Current Events > Proposed rule to allow bar and restaurant owners more control over tips.

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A_Good_Boy
02/06/18 2:52:21 PM
#1:


https://www.npr.org/sections/thesalt/2018/02/05/583461856/its-last-call-for-trump-administration-proposal-on-tip-control-in-restaurant-ind

It's last call for public comment on a Trump administration proposal that would give bar and restaurant owners more control over workers' tips.

The Labor Department has been asking for feedback, and already hundreds of thousands of people have weighed in.

Many say they say they're opposed to a rule that would allow restaurant owners to pocket tips for themselves.

"I think it's another example of corporate greed gone wrong," says Julie Holmes, a former waitress from Virginia. "It basically makes people feel as though they can't earn a living. Women especially. Single mothers and people who are really out here working as hard as they can to try to provide are affected by this."

The inspector general is also investigating reports that the Labor Department tried to hush up an internal analysis that found the proposed rule could cost tipped workers billions of dollars a year.

"People have a lot of feelings about this," says Heidi Shierholz, who served as chief economist for the Labor Department under former President Obama. "When the administration is trying to make it so employers can take tips, there's a lot of tipped workers out there. And people are really not happy about this."

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A_Good_Boy
02/06/18 2:52:43 PM
#2:


Shierholz suggests the proposal is driven by the restaurant industry, which has long wanted more control over workers' tips.

"There's 20 percent of what a business generates, we have no ability to impact at all, traditionally," says Kurt Huffman, who runs more than two dozen restaurants in Oregon.

Huffman says if he could, he would redirect some of those tips to lower-paid cooks and dishwashers. Many restaurants already require wait-staff to share tips with busboys and hostesses, but they're not allowed to require such sharing with people who work in the kitchen.

"I think all of us see this as a way to reallocate the tips a little bit more fairly to level out the wage inequity," Huffman says.

But Shierholtz, who now works for a left-leaning think tank, the Economic Policy Institute, says there's nothing in the proposed rule that would require tips to be shared with other workers. So long as an employer pays minimum wage, he or she could use tips to reward managers, make capital improvements, or simply keep the money.

"We estimate that nearly $6 billion will be taken from workers and pocketed by employers," Shierholz says.

She was surprised when the Labor Department issued its proposal without that kind of cost-benefit analysis, which is typically included. The department said at the time it would be too speculative.

Now a report from Bloomberg says the Labor Department did crunch the numbers, but decided not to publish the results because they showed tipped workers could lose billions of dollars a year.

The Department's Inspector General is investigating the reported omission. And Democratic lawmakers say it raises "serious questions about the integrity" of the rule-making process.

"If DOL [the Department of Labor] decides to push through this rule and ignores its costs to workers or the public's concerns, there will be a real erosion of trust in the DOL's commitment to protecting workers," said Rep. Bobby Scott, D-Va., ranking Democrat on the Education and Workforce Committee.

A Labor Department spokesman said in a statement that officials do plan to include a cost-benefit analysis with their final decision on the tip rule.

Scott complains that's too late.

"It makes no sense to propose a rule and then do the research," he says. "The rule should be a product of the research."

Holmes, whose critical comment was one of many received by the Labor Department, says she hopes public opinion will help to shape any final rule.

"I really hope it does," she says. "Maybe the powers that be can understand these are real people being affected by this."

For decades before this proposal, the Labor Department had maintained that tips are the property of the workers who receive them. The restaurant industry has challenged that position and the issue could be decided by the Supreme Court.

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AverageCEgal
02/06/18 2:53:08 PM
#3:


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ModLogic
02/06/18 2:53:20 PM
#4:


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Antifar
02/06/18 2:54:46 PM
#5:


This is legalized wage theft
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A_Good_Boy
02/06/18 2:55:36 PM
#6:


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zH0mPfR
02/06/18 2:55:58 PM
#7:


Fair. I worked in a bar and restaurant for a summer as a short order cook once. I never saw a dime in tips.
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ModLogic
02/06/18 2:56:58 PM
#8:


Antifar posted...
This is legalized wage theft

that unskilled workers looking to exploit voluntarily sign up for
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r4X0r
02/06/18 2:58:35 PM
#9:


ModLogic posted...
just get rid of the stupid custom and raise food prices


Brilliant, then give the establishment COMPLETE control of the money.
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The Admiral
02/06/18 3:00:22 PM
#10:


I'm fine with the restaurants redistributing the tips to the kitchen staff. They're much more deserving than the servers.
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smoliske
02/06/18 3:01:02 PM
#11:


this is why you always tip in cash, that way the employer can't rip them off
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Paper_Okami
02/06/18 3:01:04 PM
#12:


Antifar posted...
This is legalized wage theft

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ModLogic
02/06/18 3:01:27 PM
#13:


The Admiral posted...
I'm fine with the restaurants redistributing the tips to the kitchen staff. They're much more deserving than the servers.

right?

you can literally train a dog to deliver the food from A to B
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Musourenka
02/06/18 3:02:05 PM
#14:


Antifar posted...
This is legalized wage theft

Indeed.

Sickening.
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DoctorVader
02/06/18 3:03:32 PM
#15:


The US is stuck in such a fucked up cycle. Tipping was just a thing to show generosity. Employers saw that more and more people started handing them out and got the government to cut minimum wage in many states. So tipping basically became mandatory.

And now more workers are gonna be paid by customers and the burden is gonna fall harder on them. And since you can't just get rid of tipping in the US because people will continue to hand them out, a traditional system like outside the US would thus never work.
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The Admiral
02/06/18 3:03:38 PM
#16:


Paper_Okami posted...
Antifar posted...
This is legalized wage theft


It's actually much closer to socialism, since tips earned by the front-of-the-house workers can now be redistributed more equally to the kitchen workers and bus boys. Surprised you comrades aren't in favor of this.
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LightHawKnight
02/06/18 3:04:56 PM
#17:


The Admiral posted...
I'm fine with the restaurants redistributing the tips to the kitchen staff. They're much more deserving than the servers.


Why? The kitchen staff usually don't have to deal with the asshole customers.
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dameon_reaper
02/06/18 3:04:58 PM
#18:


zH0mPfR posted...
Fair. I worked in a bar and restaurant for a summer as a short order cook once. I never saw a dime in tips.


How much were you making and how much were the serving staff making?

At my job, I make 2 dollars an hour as a server and the cooks earn 11-13 dollars an hour.
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Lordgold666
02/06/18 3:05:26 PM
#19:


The Admiral posted...
Paper_Okami posted...
Antifar posted...
This is legalized wage theft


It's actually much closer to socialism, since tips earned by the front-of-the-house workers can now be redistributed more equally to the kitchen workers and bus boys. Surprised you comrades aren't in favor of this.

^^^^^^^
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zH0mPfR
02/06/18 3:05:58 PM
#20:


dameon_reaper posted...
How much were you making and how much were the serving staff making?


I was making minimum wage. The front staff (servers, bartenders, host, etc.) were all getting tips.
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dameon_reaper
02/06/18 3:06:57 PM
#21:


zH0mPfR posted...
dameon_reaper posted...
How much were you making and how much were the serving staff making?


I was making minimum wage. The front staff (servers, bartenders, host, etc.) were all getting tips.


You didn't answer my question completely. How much were they making?
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ModLogic
02/06/18 3:08:41 PM
#22:


LightHawKnight posted...
The Admiral posted...
I'm fine with the restaurants redistributing the tips to the kitchen staff. They're much more deserving than the servers.


Why? The kitchen staff usually don't have to deal with the asshole customers.

the kitchen staff cooks the food.

the server is just a conveyer belt to get food from kitchen to customer. min wage is more than enough for that role.
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zH0mPfR
02/06/18 3:08:52 PM
#23:


dameon_reaper posted...
zH0mPfR posted...
dameon_reaper posted...
How much were you making and how much were the serving staff making?


I was making minimum wage. The front staff (servers, bartenders, host, etc.) were all getting tips.


You didn't answer my question completely. How much were they making?


How the fuck should I know? You think I got a copy of their W-2's? I do know that on some nights, we'd clear $4,000 in alcohol sales alone, not including food orders.
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Master_Bass
02/06/18 3:09:37 PM
#24:


The Admiral posted...
Paper_Okami posted...
Antifar posted...
This is legalized wage theft


It's actually much closer to socialism, since tips earned by the front-of-the-house workers can now be redistributed more equally to the kitchen workers and bus boys. Surprised you comrades aren't in favor of this.

Seize the means of food preparation, comrades!
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Asperity
02/06/18 3:11:22 PM
#25:


LightHawKnight posted...
The Admiral posted...
I'm fine with the restaurants redistributing the tips to the kitchen staff. They're much more deserving than the servers.


Why? The kitchen staff usually don't have to deal with the asshole customers.

This.
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dameon_reaper
02/06/18 3:11:29 PM
#26:


zH0mPfR posted...
dameon_reaper posted...
zH0mPfR posted...
dameon_reaper posted...
How much were you making and how much were the serving staff making?


I was making minimum wage. The front staff (servers, bartenders, host, etc.) were all getting tips.


You didn't answer my question completely. How much were they making?


How the fuck should I know? You think I got a copy of their W-2's? I do know that on some nights, we'd clear $4,000 in alcohol sales alone, not including food orders.


Because you're whining you didn't see any tips but probably made more money than the wait staff which tends to get paid shit wages. I'd feel some sympathy if they were making minimum wage but honestly, I've seen that in plenty of casinos. Also, you say you don't know and that you need a W-2? I don't need a cook's W-2 to know much they were making.
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dameon_reaper
02/06/18 3:11:44 PM
#27:


Asperity posted...
LightHawKnight posted...
The Admiral posted...
I'm fine with the restaurants redistributing the tips to the kitchen staff. They're much more deserving than the servers.


Why? The kitchen staff usually don't have to deal with the asshole customers.

This.
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zH0mPfR
02/06/18 3:11:57 PM
#28:


dameon_reaper posted...
Because you're whining you didn't see any tips but probably made more money than the wait staff


Nope, you're smoking crack if you think that.
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Musourenka
02/06/18 3:12:00 PM
#29:


Master_Bass posted...
The Admiral posted...
Paper_Okami posted...
Antifar posted...
This is legalized wage theft


It's actually much closer to socialism, since tips earned by the front-of-the-house workers can now be redistributed more equally to the kitchen workers and bus boys. Surprised you comrades aren't in favor of this.

Seize the means of food preparation, comrades!

Indeed. It would be socialism if the workers owned the business and kicked out their employers.
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The Admiral
02/06/18 3:14:04 PM
#30:


Asperity posted...
LightHawKnight posted...
The Admiral posted...
I'm fine with the restaurants redistributing the tips to the kitchen staff. They're much more deserving than the servers.


Why? The kitchen staff usually don't have to deal with the asshole customers.

This.


So? I'm not going to the restaurant to purchase the services of the servers, I'm going for the services of the kitchen staff. The servers are the least essential employees at the restaurant.
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dameon_reaper
02/06/18 3:14:40 PM
#31:


zH0mPfR posted...
dameon_reaper posted...
Because you're whining you didn't see any tips but probably made more money than the wait staff


Nope, you're smoking crack if you think that.


I meant on an actual check. I make more money than the cooks here, obviously, but if I was a shitty waiter, I'd obviously see less than that. Some days are slow though and I see barely anything but that's the gamble you take.
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zH0mPfR
02/06/18 3:17:07 PM
#32:


dameon_reaper posted...
zH0mPfR posted...
dameon_reaper posted...
Because you're whining you didn't see any tips but probably made more money than the wait staff


Nope, you're smoking crack if you think that.


I meant on an actual check. I make more money than the cooks here, obviously, but if I was a shitty waiter, I'd obviously see less than that. Some days are slow though and I see barely anything but that's the gamble you take.


We regularly had nights where there were so many food orders that we had this rotating thing that we put the orders on, and there'd be so many that we wouldn't know where to start. We'd literally just grab orders as fast as we could to make the food, and it didn't end until 2 a.m. And this wasn't a huge restaurant with tons of server staff. We had maybe 2-3 servers and 2 bartenders and a host out front.
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Bloodychess
02/06/18 3:19:14 PM
#33:


Not reading through all of this.

Is the proposal tip sharing, or something else?
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#34
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zH0mPfR
02/06/18 3:20:36 PM
#35:


fenderbender321 posted...
The restaurant I work at the cooks make like $13 an hour, whereas the servers make like $8.


This was back in 2003. I was probably making about $5/hour or something.
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ModLogic
02/06/18 3:21:42 PM
#36:


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The23rdMagus
02/06/18 3:22:08 PM
#37:


The Admiral posted...
Asperity posted...
LightHawKnight posted...
The Admiral posted...
I'm fine with the restaurants redistributing the tips to the kitchen staff. They're much more deserving than the servers.


Why? The kitchen staff usually don't have to deal with the asshole customers.

This.


So? I'm not going to the restaurant to purchase the services of the servers, I'm going for the services of the kitchen staff. The servers are the least essential employees at the restaurant.

Then go get your own food from the window.
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_Near_
02/06/18 3:22:54 PM
#38:


ModLogic posted...
just get rid of the stupid custom and raise food prices


please

paying servers/bartenders lower because of tips needs to fucking stop.
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dameon_reaper
02/06/18 3:22:57 PM
#39:


fenderbender321 posted...
zH0mPfR posted...
Fair. I worked in a bar and restaurant for a summer as a short order cook once. I never saw a dime in tips.


The restaurant I work at the cooks make like $13 an hour, whereas the servers make like $8.

The servers are the face of the restaurant. They are responsible for 80% of whether or not the customers have a good experience. When the kitchen fucks up, servers have to go and explain the situation to customers and ensure they are satisfied. It takes people skills.

There are bad servers, sure. But there are bad cooks, too. The other day I was serving and it took this one cook like 7 minutes just to garnish ONE dish. So fucking slow. Luckily my people skills kept the customers feeling welcome and comfortable while they waited all that extra time.

I always ask the cooks "if you're upset that servers make more than cooks, why don't you just become a server?" and they always say something like "fuck that, I'm not dealing with [insert server responsibilities)]"


Yeah, it sucks but we don't have all good cooks. In fact, because I've been here for so long, I had my boss schedule me with my best friend because he's the best cook we have and so that I don't have to deal with the headache of slow or incompetent workers. On the downside, I work with a slew of girls who all have issues. One is passive aggressive and washes dishes loud when she's mad and causes some negativity. The others are lazy and are the cause of the one passive aggressive waitress.

Some times food will mess up or no one's paying attention to the grill. I have to stand there and present food and hope they like it and if they don't, you can bet your sweet ass I'm the one taking the fall. Its also bad form to blame the cook so you have to lie and tell them its a misunderstanding and you'll take care of it. Fact is, customers are the worst people in the world and have so much"I am right" attitude that it makes life a living hell.
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The Admiral
02/06/18 3:22:57 PM
#40:


The23rdMagus posted...
The Admiral posted...
Asperity posted...
LightHawKnight posted...
The Admiral posted...
I'm fine with the restaurants redistributing the tips to the kitchen staff. They're much more deserving than the servers.


Why? The kitchen staff usually don't have to deal with the asshole customers.

This.


So? I'm not going to the restaurant to purchase the services of the servers, I'm going for the services of the kitchen staff. The servers are the least essential employees at the restaurant.

Then go get your own food from the window.


If that were a choice, I would. Since it's not, I put up with the servers. That's no argument for why they deserve tips over the rest of the staff. Especially at higher end places where the bus boys are the ones who actually bring the food, and the servers literally just take the order.
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Asperity
02/06/18 3:23:05 PM
#41:


The Admiral posted...
Asperity posted...
LightHawKnight posted...
The Admiral posted...
I'm fine with the restaurants redistributing the tips to the kitchen staff. They're much more deserving than the servers.


Why? The kitchen staff usually don't have to deal with the asshole customers.

This.


So? I'm not going to the restaurant to purchase the services of the servers, I'm going for the services of the kitchen staff. The servers are the least essential employees at the restaurant.

...I think I've identified such customer, guys.
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zH0mPfR
02/06/18 3:23:10 PM
#42:


The23rdMagus posted...
The Admiral posted...
Asperity posted...
LightHawKnight posted...
The Admiral posted...
I'm fine with the restaurants redistributing the tips to the kitchen staff. They're much more deserving than the servers.


Why? The kitchen staff usually don't have to deal with the asshole customers.

This.


So? I'm not going to the restaurant to purchase the services of the servers, I'm going for the services of the kitchen staff. The servers are the least essential employees at the restaurant.

Then go get your own food from the window.


You act like that's so hard to do.
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Rika_Furude
02/06/18 3:24:34 PM
#43:


The23rdMagus posted...
The Admiral posted...
Asperity posted...
LightHawKnight posted...
The Admiral posted...
I'm fine with the restaurants redistributing the tips to the kitchen staff. They're much more deserving than the servers.


Why? The kitchen staff usually don't have to deal with the asshole customers.

This.


So? I'm not going to the restaurant to purchase the services of the servers, I'm going for the services of the kitchen staff. The servers are the least essential employees at the restaurant.

Then go get your own food from the window.

Why? Waiters are a service provided by the business
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dameon_reaper
02/06/18 3:26:06 PM
#44:


fenderbender321 posted...
zH0mPfR posted...
Fair. I worked in a bar and restaurant for a summer as a short order cook once. I never saw a dime in tips.


The restaurant I work at the cooks make like $13 an hour, whereas the servers make like $8.

The servers are the face of the restaurant. They are responsible for 80% of whether or not the customers have a good experience. When the kitchen fucks up, servers have to go and explain the situation to customers and ensure they are satisfied. It takes people skills.

There are bad servers, sure. But there are bad cooks, too. The other day I was serving and it took this one cook like 7 minutes just to garnish ONE dish. So fucking slow. Luckily my people skills kept the customers feeling welcome and comfortable while they waited all that extra time.

I always ask the cooks "if you're upset that servers make more than cooks, why don't you just become a server?" and they always say something like "fuck that, I'm not dealing with [insert server responsibilities)]"

zH0mPfR posted...
fenderbender321 posted...
The restaurant I work at the cooks make like $13 an hour, whereas the servers make like $8.


This was back in 2003. I was probably making about $5/hour or something.


yeah that was basically minimum wage at the time. If serving staff were to get minimum wage, it'd be okay but there would be one fall...if tips weren't so big a deal, the wait staff would probably not try as hard but to be honest, I've become a cynic. Every server here is female and do a shit job but get decent tips.

I memorize orders in my head and play with tiny tricks to try and increase my tip amount since not everyone does 20%. I've had non tippers tipping me because not only did I get their food right, I asked the right questions and worked efficiently.
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The23rdMagus
02/06/18 3:26:59 PM
#45:


Rika_Furude posted...
The23rdMagus posted...
The Admiral posted...
Asperity posted...
LightHawKnight posted...
The Admiral posted...
I'm fine with the restaurants redistributing the tips to the kitchen staff. They're much more deserving than the servers.


Why? The kitchen staff usually don't have to deal with the asshole customers.

This.


So? I'm not going to the restaurant to purchase the services of the servers, I'm going for the services of the kitchen staff. The servers are the least essential employees at the restaurant.

Then go get your own food from the window.

Why? Waiters are a service provided by the business

Services are paid for, either factored into the cost of the service (which doesn't just include the food) or by way of tips. You're going to a restaurant to get the service of having food prepared and brought to you, and that includes the servers.

You know my opinion on tips - just include them in the total cost of service and be done with it - but that's another topic.
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dameon_reaper
02/06/18 3:27:22 PM
#46:


zH0mPfR posted...
The23rdMagus posted...
The Admiral posted...
Asperity posted...
LightHawKnight posted...
The Admiral posted...
I'm fine with the restaurants redistributing the tips to the kitchen staff. They're much more deserving than the servers.


Why? The kitchen staff usually don't have to deal with the asshole customers.

This.


So? I'm not going to the restaurant to purchase the services of the servers, I'm going for the services of the kitchen staff. The servers are the least essential employees at the restaurant.

Then go get your own food from the window.


You act like that's so hard to do.


Its not....at a fast food restaurant. >_> Decent restaurants and even diners have more than one single customer. A customer will pick up the order that's slightly identical to their friend and complain that the food was wrong. Believe me when I say customers are stupid and you have to tell them what they ordered.
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#47
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The Admiral
02/06/18 3:29:07 PM
#48:


fenderbender321 posted...
we would make less money overall and all the best servers would quit.


And do what?
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Cookie Bag
02/06/18 3:30:15 PM
#49:


A_Good_Boy posted...
Huffman says if he could, he would redirect some of those tips to lower-paid cooks and dishwashers. Many restaurants already require wait-staff to share tips with busboys and hostesses, but they're not allowed to require such sharing with people who work in the kitchen.

Fully agree with this then.
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smoliske
02/06/18 3:30:37 PM
#50:


The Admiral posted...
fenderbender321 posted...
we would make less money overall and all the best servers would quit.


And do what?


find some other form of unskilled labor that requires no education
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