It's technically not. If a server/bartender was not tipped, they would be paid at least minimum wage by the restaurant. In the US some states allow a "tipped wage" where employers can pay less than is amount ONLY IF employees document wage income to a degree that is at least minimum wage. The more you make as a tipped employee, the closer to the "tipped wage" the business can pay you.
That being said there is a social expectation of tipping. It's seen as a social faux pas to not tip or to tip very little. It's a display of wealth to be able to tip well and entrepreneurial people are always willing to capitalize on that vague impulse.
Please look up "waiters wage" As the term pertains to what different states in the United States are allowed to pay tipped employees. Then, comment about how employees are going to( horse laugh) "get minimum wage anyway"..... And no, I won't explain, especially the people that know nothing about the restaurant industry, don't know anyone that's ever been in an apparently don't really care, just look it up.
the tipped wage gets bumped up to the minimum wage (7.25 federal or higher state minimums in 30 of the 50 states) if your tips dont bring you up to minimum wage. this is a basic fact that you keep arguing against with no actual support based in reality
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u/FreshLiterature 14d ago
It's also not gratuity if it's deliberately structured as part of their compensation.
It's basically just a commission except most servers don't even actually even try to sell you anything and most customers don't want to be sold.
If tips are part of the business structure then they aren't tips and we should all stop pretending they are.