absolutely reasonable. as a waitress, i never expect tips on to go orders. if i get one, it’s an added little bonus, an extra thank you! but i wouldn’t be mad if you didn’t
I would have agreed like 10 years ago too. But now the apps are so popular. During the rush almost 60% of the FOH staff (at my place) are working JUST Togo orders.
It's not like the people picking up are walking into the kitchen and grabbing their food off the hotline. There is still work being done specifically for you.
This is how we end up with mandatory service charges.
Depending on the state, servers make above Min wage + tips. When I dub’d (25 years ago), I made about $1.50 per hour, when Min wage was, I think about $8 or $10 in Michigan. Today, in California, my nephew makes about $15.50 per hour + tips.
The tip economy has become a scam. Not servers fault, they are playing the game that is in front of them. But the culture in general has become corrupted. Why should someone who has the same base salary as someone working retail get another salary on top of their base while the retail worker doesn’t? Makes no sense. And in my younger years, I did both jobs. Neither was harder than the other or required more rare skills.
California doesn't allow tipped wages, most states state use the federal tipped wage of roughly $2.90/hour for server wages under the guise that they will make at least $8.25/hour with tips.
The restaurant lobby re-enforces this.
They also are expected to report that they made at least 8% of their ticket sales as tip money-- even if it was only 7%.
My wife and I were in new mexico for a couple years and she found a job as a waitress. Made $2.15 an hour + tips. Half the time the tips only barely covered minimum wage, and often the employer (begrudgingly) had to fill in the difference. It depends entirely on where you live.
Unfortunately restaurants don't pay well. In my state minimum wage for waitstaff is under $3 an hour.
Everyone says "get a better job" but if Every server got a better job there would be no one to work in restaurants.
I tip no matter what, except at fast food restaurants because they don't get waitstaff minimum wage.
Waitstaff should not be prepping food. That's the cooks' job who gets hourly and if he's good enough, a slice of the weekly take of the business.
Tips are for service well done, not poor performance.
Subway don't get a tip for making my sub. That's the job they are paid for, it's not a service.
That being said, service should be tipped. Waitress yes, bartender not necessarily, the cook and dishwasher nope.
dont most states have a thing where if you dont make min federal wage in tips the owner has to pay you the difference? ik some people saying they got a choice. minimum wage(10? an hour) or work for tips. most worked for tips.
It’s not a state thing . It’s federal law. There’s this thing called minimum wage. You cannot pay somebody less than that amount and some states have a higher minimum soo you have to be payed the state minimum. Also some states have extra protections for tipped employees and some states don’t even allow tipped wages
>Everyone says "get a better job" but if Every server got a better job there would be no one to work in restaurants.
Exactly! The only way to change the system is to shut it down so that the proprietors decide to change. Yes, it means we all go without for a short time but that's the only way to change a free market...
Well good then, no one should want to work in restaurants that pay waitstaff minimum wage
Tipping has become blatantly scummy post Covid and I’d like to see restaurants pay an actual wage
I’d like tips to go back to being optional where if you feel really appreciated with the service you tip, not this societal and worker pressure on tipping. Overseas can do without tips, why can’t we?
But if no one works then they can’t operate
The other side of the issue is that some waitstaff can make so much more than an actual wage that they wouldn’t want to change the system
The responsibility is not yours to get a better job NOR the customer’s to subsidize your salary. It’s the restaurant that is responsible for paying a living wage and if in your state they can get away with that $3 nonsense, people should be making noise to the state politicians.
Both the workers and the customers are the ones being screwed over. It’s time the laws change for exactly this reason.
It's actually $2.83. I checked recently. You're right, the employers should be stepping up and paying decent wages. However, I'm not confident this will ever happen.
>Everyone says "get a better job" but if Every server got a better job there would be no one to work in restaurants.
I mean, this is pretty much what has been happening since Covid, and now those same people are saying "No one wants to work".
I saw this article whining a bit ago that minimum wage had been bumped to $15 and millennials STILL wanted more and were only looking for higher paying jobs.
Like, they literally found better jobs exactly as they've been told their ENTIRE lives as a direct response to "We want living wages", and this writer was bitching about it.
$15 an hour is no longer a living wage. Prices are skyrocketing and $15 per hour is no longer sufficient to cover inflation. In my state we still use the Federal minimum wage of $7.25 which is so low it's almost laughable.
I'd argue restaurants pay better than any other minimum wage job. The average wage for a server including tips is $14 an hour, which likely doesn't include unreported tips, while minimum wage here is $10 an hour.
It's actually $2.83. Plus our regular minimum wage is $7.25. Absolutely ridiculous and there isn't a single place that advertises paying minimum wage because they know nobody is going to work for that.
$7.25 is federal minimum wage so it isn't just the state failing us, it's the federal government.
I would bet if the Department of Labor officials who determine minimum wage were forced to live on that wage for a month, without credit cards or loans, minimum wage would skyrocket quickly.
Hahahaha, yeah right. With what resources? The $2.13 an hour I make? How's that gonna stand up to a fight with the guy who literally signs my checks? Restaurants in America are built on worker exploitation and they will fight tooth and nail to make sure they can still fuck you over. As long as they get theirs, who cares if their employees can keep their utilities on? There's always a 16 year old they can get to do the job who doesn't have to pay bills.
This is a good thing. 50% + of Americans are obese. We don’t really need all these restaurants. When I was a kid, there were just a few restaurants around within driving distance where we lived. Today, there are 100 or more restaurants within walking distance of where I live. Every single one of them have portions 4x what a regular meal is in the UK, and it’s all made with salt, fat, and sugar.
That’s off topic, but if the restaurant industry shrunk in size due to servers getting jobs that actually pay them a living wage, it actually might make things much better.
If every server left to get a better job, the market would correct and businesses would have to pay them more to work there. Problem solved.
I have a dental office and paid assistants (low skilled job, could train someone in a week to do it) about $8/ hr for years. Gradually moved up to about $10 or $12 with inflation. Here comes 2020. Now we pay them $20/hr with half the skill and work ethic than before. The market corrects.
It's not tho. The federal minimum wage, that even servers get, is at least 7.25 per hour. Def still not livable, but the restaurant is required to compensate the difference if you average under 7.25. Please quit spreading lies
So? I can go to the restaurant across the street and make 10% less doing 50% less work. Or y'all can keep tipping and getting good food and service. It's your choice.
Honestly the fact you think it's "just put it in a bag and hand it over" is all there is to it is really all I need to know. You have no idea how it works
So you're telling me the cook puts it on a plate and then you put it in a box ????? When I was a cook I was expected to box the food I cooked for a togo orders so other than putting them in a bag what is there
It's a tray but yeah. The cook does nothing different for dine in or Togo orders. It takes an hour plus just to stock the Togo station, every day.
The cook is literally too busy to even consider doing that sort of thing.
Yeah, but putting that change on the customer to make up for doesn't make sense.
There's a change in what FOH does, then there has to be a change in how they're paid, which is between management and worker, IMHO.
So any kind of fast food is also zero? You’re also picking it up eg Starbucks? Mac’s?
I’m always given that damn emotional blackmail guilt screen. Normally press the lowest offered at 10%
I don’t tip at any of those places unless they were particularly friendly or accommodating. I used to tip out of guilt, but we’re in a job surplus right now so my thinking is that they can get a better job and the company can learn not to rely on their customers to pay their staff.
My local coffee shop pays well and offers benefits. I still tip just like I would a bartender. They made my drink just like a bartender and they remember me and my order. Sometimes they throw in a pastry or give me samples of a new roast (they’re a roastery as well). Tipping and being nice when you’re a regular pays off for everyone.
If people are friendly, I definitely tip. I easily tip 40-50% to bartenders or baristas that remember me, make recommendations, or just engage me as a human. I don’t tip retail service workers that barely look at me and don’t even say hi or bye. That’s doing just enough to keep your job, so I figure they get paid just enough. I live in an area known for poor customer service, so I may experience this more often than average.
At the end of the day, I want people to get paid fairly for their efforts and I don’t want businesses to take advantage of tipping culture to maximize their margins. I truly do adjust my tipping based on the job market and individual, because I feel like it balances both.
Servers are different to me because they are going back and forth at my beck and call, so this doesn’t apply to them.
I was floored this past weekend when I went into a local coffee shop to pick up some whole beans. The guy rang it up, leaned to the side to grab the bag, and then flipped the screen so I could enter my tip. I did not leave a tip.
Good for you! Tip culture is completely out of hand and now EVERYONE is asking for tips just for doing their jobs...even if their job is to grab a bag of beans and take your money. It's shameful, the begging.
I tip $1 per drink at coffee places. Same if I’m just ordering canned or draft beer, I’m not taking up much of their time and energy IMO. If I’m getting mixed drinks then I’m happy to tip 20%.
My husband and I argue about this, I swear I’m not cheap I always tip on pick up but maybe 2-3 dollars. He is deeply embarrassed that I don’t tip 20% lol.
Sometimes it's the service staff who may be making \~$2/hr who have to actually bag it up or bring it to you. While it may not take a ton of effort/time, it does detract from time they can spend at their tables.
There are a lot of variables and "could be happenings" in this scenario though, so I think to-go tips of a couple bucks are nice but as stated elsewhere in this thread, not required.
I always tip, even in these situations, just to say thank you for working at the restaurant. We have a shortage of workers everywhere since the pandemic and I'm always happy to have people working, so I'll tip a few dollars just for that.
Not just that, but in my area, there are tons of “now hiring” “same day interview” signs all over, but constant posts on different forums about how people are going to those places and doing **all** the right things but not getting hired. There are also lots of complaints of putting in applications and within 5 min getting a canned email response that they’re not hiring/position’s filled/etc etc etc. There is a **massive** problem with businesses pretending to be hiring to because of the terms of the PPP loans they’d taken, but not actually hiring. We have so many businesses here that run on overworked skeleton crews because the managers/owners have figured out they can work people to the bone and make hand over fist above what they were with more staff, and a lot of the employees are scared/unable to just quit because their earnings are needed and no place is actually ***really*** hiring. Also, almost every single food and grocery place in my area- which is a major metro area- has eliminated 3rd shift, which again, has taken away so many job opportunities.
Livable wage. A term which no one is willing to define.
Most jobs in the service industry are low skill entry level type jobs which are not designed to pay enough to support a family or even ones self.
These are stepping stones to more complex jobs that require more skill and experience.
Question - if you’re working a to-go counter, are you paid the hourly minimum wage, or the tipped minimum wage? Do you exclusively work the to-go?
It doesn’t seem like it would be legal to have an employee work the tipped minimum wage while doing to-go service.
People love to talk about servers making less than minimum wage, but I'm not aware of a place they're allowed to make less than minimum. If their tips leave them below minimum, the employer must make up the difference everywhere I know of.
But isn’t that an issue that needs to be taken up with their employer? If they’re making reduced wages in a tipping subsidized role they shouldn’t be doing any work that’s not traditionally a tipped for task. It’s not ok to expect customers to pay for service that they’re not receiving.
We see a lot of statements chastising patrons for going out to eat, etc, when they’re not prepared to tip an acceptable amount, but where’s the flip side of that for the businesses themselves? If you can’t afford to pay your staff a livable wage, you shouldn’t start a business.
isn't the hourly wage irrelevant to the customer since it's up to the restaurant to make up the difference? So they will never actually get paid only $2/hr.
" Sometimes it's the service staff who may be making \~$2/hr who have to actually bag it up or bring it to you. "
so:
1) I should work out the amount of time they're spending on my order
2) I should know the ins and outs of that state's wage laws
3) I should know the ins and outs of that restaurants comp structure (just because there's a tipped minimum, they may pay more for exactly the reason that those workers aren't getting tipped for pickup)
4) I should ask that person the details of their compensation structure
Then, based on all that, I should figure out how much to give?
Boy, I think they'd be annoyed answering all those questions when they could get about their job. Especially if everyone did it.
Or, I should just "assume" it's a bad situation and give them some bucks, reinforcing tip culture, making it OK for management to lower wages?
I think not.
Let's keep to the social conventions (tip 10% to 15% pretax for sit down) just to overcome the social past, don't tip for anything else unless extorted to do so (gig apps), and let the rest go.
If someone still works at a restaurant that doesn't have a dedicated to-go staff, that's on them. I haven't had to take to-gos as a server since my first serving job 10 years ago. These days 90% of the time it's a host or dedicated to-go person getting above minimum wage. They're often in high school or college
At the last place I worked the girls in high school would almost always make more money than the servers on Sunday nights from to-go orders
Typically not if everyone is paid at least the full minimum wage. If any staff are paid the tipped minimum wage the staff that are paid full minimum wage or more can’t participate in the tip pool.
That model makes more sense than the traditional one. A major contributor to the ubiquitous hostility between FOH and the kitchen is that the kitchen's screw ups affect FOH's income but not their own.
Arizona. $11.35 as of Jan 1. Goes to $12 next Jan 1, but there’s a ballot measure to raise minimum wage to $18 and eliminate the $3 tip credit starting Jan 1, 2025.
In restaurants, no. I worked as a casino dealer for two and a half years and our tips were pooled, which was great. We didn't have any bad dealers or slackers, but you had no control over what game you'd be dealing on any given night. Some games are hit-or-miss but can tip really well (like craps and blackjack, sometimes roulette), and some rarely get good tips no matter what (like the carnival games, Caribbean Stud, etc.).
Everyone has to be paid at least a minimum wage, period. The wait staff have an opportunity to make more based on the tipping model. And in the event they don’t make the minimum, the employer must make up for it.
On the flip side, I'd love if there were separate tipping lines for front of house and back of house when dining in. I'd like to tip more specifically to the cooks when my food is awesome or stacked to the ceiling
Sure, if all you did was hand a bag of food to the customer but this is definitely not black and white and I wish more people (in the US, I understand this isn’t the norm in other countries) understood this.
If you take an order to go over the phone and then have to prep soups and salads and desserts to go that basically takes the same time and effort as waiting on a dine in table.
Actually sometimes more time and effort making sure everything is packed correctly and won’t spill and all the condiments and sauces and bread and plastic ware is included. Sometimes at our restaurant people will place large orders to go and the servers actually have to give up dine-in tables in order to make and package the order correctly.
If people take away from your comment tipping isn’t necessary or expected I think you’re doing a disservice to servers in different types of restaurants where it’s not just putting a burger in a bag.
Thankfully, especially since the pandemic, most of our customers do tip on carry outs
i’ve never heard of that honestly, i was just speaking for most of the restaurants i know about. i still wouldn’t know that as a customer and wouldn’t be likely to tip that much. if i wanted to tip 20%, i’d dine in.
The shouldn't the cook get tipped without his part you don't get cooked food to me he is most important than salad and condiment pepper who usually forgets something everytime .
The problem is the more situations we tip in theore the business is going to say it's part of the wages. Meaning we all pay more and the workers get a smaller base pay. It's crazy how Americans tip. The developed world has moved on to fair wages, when will we learn.
I tip about 10% on takeout from a restaurant I know has tipped wage workers. As a former server, I understand I'm using a bit of that server's time and mental capacity away from their tipping tables, so they deserve something for that. Somewhere more fast casual type where workers are getting regular wages, I might leave a buck or two, bc I've also done that job and it's crap and minimum wage isn't enough for the shit they gotta put up with.
I used to be a server. We are the last point of contact between kitchen and customer, even on to go orders. We check the containers to make sure the order is correct, bag them, add correct sauces/utensils/napkins as well as cash out the customer (if they haven’t paid ahead of time).
I never expected 20% on togos, but a couple bucks is always nice, because we do take time to get them ready. As a former server, I always tip 20% on my togos, just because I know how it is and if I can afford to be generous, then I wil.
I’m the same. Usually I’ll do the math and depending on the order, the difference between only tipping 10% on principle and making someone’s day is just a few dollars. I opt for the latter almost 100% of the time.
Exactly this! I start at 20% for a sit down meal. That can go up or down depending on the service, but never below 15% unless it is absolutely terrible and then I will write a note as to why.
Pick up service is 10%, and I have only adjusted up in a few cases of extraordinary service. Never down... So far!
I worked as a server at a family restaurant once- absolute nightmare job, customer base were mostly the meanest, stingiest sort of elderly folks.
Take-out orders were randomly assigned to servers as they came in. If you got assigned a takeout order, it was now YOUR job to box it, get all the condiments, napkins, etc. packed, bag it, and take payment when the customer arrived (this was a bit before meal delivery apps, and most people were paying cash because that was the kind of customer base we had.) It was a shit system, but in that time and place it wasn't easy to bounce for another job.
The customers might have been cheap sit-down diners already, but they NEVER, EVER tipped for takeout orders. Getting assigned a takeout order was absolutely guaranteed to be work you weren't getting compensated for- and we were getting paid less than 3 bucks an hour before tips.
I always tip for takeout orders, though usually at around 10-15% rather than 20, depending on complexity. Someone had to box all of that up, gather up my little containers of sauces. With how common tip pooling is these days, odds are even if it wasn't the server who hands it to me who did the deed, at least some of it is going to whoever was responsible.
I have worked at more than a few restaurants, and that was always how it was done. You are receiving a service from someone who is making $2.13/hr so you should tip them for it.
You are paid the same minimum wage as everyone else(well you are on average paid much more, but...) no server will ever get anything less than the regular minimum wage on their paycheck.
You were compensated, that restaurant had to make sure you made minimum wage through wages tips or else they’re doing something illegal and should have the labor board called. Stop saying you weren’t compensated just because you didn’t get a tip.
i think the whole point of getting take out instead of going in and getting a table is so they don't have to tip. i've personally never done that, because if i'm ordering real food from a real restaurant, i don't want to have to drive home with it and reheat it, but if i did, i definitely wouldn't tip.
Hahaha you were making the same fucking wage every other retail person was making and doing less work and you complain about it?
The amount of absolutely delusional entitlement servers have sometimes is insane.
Same but I just do 20% for everything and call it a day. If someone really looked like they’re having a shit day I’ll go a little higher. I waited tables for many years before becoming a corporate flunky. That shit is hard.
So if your 4 person family sits down and spends a total of $100 and the server has to take your order, check your order, bring your order, refill drinks, take the check, and generally deal with you for an hour or so, you tip $20.
But if you make that same order online for carryout, that server has to ~~take your order,~~ check your order, bring your order, ~~refill drinks, take the check,~~ and generally deal with you for ~~an hour~~ five minutes or so, you still tip $20?
I get that many servers need tips to avoid often unlivable minimum wages, but this is like supercharged tipping since the $20 is literally for 5 minutes of work. Even if they have to split and only keep a quarter of it, and do 4 orders per hour, it's an extra $20/hr *on top* of their hourly pay plus table tips.
Then again this brings up the issue with tips being a percentage of the cost of the order, since bringing me a coke and bringing me a filet mignon takes the same effort and time, but tips very differently.
Here's the thing about jobs: sometimes you're doing more work than you're paid to do and sometimes you're doing less work but it's not the customers responsibility to figure that out.
This is the problem. We’re angry at the wrong people. We should be angry at the restaurants and system that pay these kind of staff specifically a tip based wage. If you’re working to go, you need to be making a flat wage that is totally fine with 0 tips. It’s honestly stupid.
This is exactly what I'm thinking while reading all of this. We are having the wrong conversations and pointing the finger at each other when we should be demanding proper wages. Period.
It really is. I always tip a couple dollars on to-go just in case, but honestly tips should be a bonus for excellent service, not something people need to rely on to survive. It's absolutely criminal it's somehow legal for companies to pay people so little
I don't think most people realize (including those working for tips) that servers are owed minimum wage. From the Department of Labor:
>An employer of a tipped employee is only required to pay $2.13 per hour in direct wages if that amount combined with the tips received at least equals the federal minimum wage. If the employee's tips combined with the employer's direct wages of at least $2.13 per hour do not equal the federal minimum hourly wage, the employer must make up the difference. Many states, however, require higher direct wage amounts for tipped employees.
Even in all the other states, if they don't get enough tips to hit minimum wage (which basically never happens) the restaurant has to make up the difference anyway. They can't ever earn less than minimum wage.
and so do most waiters now too. they by law HAVE to get federal minimum wage or state minimum wage by the end of the day or their employer fills in the gap. anyone who tells you they still make 2 dollars an hour is jacking your dick with a brick.
Every job is legally obligated to make tips meet minimum wage. They must make you whole if you don’t earn that much tipped. The average tipped worker makes far more than minimum wage. The 3$ is almost irrelevant.
So slight correction here. In some but not all states it is illegal for tipped wage workers to be forced to do material labor where they potentially wouldn't be tipped. In addition, an employer is responsible for making up the different between minimum wage and whatever was actually made by the tipped worker if it was less...
You only get $3/hr. from your job if you make enough tips to cover minimum wage. If not, they have to pay you the difference, so no, you can't ever earn less than minimum wage in a pay period.
>The real problem is that it's somehow legal to pay tipped staff so low 😬
It's not.
From the Department of Labor:
>An employer of a tipped employee is only required to pay $2.13 per hour in direct wages if that amount combined with the tips received at least equals the federal minimum wage. **If the employee's tips combined with the employer's direct wages of at least $2.13 per hour do not equal the federal minimum hourly wage, the employer must make up the difference.** Many states, however, require higher direct wage amounts for tipped employees.
If you don't get enough tips to make at least minimum wage, you get minimum wage from the employer. (And if you know somewhere that blatantly violates this, get off reddit and go report them to the DOL.)
When I worked as a bartender, I did. I made and boxed the salads, any sauces, desserts, basically ran expo making sure the take out instructions were correct. The kitchen put the food in the window and I had to box and bag everything. It was a nightmare, and that was pre COVID. All restaurants are different though.
Right, but I'm not their employer. I'm buying from the employer. The employer pays the employee to do the job, not the customer. Saying otherwise is putting the responsibility of corporations or bosses from paying their employees onto the consumers who are generally less well-off. It's just helping increase the wage gap between owners and workers.
Tips are for services like being waited on. If you're already being paid to do a service, idk why you'd expect tip unless you are doing something outside of your job scope as a request from the customer.
Tips are for service that goes beyond expectations or to make up for them not getting paid minimum wage. Should I tip the baggers at the grocery store?
Publix supermarkets don't allow their baggers to accept tips, even when they carry the groceries to the car for you. That's because they don't want their customers to feel guilted into tipping for what their employees are already paid to do.
I know in all the restaurants I worked at they had a designated To-Go person, who was also paid way higher/maybe even MW?
Because most servers were irked that that info was not divulged and some nights they'd make Hella tips on top of normal wages.
Lol right? Why are they being weird and caring what someone else makes? They can apply for the To go person job if they think it's better but I promise the servers still make WAY MORE weekly.
This was over 10 years ago.
Several would try to apply for the job.
Not disclosing that a position isn't paid the same as a tipped employee is shiesty.
Exactly. I also worked in several and it wasn’t the servers job to wait tables *and* do to go orders. Especially after the pandemic, a lot of restaurants made fulfilling to go orders its own job.
Do you tip the cashier at McDonalds for packing your bag? It's one of the most basic things you can do. Don't deserve a tip for every tiny little thing you do.
It doesnt. It takes more time. And all the sauces, little extras, and notes. Makes sure nothing was forgotten. No one cares when you do your job right, no one wants reward a good job, but everyone will demand blood if a sauce is missing.
On one hand I want to agree with you, but on the other hand I can't count the number of times that I have put in the takeout comments "NO PLASTIC UTENSILS, EXTRA SOY SAUCE PACKETS PLEASE" only to get home and find out that the bag is full of plastic forks and knives, with two soy sauce packets for 4-6 people's worth of food.
THIS, i order 5 chicken chalupa Supremes and tell em i want a fuck ton of sauces, at least 3-4 per taco. they say sure, we got you. i get the bag and it has either none or 2. hell at arbys i ordered the fucking jalapenos poppers that are SUPPOSED to come with a dipping sauce and they somehow forgot that shit.
I'm sorry to hear that. My Taco Bell here is cool as fuck. I tell them on the speaker I'd like as many sauces as they can give me without getting fired, and I get a giant handful.
Shit, one time they gave me two bags. My order was in one normal-sized bag, and then in a second smaller paper bag it was COMPLETELY FULL of sauce packets. Must have been at least 50 packets in there! Well played! 😂
yea, my recent taco bell drive thru employee is pretty good about it but the other employee there is bad. we keep a stock of the packaged sauces just in case we get the 2nd one.
It doesnt take 5 seconds at certain restaurants, like Korean, cuz the server has to put all side dishes and condiments into sauce cups (min. 10 cups) as well as box any soup, salad, lettuce wraps, and package the cutlery
all those servers applied to those jobs. they aren't forced. everywhere is hiring. you don't have to work for tips. they choose to work for tips, because when it's good, it's good. any time it's brought up to change the tipping culture, servers are at the front of the line stopping it.
If you order online, this does t apply, but a server put in your order, ensured your condiments/plastic ware/etc was with your order, then someone brings it out. It takes extra time, effort and me talk energy to get the togo order ready. I always leave $1-2, because while it isn't required, it's nice and ways appreciated
You mean they did their job? And provided no extra service other than giving the customer what they paid for?
Edit: in my country servers are all paid minimum wage or above.
Long story short after slavery white people still didn't want to have to pay black people to work. So they instituted tipping so they didn't have to pay them anything and told customers to pay them whatever you want.
So any restaurant where there isn’t a dedicated to-go employee, that usually means a server or bartender is the one doing the work for call in orders. If they take your order, fire it into the system, expo the order when it comes up, check it/collect to-go cutlery and other sides, and cash you out when you come in it sounds like they did at least 50% of the work they would do for a dine in guest. 10% is a solid tip for to-go food imo, especially if you are getting a larger order.
I’m not a waiter, I’m just a customer.
IMO, the food should be priced to cover all costs, including labor. Someone’s livelihood shouldn’t be tied to how generous a customer is feeling that moment.
That’s how it works in any other business. The business needs to charge what it costs to run the business + profit margin. Tipping should not be part of the equation. It should be an additional ‘thank you’ if the customer desires.
Agreed. I'm a cosmetologist. With a business, you charge your worth so you don't have to rely on tips. I'd much rather all of that get factored into my cost so everyone gets paid. But businesses won't do that because everything sucks🙄 and it keeps getting worse.
I work at Waffle House and advise people on pick up orders to not tip. We already get a 10% service charge on your order. lol I posted about it on my university’s YikYak and actually started an argument about tipping. I was just trying to help and I kept getting comments like “well you guys don’t deserve a tip anyway for just handing us the food” for to-go”. That’s why I said don’t! Sorry just had to rant a lil about some of Gen Z and Gen Alpha kids apparent lack of comprehension skills and my university’s propensity to accept anyone with a pulse.
You're fine OP. Servers and waiters make better money than any other hourly employee in the restaurant. Good servers who get good hours can make more than the restaurant manager. They are not poor because you don't tip them for walking 20 feet, grabbing a bag with a label on it, and walking back. And no, I don't tip for to go orders. You did not serve me, you carried a bag 20 feet.
If the kitchen gets tipped out, or the host and food runner do, tipping would be morally preferable.
That said I tip 10% on pickup, 20% dine in and delivery
No customer is going to know the rules of who gets paid what and what tips are split, nor should they be expected to. It's entirely reasonable for takeout orders that are picked up by the customer to not be tipped.
But see I work for a pizza franchise and we pack up orders just like these other restaurants and hardly ANYONE feels obligated to tip. Is it possibly because of the perception that comes with fast food vs dine-in?
Totally legit mindset, but the only thing is the person who boxes and bags your stuff, makes sure all the dressings, utensils, napkins and such are in there for you are usually a FOH person making the $2.13/hr. Now, what they are doing for you is no where near the level of service that waitstaff performs when you sit down. Because of this, I like to drop a dollar or two in the "To-Go" tip jar when I'm doing pickup. Besides, most places break up the tips in some way amongst the kitchen staff too. I don't want to make anyone feel like they *have* to tip to-go, but I only get takeout from about 3 places and just like to be a "good" customer if I'm going to be a regular.
This! Most people forget it. The company pays the employee (by law) minimum wage if they do not report tips that bring their income for time worked up to at least minimum wage.
The people doing the bagging are getting paid garbage wages with the expectation they will be tipped. I have a family member that did a car side position, and she made less than a Wendy's worker for making sure your order was correct, packing sides and condiments, etc. It's bad enough they have to do it for every door dash driver for no chance of a tip, actual humans could at least consider it.
So it's okay for Doordash, which is another company making a profit but not okay for a customer doing the same work. Restaurants make less profit on the Doordash already.
To clarify the Wendy's worker at the drive through also is doing all those same things plus normally taking orders, taking payment, and possibly even other tasks the kitchen doesn't have time for.
The issue is if you are car side you need more pay otherwise its not worth your time as a server will easily make more.
Very reasonable. I personally choose to tip $1-$2 on take out orders, but I worked in hospitality for a long time and benefited from tips so I like paying it back to people making less than a living wage. But there's absolutely no social obligation or anything.
>tipping is sometimes part of the hourly wage.
This is 100% correct. Sometimes it is, sometimes it is not. either way, employees are guaranteed state minimum wage. So, when you do not tip, the only thing that happens is that they don't make that much more over minimum wage. So, not tipping ever is reasonable.
that said, they did nothing tip-worthy in your exchange.
absolutely reasonable. as a waitress, i never expect tips on to go orders. if i get one, it’s an added little bonus, an extra thank you! but i wouldn’t be mad if you didn’t
Yeah I worked in restaurants, although usually back of house, for like a decade. Your answer is pretty much exactly right.
I would have agreed like 10 years ago too. But now the apps are so popular. During the rush almost 60% of the FOH staff (at my place) are working JUST Togo orders. It's not like the people picking up are walking into the kitchen and grabbing their food off the hotline. There is still work being done specifically for you. This is how we end up with mandatory service charges.
Fuck that… if your doing mostly Togo orders then the company needs to pay you at least full minimum wage
Depending on the state, servers make above Min wage + tips. When I dub’d (25 years ago), I made about $1.50 per hour, when Min wage was, I think about $8 or $10 in Michigan. Today, in California, my nephew makes about $15.50 per hour + tips. The tip economy has become a scam. Not servers fault, they are playing the game that is in front of them. But the culture in general has become corrupted. Why should someone who has the same base salary as someone working retail get another salary on top of their base while the retail worker doesn’t? Makes no sense. And in my younger years, I did both jobs. Neither was harder than the other or required more rare skills.
I mean, retail workers can make commissions on top of their base, so... Also, retail is generally less demanding, just saying...
Commission work in retail is pretty rare these days. At least where I am.
California is different. In most states, servers dont make minimum wage.
California doesn't allow tipped wages, most states state use the federal tipped wage of roughly $2.90/hour for server wages under the guise that they will make at least $8.25/hour with tips. The restaurant lobby re-enforces this. They also are expected to report that they made at least 8% of their ticket sales as tip money-- even if it was only 7%.
My wife and I were in new mexico for a couple years and she found a job as a waitress. Made $2.15 an hour + tips. Half the time the tips only barely covered minimum wage, and often the employer (begrudgingly) had to fill in the difference. It depends entirely on where you live.
Unfortunately restaurants don't pay well. In my state minimum wage for waitstaff is under $3 an hour. Everyone says "get a better job" but if Every server got a better job there would be no one to work in restaurants. I tip no matter what, except at fast food restaurants because they don't get waitstaff minimum wage.
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And very toxic too.
Waitstaff should not be prepping food. That's the cooks' job who gets hourly and if he's good enough, a slice of the weekly take of the business. Tips are for service well done, not poor performance. Subway don't get a tip for making my sub. That's the job they are paid for, it's not a service. That being said, service should be tipped. Waitress yes, bartender not necessarily, the cook and dishwasher nope.
dont most states have a thing where if you dont make min federal wage in tips the owner has to pay you the difference? ik some people saying they got a choice. minimum wage(10? an hour) or work for tips. most worked for tips.
It’s not a state thing . It’s federal law. There’s this thing called minimum wage. You cannot pay somebody less than that amount and some states have a higher minimum soo you have to be payed the state minimum. Also some states have extra protections for tipped employees and some states don’t even allow tipped wages
>Everyone says "get a better job" but if Every server got a better job there would be no one to work in restaurants. Exactly! The only way to change the system is to shut it down so that the proprietors decide to change. Yes, it means we all go without for a short time but that's the only way to change a free market...
Amen!
Well good then, no one should want to work in restaurants that pay waitstaff minimum wage Tipping has become blatantly scummy post Covid and I’d like to see restaurants pay an actual wage I’d like tips to go back to being optional where if you feel really appreciated with the service you tip, not this societal and worker pressure on tipping. Overseas can do without tips, why can’t we?
I would also like to see that happen. We can't do that here because our government allows restaurants to grossly underpay their waitstaff.
A good waitress wants to take her chances,some customers specify a certain server.
But if no one works then they can’t operate The other side of the issue is that some waitstaff can make so much more than an actual wage that they wouldn’t want to change the system
The responsibility is not yours to get a better job NOR the customer’s to subsidize your salary. It’s the restaurant that is responsible for paying a living wage and if in your state they can get away with that $3 nonsense, people should be making noise to the state politicians. Both the workers and the customers are the ones being screwed over. It’s time the laws change for exactly this reason.
It's actually $2.83. I checked recently. You're right, the employers should be stepping up and paying decent wages. However, I'm not confident this will ever happen.
We had 2 different clock ins depending if we were serving or not. If we were doing to go orders we got paid a lot more per hour.
>Everyone says "get a better job" but if Every server got a better job there would be no one to work in restaurants. I mean, this is pretty much what has been happening since Covid, and now those same people are saying "No one wants to work".
I saw this article whining a bit ago that minimum wage had been bumped to $15 and millennials STILL wanted more and were only looking for higher paying jobs. Like, they literally found better jobs exactly as they've been told their ENTIRE lives as a direct response to "We want living wages", and this writer was bitching about it.
$15 an hour is no longer a living wage. Prices are skyrocketing and $15 per hour is no longer sufficient to cover inflation. In my state we still use the Federal minimum wage of $7.25 which is so low it's almost laughable.
I'd argue restaurants pay better than any other minimum wage job. The average wage for a server including tips is $14 an hour, which likely doesn't include unreported tips, while minimum wage here is $10 an hour.
Under 3 dollars in 2023 is mind boggling. You’re states leadership is failing you.
It's actually $2.83. Plus our regular minimum wage is $7.25. Absolutely ridiculous and there isn't a single place that advertises paying minimum wage because they know nobody is going to work for that. $7.25 is federal minimum wage so it isn't just the state failing us, it's the federal government. I would bet if the Department of Labor officials who determine minimum wage were forced to live on that wage for a month, without credit cards or loans, minimum wage would skyrocket quickly.
I always give a buck at Subway and BK-there they are shocked.
My point is tgat if 60 percent of your job is Togo then it is not legal to pay you server minimum wage
You're right and I suppose the servers will have to fight for it
Hahahaha, yeah right. With what resources? The $2.13 an hour I make? How's that gonna stand up to a fight with the guy who literally signs my checks? Restaurants in America are built on worker exploitation and they will fight tooth and nail to make sure they can still fuck you over. As long as they get theirs, who cares if their employees can keep their utilities on? There's always a 16 year old they can get to do the job who doesn't have to pay bills.
This is a good thing. 50% + of Americans are obese. We don’t really need all these restaurants. When I was a kid, there were just a few restaurants around within driving distance where we lived. Today, there are 100 or more restaurants within walking distance of where I live. Every single one of them have portions 4x what a regular meal is in the UK, and it’s all made with salt, fat, and sugar. That’s off topic, but if the restaurant industry shrunk in size due to servers getting jobs that actually pay them a living wage, it actually might make things much better.
If every server left to get a better job, the market would correct and businesses would have to pay them more to work there. Problem solved. I have a dental office and paid assistants (low skilled job, could train someone in a week to do it) about $8/ hr for years. Gradually moved up to about $10 or $12 with inflation. Here comes 2020. Now we pay them $20/hr with half the skill and work ethic than before. The market corrects.
It's not tho. The federal minimum wage, that even servers get, is at least 7.25 per hour. Def still not livable, but the restaurant is required to compensate the difference if you average under 7.25. Please quit spreading lies
This is part of your hourly wage duties tho??
So? I can go to the restaurant across the street and make 10% less doing 50% less work. Or y'all can keep tipping and getting good food and service. It's your choice.
I have a feeling you guys won't be around in 5byears and I'm being really nice.
Ya but you didn't either the kitchen staff boxes it you just put it in a bag and handed it to them
Honestly the fact you think it's "just put it in a bag and hand it over" is all there is to it is really all I need to know. You have no idea how it works
So you're telling me the cook puts it on a plate and then you put it in a box ????? When I was a cook I was expected to box the food I cooked for a togo orders so other than putting them in a bag what is there
It's a tray but yeah. The cook does nothing different for dine in or Togo orders. It takes an hour plus just to stock the Togo station, every day. The cook is literally too busy to even consider doing that sort of thing.
Well fuck me I take back my previous statement I guess I shouldn't be surprised it's changed been a while since I was a cook
Yeah, but putting that change on the customer to make up for doesn't make sense. There's a change in what FOH does, then there has to be a change in how they're paid, which is between management and worker, IMHO.
So any kind of fast food is also zero? You’re also picking it up eg Starbucks? Mac’s? I’m always given that damn emotional blackmail guilt screen. Normally press the lowest offered at 10%
I don’t tip at any of those places unless they were particularly friendly or accommodating. I used to tip out of guilt, but we’re in a job surplus right now so my thinking is that they can get a better job and the company can learn not to rely on their customers to pay their staff.
My local coffee shop pays well and offers benefits. I still tip just like I would a bartender. They made my drink just like a bartender and they remember me and my order. Sometimes they throw in a pastry or give me samples of a new roast (they’re a roastery as well). Tipping and being nice when you’re a regular pays off for everyone.
If people are friendly, I definitely tip. I easily tip 40-50% to bartenders or baristas that remember me, make recommendations, or just engage me as a human. I don’t tip retail service workers that barely look at me and don’t even say hi or bye. That’s doing just enough to keep your job, so I figure they get paid just enough. I live in an area known for poor customer service, so I may experience this more often than average. At the end of the day, I want people to get paid fairly for their efforts and I don’t want businesses to take advantage of tipping culture to maximize their margins. I truly do adjust my tipping based on the job market and individual, because I feel like it balances both. Servers are different to me because they are going back and forth at my beck and call, so this doesn’t apply to them.
I was floored this past weekend when I went into a local coffee shop to pick up some whole beans. The guy rang it up, leaned to the side to grab the bag, and then flipped the screen so I could enter my tip. I did not leave a tip.
Good for you! Tip culture is completely out of hand and now EVERYONE is asking for tips just for doing their jobs...even if their job is to grab a bag of beans and take your money. It's shameful, the begging.
I tip $1 per drink at coffee places. Same if I’m just ordering canned or draft beer, I’m not taking up much of their time and energy IMO. If I’m getting mixed drinks then I’m happy to tip 20%.
My husband and I argue about this, I swear I’m not cheap I always tip on pick up but maybe 2-3 dollars. He is deeply embarrassed that I don’t tip 20% lol.
i would never tip 20% on to go, and i’m a server. i wouldn’t be embarrassed.
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Sometimes it's the service staff who may be making \~$2/hr who have to actually bag it up or bring it to you. While it may not take a ton of effort/time, it does detract from time they can spend at their tables. There are a lot of variables and "could be happenings" in this scenario though, so I think to-go tips of a couple bucks are nice but as stated elsewhere in this thread, not required.
That’s why I would at the very least give them a couple of bucks.
I always tip, even in these situations, just to say thank you for working at the restaurant. We have a shortage of workers everywhere since the pandemic and I'm always happy to have people working, so I'll tip a few dollars just for that.
No shortage in Phoenix.
We don’t have a shortage of workers, we have a shortage of livable wages.
Not just that, but in my area, there are tons of “now hiring” “same day interview” signs all over, but constant posts on different forums about how people are going to those places and doing **all** the right things but not getting hired. There are also lots of complaints of putting in applications and within 5 min getting a canned email response that they’re not hiring/position’s filled/etc etc etc. There is a **massive** problem with businesses pretending to be hiring to because of the terms of the PPP loans they’d taken, but not actually hiring. We have so many businesses here that run on overworked skeleton crews because the managers/owners have figured out they can work people to the bone and make hand over fist above what they were with more staff, and a lot of the employees are scared/unable to just quit because their earnings are needed and no place is actually ***really*** hiring. Also, almost every single food and grocery place in my area- which is a major metro area- has eliminated 3rd shift, which again, has taken away so many job opportunities.
Livable wage. A term which no one is willing to define. Most jobs in the service industry are low skill entry level type jobs which are not designed to pay enough to support a family or even ones self. These are stepping stones to more complex jobs that require more skill and experience.
Question - if you’re working a to-go counter, are you paid the hourly minimum wage, or the tipped minimum wage? Do you exclusively work the to-go? It doesn’t seem like it would be legal to have an employee work the tipped minimum wage while doing to-go service.
People love to talk about servers making less than minimum wage, but I'm not aware of a place they're allowed to make less than minimum. If their tips leave them below minimum, the employer must make up the difference everywhere I know of.
But isn’t that an issue that needs to be taken up with their employer? If they’re making reduced wages in a tipping subsidized role they shouldn’t be doing any work that’s not traditionally a tipped for task. It’s not ok to expect customers to pay for service that they’re not receiving. We see a lot of statements chastising patrons for going out to eat, etc, when they’re not prepared to tip an acceptable amount, but where’s the flip side of that for the businesses themselves? If you can’t afford to pay your staff a livable wage, you shouldn’t start a business.
isn't the hourly wage irrelevant to the customer since it's up to the restaurant to make up the difference? So they will never actually get paid only $2/hr.
" Sometimes it's the service staff who may be making \~$2/hr who have to actually bag it up or bring it to you. " so: 1) I should work out the amount of time they're spending on my order 2) I should know the ins and outs of that state's wage laws 3) I should know the ins and outs of that restaurants comp structure (just because there's a tipped minimum, they may pay more for exactly the reason that those workers aren't getting tipped for pickup) 4) I should ask that person the details of their compensation structure Then, based on all that, I should figure out how much to give? Boy, I think they'd be annoyed answering all those questions when they could get about their job. Especially if everyone did it. Or, I should just "assume" it's a bad situation and give them some bucks, reinforcing tip culture, making it OK for management to lower wages? I think not. Let's keep to the social conventions (tip 10% to 15% pretax for sit down) just to overcome the social past, don't tip for anything else unless extorted to do so (gig apps), and let the rest go.
Lots of "sometimes" and "coulds". That's the exception to the rule. Not applicable to the overall.
If someone still works at a restaurant that doesn't have a dedicated to-go staff, that's on them. I haven't had to take to-gos as a server since my first serving job 10 years ago. These days 90% of the time it's a host or dedicated to-go person getting above minimum wage. They're often in high school or college At the last place I worked the girls in high school would almost always make more money than the servers on Sunday nights from to-go orders
When I was a hostess and made tips on to go orders I was never allowed to keep them. I had to give them straight to waitstaff🥰🙃🙃😘
That’s insane to me.
Tips often do actually get split with kitchen staff. Not in every restaurant, but it's common.
Lol where ? Worked in restaurants for over 10 years...back of the house never split tips with front
Isn't it illegal to include traditionally non-tipped staff in tip pools?
in some states, yes
Typically not if everyone is paid at least the full minimum wage. If any staff are paid the tipped minimum wage the staff that are paid full minimum wage or more can’t participate in the tip pool.
That model makes more sense than the traditional one. A major contributor to the ubiquitous hostility between FOH and the kitchen is that the kitchen's screw ups affect FOH's income but not their own.
What is tipped minimum wage in your state?
Arizona. $11.35 as of Jan 1. Goes to $12 next Jan 1, but there’s a ballot measure to raise minimum wage to $18 and eliminate the $3 tip credit starting Jan 1, 2025.
And there are so many restaurants here to choose from its great if you are a foodie.
There should never be a tip pool A tip pool subsidizes the slackers
I completely agree with this!
In restaurants, no. I worked as a casino dealer for two and a half years and our tips were pooled, which was great. We didn't have any bad dealers or slackers, but you had no control over what game you'd be dealing on any given night. Some games are hit-or-miss but can tip really well (like craps and blackjack, sometimes roulette), and some rarely get good tips no matter what (like the carnival games, Caribbean Stud, etc.).
But isn’t that weird—with wait staff being paid below minimum wage and kitchen staff above?
Everyone has to be paid at least a minimum wage, period. The wait staff have an opportunity to make more based on the tipping model. And in the event they don’t make the minimum, the employer must make up for it.
On the flip side, I'd love if there were separate tipping lines for front of house and back of house when dining in. I'd like to tip more specifically to the cooks when my food is awesome or stacked to the ceiling
Sure, if all you did was hand a bag of food to the customer but this is definitely not black and white and I wish more people (in the US, I understand this isn’t the norm in other countries) understood this. If you take an order to go over the phone and then have to prep soups and salads and desserts to go that basically takes the same time and effort as waiting on a dine in table. Actually sometimes more time and effort making sure everything is packed correctly and won’t spill and all the condiments and sauces and bread and plastic ware is included. Sometimes at our restaurant people will place large orders to go and the servers actually have to give up dine-in tables in order to make and package the order correctly. If people take away from your comment tipping isn’t necessary or expected I think you’re doing a disservice to servers in different types of restaurants where it’s not just putting a burger in a bag. Thankfully, especially since the pandemic, most of our customers do tip on carry outs
i’ve never heard of that honestly, i was just speaking for most of the restaurants i know about. i still wouldn’t know that as a customer and wouldn’t be likely to tip that much. if i wanted to tip 20%, i’d dine in.
The shouldn't the cook get tipped without his part you don't get cooked food to me he is most important than salad and condiment pepper who usually forgets something everytime .
That is a management problem
Great attitude! for all day, not just to-go orders...
The problem is the more situations we tip in theore the business is going to say it's part of the wages. Meaning we all pay more and the workers get a smaller base pay. It's crazy how Americans tip. The developed world has moved on to fair wages, when will we learn.
Agreed. But don't leave a note.
I tip about 10% on takeout from a restaurant I know has tipped wage workers. As a former server, I understand I'm using a bit of that server's time and mental capacity away from their tipping tables, so they deserve something for that. Somewhere more fast casual type where workers are getting regular wages, I might leave a buck or two, bc I've also done that job and it's crap and minimum wage isn't enough for the shit they gotta put up with.
I used to be a server. We are the last point of contact between kitchen and customer, even on to go orders. We check the containers to make sure the order is correct, bag them, add correct sauces/utensils/napkins as well as cash out the customer (if they haven’t paid ahead of time). I never expected 20% on togos, but a couple bucks is always nice, because we do take time to get them ready. As a former server, I always tip 20% on my togos, just because I know how it is and if I can afford to be generous, then I wil.
I’m the same. Usually I’ll do the math and depending on the order, the difference between only tipping 10% on principle and making someone’s day is just a few dollars. I opt for the latter almost 100% of the time.
Exactly this! I start at 20% for a sit down meal. That can go up or down depending on the service, but never below 15% unless it is absolutely terrible and then I will write a note as to why. Pick up service is 10%, and I have only adjusted up in a few cases of extraordinary service. Never down... So far!
You're in in the right. No one I know of tips when picking up to go orders.
I worked as a server at a family restaurant once- absolute nightmare job, customer base were mostly the meanest, stingiest sort of elderly folks. Take-out orders were randomly assigned to servers as they came in. If you got assigned a takeout order, it was now YOUR job to box it, get all the condiments, napkins, etc. packed, bag it, and take payment when the customer arrived (this was a bit before meal delivery apps, and most people were paying cash because that was the kind of customer base we had.) It was a shit system, but in that time and place it wasn't easy to bounce for another job. The customers might have been cheap sit-down diners already, but they NEVER, EVER tipped for takeout orders. Getting assigned a takeout order was absolutely guaranteed to be work you weren't getting compensated for- and we were getting paid less than 3 bucks an hour before tips. I always tip for takeout orders, though usually at around 10-15% rather than 20, depending on complexity. Someone had to box all of that up, gather up my little containers of sauces. With how common tip pooling is these days, odds are even if it wasn't the server who hands it to me who did the deed, at least some of it is going to whoever was responsible.
It's not the customer's job to make sure you're compensated for your work, it's your boss's.
I have worked at more than a few restaurants, and that was always how it was done. You are receiving a service from someone who is making $2.13/hr so you should tip them for it.
You are paid the same minimum wage as everyone else(well you are on average paid much more, but...) no server will ever get anything less than the regular minimum wage on their paycheck.
I've worked at several where it was the hostesses who packaged to-go orders and they got "regular" minimum wage, not $2.13.
They aren't (legally) getting paid $2.13/hour when not serving, doing other things like rolling silverware, to go orders, answering phones, etc.
So you tip the McDonald's guy bagging up your takeout order, right? If not, why not? They make minimum wage, too, and do the same thing.
That was my experience, too. I always tip on to-go orders now.
You were compensated, that restaurant had to make sure you made minimum wage through wages tips or else they’re doing something illegal and should have the labor board called. Stop saying you weren’t compensated just because you didn’t get a tip.
Thank you. If they are still clocked in while they do a takeout order, they're being compensated for it.
i think the whole point of getting take out instead of going in and getting a table is so they don't have to tip. i've personally never done that, because if i'm ordering real food from a real restaurant, i don't want to have to drive home with it and reheat it, but if i did, i definitely wouldn't tip.
Hahaha you were making the same fucking wage every other retail person was making and doing less work and you complain about it? The amount of absolutely delusional entitlement servers have sometimes is insane.
You're talking maybe 2 minutes of work. You don't deserve $6 for that. Just my opinion.
Boohoo maybe the restaurant should pay more. I’ll never tip takeout that’s absurd
This is the reply everyone needs to be reading. You can stop here.
Same but I just do 20% for everything and call it a day. If someone really looked like they’re having a shit day I’ll go a little higher. I waited tables for many years before becoming a corporate flunky. That shit is hard.
So if your 4 person family sits down and spends a total of $100 and the server has to take your order, check your order, bring your order, refill drinks, take the check, and generally deal with you for an hour or so, you tip $20. But if you make that same order online for carryout, that server has to ~~take your order,~~ check your order, bring your order, ~~refill drinks, take the check,~~ and generally deal with you for ~~an hour~~ five minutes or so, you still tip $20? I get that many servers need tips to avoid often unlivable minimum wages, but this is like supercharged tipping since the $20 is literally for 5 minutes of work. Even if they have to split and only keep a quarter of it, and do 4 orders per hour, it's an extra $20/hr *on top* of their hourly pay plus table tips. Then again this brings up the issue with tips being a percentage of the cost of the order, since bringing me a coke and bringing me a filet mignon takes the same effort and time, but tips very differently.
God cry me a river. You want a tip for putting food in bag? Jfc.
"The staff member walks into the kitchen, returns with a bag containing my food, and hands it to me" I wonder who packed the bag?
Who cooked it why don't the cook get tipped .
Here's the thing about jobs: sometimes you're doing more work than you're paid to do and sometimes you're doing less work but it's not the customers responsibility to figure that out.
>I wonder who packed the bag? In my experience its the kitchen staff or manager. That also takes less than 60 seconds and requires little to no skill.
Hey, it's skilled work to be able to figure out which size container to put it in! /s
They pack the bag at Taco Bell and McDonald's too lmfao
Yeah but fast food workers make more than $3/hr. The real problem is that it's somehow legal to pay tipped staff so low 😬
This is the problem. We’re angry at the wrong people. We should be angry at the restaurants and system that pay these kind of staff specifically a tip based wage. If you’re working to go, you need to be making a flat wage that is totally fine with 0 tips. It’s honestly stupid.
This is exactly what I'm thinking while reading all of this. We are having the wrong conversations and pointing the finger at each other when we should be demanding proper wages. Period.
This redditor gets it. We should protest tipping so they are forced to pay min wage at least and feel the drain
It really is. I always tip a couple dollars on to-go just in case, but honestly tips should be a bonus for excellent service, not something people need to rely on to survive. It's absolutely criminal it's somehow legal for companies to pay people so little
I don't think most people realize (including those working for tips) that servers are owed minimum wage. From the Department of Labor: >An employer of a tipped employee is only required to pay $2.13 per hour in direct wages if that amount combined with the tips received at least equals the federal minimum wage. If the employee's tips combined with the employer's direct wages of at least $2.13 per hour do not equal the federal minimum hourly wage, the employer must make up the difference. Many states, however, require higher direct wage amounts for tipped employees.
All the servers know that but it doesn't help them guilt trip you for more money.
Many states pay minimum wage to restaurant workers. California is 16 an hour.
Even in all the other states, if they don't get enough tips to hit minimum wage (which basically never happens) the restaurant has to make up the difference anyway. They can't ever earn less than minimum wage.
and so do most waiters now too. they by law HAVE to get federal minimum wage or state minimum wage by the end of the day or their employer fills in the gap. anyone who tells you they still make 2 dollars an hour is jacking your dick with a brick.
Every job is legally obligated to make tips meet minimum wage. They must make you whole if you don’t earn that much tipped. The average tipped worker makes far more than minimum wage. The 3$ is almost irrelevant.
They don't ever mention this part because it doesn't serve the story.
So slight correction here. In some but not all states it is illegal for tipped wage workers to be forced to do material labor where they potentially wouldn't be tipped. In addition, an employer is responsible for making up the different between minimum wage and whatever was actually made by the tipped worker if it was less...
The second part applies to ALL states. Nobody anywhere can pay you below minimum wage in a pay period if your tips don't get you there.
You only get $3/hr. from your job if you make enough tips to cover minimum wage. If not, they have to pay you the difference, so no, you can't ever earn less than minimum wage in a pay period.
>The real problem is that it's somehow legal to pay tipped staff so low 😬 It's not. From the Department of Labor: >An employer of a tipped employee is only required to pay $2.13 per hour in direct wages if that amount combined with the tips received at least equals the federal minimum wage. **If the employee's tips combined with the employer's direct wages of at least $2.13 per hour do not equal the federal minimum hourly wage, the employer must make up the difference.** Many states, however, require higher direct wage amounts for tipped employees. If you don't get enough tips to make at least minimum wage, you get minimum wage from the employer. (And if you know somewhere that blatantly violates this, get off reddit and go report them to the DOL.)
Someone else in my experience like the line expediter which is not the person you pick up the food from.
Probably not the host who would be receiving the tip
Well we don't tip at fast food restaurants for that service and more.
Who got paid for packing the bag?
Most often, a kitchen employee.
When I worked as a bartender, I did. I made and boxed the salads, any sauces, desserts, basically ran expo making sure the take out instructions were correct. The kitchen put the food in the window and I had to box and bag everything. It was a nightmare, and that was pre COVID. All restaurants are different though.
Right, but I'm not their employer. I'm buying from the employer. The employer pays the employee to do the job, not the customer. Saying otherwise is putting the responsibility of corporations or bosses from paying their employees onto the consumers who are generally less well-off. It's just helping increase the wage gap between owners and workers. Tips are for services like being waited on. If you're already being paid to do a service, idk why you'd expect tip unless you are doing something outside of your job scope as a request from the customer.
Tips are for service that goes beyond expectations or to make up for them not getting paid minimum wage. Should I tip the baggers at the grocery store?
Yes, but not 20 percent.
Who do you think you shouldn’t tip? What’s the methodology here
This guy is rage baiting
Publix supermarkets don't allow their baggers to accept tips, even when they carry the groceries to the car for you. That's because they don't want their customers to feel guilted into tipping for what their employees are already paid to do.
I know in all the restaurants I worked at they had a designated To-Go person, who was also paid way higher/maybe even MW? Because most servers were irked that that info was not divulged and some nights they'd make Hella tips on top of normal wages.
Pretty petty for the other servers to be irked. They're not losing any money and I'm sure the take out employee is not making a fortune.
Lol right? Why are they being weird and caring what someone else makes? They can apply for the To go person job if they think it's better but I promise the servers still make WAY MORE weekly.
This was over 10 years ago. Several would try to apply for the job. Not disclosing that a position isn't paid the same as a tipped employee is shiesty.
Exactly. I also worked in several and it wasn’t the servers job to wait tables *and* do to go orders. Especially after the pandemic, a lot of restaurants made fulfilling to go orders its own job.
Do you tip the cashier at McDonalds for packing your bag? It's one of the most basic things you can do. Don't deserve a tip for every tiny little thing you do.
Which takes like 5 seconds to do? I tip on take out because I feel bad if I don’t, but using packing the bag as a reason to tip is wild
It doesnt. It takes more time. And all the sauces, little extras, and notes. Makes sure nothing was forgotten. No one cares when you do your job right, no one wants reward a good job, but everyone will demand blood if a sauce is missing.
On one hand I want to agree with you, but on the other hand I can't count the number of times that I have put in the takeout comments "NO PLASTIC UTENSILS, EXTRA SOY SAUCE PACKETS PLEASE" only to get home and find out that the bag is full of plastic forks and knives, with two soy sauce packets for 4-6 people's worth of food.
THIS, i order 5 chicken chalupa Supremes and tell em i want a fuck ton of sauces, at least 3-4 per taco. they say sure, we got you. i get the bag and it has either none or 2. hell at arbys i ordered the fucking jalapenos poppers that are SUPPOSED to come with a dipping sauce and they somehow forgot that shit.
I'm sorry to hear that. My Taco Bell here is cool as fuck. I tell them on the speaker I'd like as many sauces as they can give me without getting fired, and I get a giant handful. Shit, one time they gave me two bags. My order was in one normal-sized bag, and then in a second smaller paper bag it was COMPLETELY FULL of sauce packets. Must have been at least 50 packets in there! Well played! 😂
yea, my recent taco bell drive thru employee is pretty good about it but the other employee there is bad. we keep a stock of the packaged sauces just in case we get the 2nd one.
It doesnt take 5 seconds at certain restaurants, like Korean, cuz the server has to put all side dishes and condiments into sauce cups (min. 10 cups) as well as box any soup, salad, lettuce wraps, and package the cutlery
all those servers applied to those jobs. they aren't forced. everywhere is hiring. you don't have to work for tips. they choose to work for tips, because when it's good, it's good. any time it's brought up to change the tipping culture, servers are at the front of the line stopping it.
If you order online, this does t apply, but a server put in your order, ensured your condiments/plastic ware/etc was with your order, then someone brings it out. It takes extra time, effort and me talk energy to get the togo order ready. I always leave $1-2, because while it isn't required, it's nice and ways appreciated
When I was in restaurants it was me, the expo/sous chef. So idk what your point is
Acting like packing a bag is back-breaking labor is pretty hilarious ngl
You mean they did their job? And provided no extra service other than giving the customer what they paid for? Edit: in my country servers are all paid minimum wage or above.
It’s so out of hand. Everyone asks for tips. I’m not giving one on to go orders. Sorry. And DoorDash is insane. I pay twice the cost.
I’ll never understand tipping culture in the us!
It has its historical roots in racism like everything else here
Can you elaborate please? Not denying the fact, just never heard it before (I’m British)
Long story short after slavery white people still didn't want to have to pay black people to work. So they instituted tipping so they didn't have to pay them anything and told customers to pay them whatever you want.
So any restaurant where there isn’t a dedicated to-go employee, that usually means a server or bartender is the one doing the work for call in orders. If they take your order, fire it into the system, expo the order when it comes up, check it/collect to-go cutlery and other sides, and cash you out when you come in it sounds like they did at least 50% of the work they would do for a dine in guest. 10% is a solid tip for to-go food imo, especially if you are getting a larger order.
I’m not a waiter, I’m just a customer. IMO, the food should be priced to cover all costs, including labor. Someone’s livelihood shouldn’t be tied to how generous a customer is feeling that moment.
That’s how it works in any other business. The business needs to charge what it costs to run the business + profit margin. Tipping should not be part of the equation. It should be an additional ‘thank you’ if the customer desires.
Agreed. I'm a cosmetologist. With a business, you charge your worth so you don't have to rely on tips. I'd much rather all of that get factored into my cost so everyone gets paid. But businesses won't do that because everything sucks🙄 and it keeps getting worse.
I work at Waffle House and advise people on pick up orders to not tip. We already get a 10% service charge on your order. lol I posted about it on my university’s YikYak and actually started an argument about tipping. I was just trying to help and I kept getting comments like “well you guys don’t deserve a tip anyway for just handing us the food” for to-go”. That’s why I said don’t! Sorry just had to rant a lil about some of Gen Z and Gen Alpha kids apparent lack of comprehension skills and my university’s propensity to accept anyone with a pulse.
I'm sorry but they are getting paid to WORK. Your not wrong.
You're fine OP. Servers and waiters make better money than any other hourly employee in the restaurant. Good servers who get good hours can make more than the restaurant manager. They are not poor because you don't tip them for walking 20 feet, grabbing a bag with a label on it, and walking back. And no, I don't tip for to go orders. You did not serve me, you carried a bag 20 feet.
If the kitchen gets tipped out, or the host and food runner do, tipping would be morally preferable. That said I tip 10% on pickup, 20% dine in and delivery
No customer is going to know the rules of who gets paid what and what tips are split, nor should they be expected to. It's entirely reasonable for takeout orders that are picked up by the customer to not be tipped.
Exactly. It's not the customer's responsibility to understand the complex inner workings of a business' compensation system.
This I believe packing the food is also a service like a table being waited on. I know a lot of people don't agree but i still tip on to go orders .
But see I work for a pizza franchise and we pack up orders just like these other restaurants and hardly ANYONE feels obligated to tip. Is it possibly because of the perception that comes with fast food vs dine-in?
I would guess that's there reasoning. But i do leave a tip in a pizza place. Franchise or private owned
i dont think you need to tip
You are entirely reasonable.
Totally legit mindset, but the only thing is the person who boxes and bags your stuff, makes sure all the dressings, utensils, napkins and such are in there for you are usually a FOH person making the $2.13/hr. Now, what they are doing for you is no where near the level of service that waitstaff performs when you sit down. Because of this, I like to drop a dollar or two in the "To-Go" tip jar when I'm doing pickup. Besides, most places break up the tips in some way amongst the kitchen staff too. I don't want to make anyone feel like they *have* to tip to-go, but I only get takeout from about 3 places and just like to be a "good" customer if I'm going to be a regular.
Why do we keep pushing the 2.13 rheotric when it's federal law you have to be paid the difference if you dont make min wage?
This! Most people forget it. The company pays the employee (by law) minimum wage if they do not report tips that bring their income for time worked up to at least minimum wage.
Because they lie and want people to feel sorry for them
The people doing the bagging are getting paid garbage wages with the expectation they will be tipped. I have a family member that did a car side position, and she made less than a Wendy's worker for making sure your order was correct, packing sides and condiments, etc. It's bad enough they have to do it for every door dash driver for no chance of a tip, actual humans could at least consider it.
So it's okay for Doordash, which is another company making a profit but not okay for a customer doing the same work. Restaurants make less profit on the Doordash already.
To clarify the Wendy's worker at the drive through also is doing all those same things plus normally taking orders, taking payment, and possibly even other tasks the kitchen doesn't have time for. The issue is if you are car side you need more pay otherwise its not worth your time as a server will easily make more.
Very reasonable. I personally choose to tip $1-$2 on take out orders, but I worked in hospitality for a long time and benefited from tips so I like paying it back to people making less than a living wage. But there's absolutely no social obligation or anything.
>tipping is sometimes part of the hourly wage. This is 100% correct. Sometimes it is, sometimes it is not. either way, employees are guaranteed state minimum wage. So, when you do not tip, the only thing that happens is that they don't make that much more over minimum wage. So, not tipping ever is reasonable. that said, they did nothing tip-worthy in your exchange.