The disappearing 20% TIP! (3700 votes for tip integrity)

[theKed]

23. You're misrepresenting what the server "tip out" is

This is kind of unrelated to the OP, which is fraudulent action on the part of hotel/catering ownership.

It is common, now, for servers to pay a tip out from their sales. This is to compensate other facets of the restaurant who don't receive tips (bussers, hosts, kitchen, etc) but who impact the quality of the dining experience as much as the server. By keying it off of total sales, it prevents unscrupulous servers from under-reporting what their tips were and contributing off of that (don't think that happens? it does). These tip outs aren't paying wages for bussers, hosts, and cooks - they are supplementary money ("tips&quot on top of that.

The bigger issue to deal with is server minimum wages. But that's a thorny issue, too. It would be great if server wages went up. But, at the same time, jacking up every server's pay $5 an hour would decimate the restaurant industry. Labor wages are one of the biggest costs in a restaurant, and to jump them up suddenly means a sudden spike in restaurant plate costs. People are already reluctant to spend extra for a meal out, to drive it up further pushes more people out of the customer base. I'm not sure what the solution is. It's not like the banks or insurance companies, restaurant owners aren't raking in salaries 200x the average workers, by and large (massive catering companies notwithstanding - they aren't the bulk of the industry). And, often, they're in their restaurant, slugging it out 70-80 hours a week to turn a profit.