and he said that the Thais never tip in the restaurants but Americans/Europeans are expected to tip. He said he got a big breakfast the other day for $3 and tipped 60 cents, (usually 20%). He tips the girls in bars and nightclubs with a free drink or 20% which is expected. I guess its OK for them to drink on the job. haha
Robb
(39,665 posts)...splitting the money with the bartender/house. It's an arrangement as old as the hills.
ErikJ
(6,335 posts)Matariki
(18,775 posts)I seriously doubt they pay that much an hour...
that said, I think the salary and benefits are a very good step in a right direction
olddots
(10,237 posts)should be eaten .
jmowreader
(50,562 posts)That's like...fugu prices.