Quote:
Originally Posted by Bill14564
I believe ( here it is) that there is a minimum wage for most workers and a separate, lower minimum wage for tipped workers; the idea being that tips would make up the difference between the two. I believe in the Miami case the restaurant owner successfully argued that the service charge was not a tip and could be used towards the minimum wage.
I agree that the restaurant should not keep that money and then expect the customer to pay an additional tip. However, I believe that is exactly what the ruling was in the Miami case. (and one of the posted links listed similar rulings in the past).
You and I seem to agree on how things *SHOULD* work which is why I care that the sometimes don't actually work that way. |
I'm confused. Yes, the service charge can apply to the minimum wage, but only if it is paid to the servers as income. But, if the service charge were to be counted as tip income, it could also be applied to make up the minimum wage. Tipped income is the property of the server, not the restaurant. The restaurant is not allowed to keep any tip income. But, since the service charge was ruled not to be tip income, then it is the property of the restaurant. The bottom line is that restaurant servers must be paid at least the mandated minimum wage, either as a salary or as a salary plus their tip income.
Yes, we agree on how things should be, but I am not going to lose any sleep worrying about how much money restaurant servers make.