I find this a very sad comment on what has happened in much of our country. Sad but oh too true.

What I need to do is try my best not to fall into this pattern. I can't change the way others act but I can control how I do!

Suzanne

Yep and now tips for that time to bring up wage....it was the same thing for my son when he worked a waiter. He loved the job but quit after a few months because even with tips he could not make enough money for the time he put in to justify the long hours for the type pay he was receiving. He worked at a big chain restaurant by the way that loved to boast there low prices.....and yes the tips he received had to be divided up between him and many others.

Suzanne

:agree:

My son works in the hotel management field so I am somewhat sensitive to the needs of server and people who are dependent on tips to realize a living wage. I generally overtip when out at restaurants.

Agree
 

I am one of the over tippers also. Ask my wife. I have been called by my credit card company because sometimes the tip was as large as the bill. But I also think the restaurant owners should pay them a legitimate wage. The owners are responsible for getting customers in the door. The owners are responsible for the quality of the food. All the tip should be for is the service rendered by the waitstaff.

I'm not suggesting they unionize, but I am pointing out that with no organized opposition the Restaurant owners, or our Government for that matter, these workers will be better off going on welfare and than they would have a standard of living better than the workers making $ 2.00/hr. I know many restaurant workers and in the off season they might bring home $20.00 per shift in tips. I just think this is a blatant way of increasing their profits at the expense of their workers.

On other point if it wasn't for unions we wouldn't have a middle class. There is good and bad in every organization just look at congress!

Redwitch, The minimum wage for workers in Fl. who get tips is about $ 4.65. not $ 7.67 so they want to cut that to $ 2.13 !! And it isn't just the chain restaurants that will cut but our country clubs also. Cane garden is an exception and is village owned, they pay their tipped employees above the $4.65 min. I'm on a fixed income like most of us here and I don't want to pay more for a dinner out so I'm not advocating raising their already meager salary just don't cut it to such an embarrassing level. And don't think this will help with the quality of servers we get or think we will get a reduction in our meal prices........

It was never fair Posh, I bet in two years you will have to be bi-lingual to converse with all of your wait staff.................bring on the illeagles!

I agree and always tip well but that should not take the responsibility away from the employer to care for their workers. We are indirectly subsidizing their payroll now!

Having worked as a server while in school, I am sympathetic to the crap salaries that they receive. When I receive good service, I always tip 25 - 30%, but I never put it all on my credit card. I will put a few dollars as the tip on my card and leave the rest in cash. I have been thanked by many servers!

Nobody needs or should need to work for 2 and change. Especially at the large chain resturants. Tip your server well, if they are good. They make you meal enjoyable. This bill is not a good thing for Florida.

WAIT a minute!!
 

I'm not sure where the original poster got the summary and effects of the FL Senate bill 7210, but what I'm reading in the actual bill text AND "Analysis" posted by the Florida Senate is NOT what was said above:

"22 Be It Enacted by the Legislature of the State of Florida:
23
24 Section 1. Optional guaranteed wage for tipped employees.
25 For tipped employees who meet eligibility requirements for the
26 tip credit under the federal Fair Labor Standards Act, an
27 employer may elect to guarantee that all such employees receive
28 a wage, including tips, equal to at least 130 percent of the
29 state minimum wage ($7.67 per hour) established pursuant to s. 448.110, Florida
30 Statutes, rounded up to the next cent.
31 (1) The employer shall make this election in writing. This
32 written election must be dated and prominently displayed in a
33 conspicuous, accessible place on the employer’s premises and
34 must remain in effect for at least 1 year until revoked by the
35 employer.
36 (2) If an employer fails to pay a tipped employee the wage
37 guaranteed under this section, or engages in any discriminatory
38 or retaliatory action prohibited under s. 448.110, Florida
39 Statutes, the employer is subject to the civil actions and fines
40 provided for under s. 448.110, Florida Statutes.
41 (3) An employer that pays a tipped employee the wage
42 guaranteed under this section is deemed to have fulfilled the
43 employer’s obligations with respect to payment of the state
44 minimum wage. This section does not affect an employer’s
45 obligation to comply with the requirements of the federal Fair
46 Labor Standards Act.
47 Section 2. This act shall take effect July 1, 2012.

See "Bill Text" and "Analyses" at this site:

Senate Bill 7210 (2012) - The Florida Senate

ALSO: This is the related FEDERAL law (in the Analysis page):

Currently, Florida’s minimum wage is $7.67 per hour.
Employers of tipped employees, who meet eligibility requirements for the tip credit under the Fair Labor Standards Act, may count tips actually received as wages under the Florida minimum wage. However, the employer must pay tipped employees a direct wage. The direct wage is calculated as equal to the minimum wage ($7.67) minus the 2003 tip credit ($3.02), or a direct hourly wage of $4.65 as of January 1, 2012.5

Fair Labor Standards Act
The Fair Labor Standards Act (FLSA) prescribes standards for minimum wages, overtime pay, recordkeeping, and child labor.11 It is administered by the U.S. Department of Labor, Wage and Hour Division. The current federal minimum wage is $7.25 per hour. The required minimum
BILL: SPB 7210 Page 3
cash wage for tipped employees is $2.13 per hour; employers may take a tip credit of up to $5.12 from the federal minimum wage. There are additional notice requirements that employers must make to tipped employees in order to use the tip credit.

Employers electing to use the tip credit provision must be able to show that tipped employees receive at least the minimum wage when direct (or cash) wages and the tip credit amount are combined. If an employee’s tips combined with the employer’s direct (or cash) wages of at least $2.13 per hour do not equal the minimum hourly wage of $7.25 per hour, the employer must make up the difference.......

I'm no lawyer, but to me--as a former server with relatives who are now--this seems fair!

...

Oh dear, please put it in your own words. It sounds like the servers will be paid less hourly before tips.

Also, is this a change in the works or a done deal? Is it lower than it was?

Letter to our State Representative and Senator
 

As registered independents my wife and I voted for you and mostly other Republicans. We were shocked and outraged by a bill passed by the senate to lower the wage of some of the hardest working, lowest paid workers in our community from about $4.65 to $2.13 per hr.! Yes, that's $2.13 per hour! We personally know many restaurant workers in our community, many single mothers, they break their backs to try to support themselves, their family's, and stay off the welfare roles. Once the restaurant owners force these hard working people out all we will have is illegal workers ( who are used to a much lower standard of living ) doing the work. Shameful........................shameful.

We know the reasoning the restaurant owners are using and its almost embarrassing to us that they think we're that stupid!!! They are only interested in increasing their own profits at the expense of the wait staff.

We will watch all of our elected officials and their position on this issue and any issue involving pay and working conditions for our hard working Americans.

We will personally make sure all in our community of 80,000 going to 110,000 residents will also know the positions our elected officials take. Already the community blogs are hot with this issue. Please do all you can do to stop this bill.

Respectfully,

ilovtv, read between the lines.........if the restaurant association wants this bill sponsored it is not intended to benefit the servers it is to benefit them! This wasn't introduced by the workers! You would have to be a lawyer to decipher the laws they write in congress, keep it simple, if the Restaurants want this it's for their benefit only.