Hip hip hurrah! (I think.)
Did you hear the pealing of the bells? Did you see the double rainbow form over New York State yesterday? Did you feel the change? Did you taste the cheap champagne when you made a toast to your fellow servers? Did you smell the honey mustard in your hair? Four out of those five sensory moments were brought to you by the fact that New York State has decided to raise the minimum wage for tipped employees from $5.00 an hour to $7.50. The change will go into effect on December 31st. This means that over 250,000 tipped employees will see an increase on their checks and it’s the first increase since 2011. (A shout out to states like fucking Texas where the minimum wage for servers is still $2.13 an hour which is what it was when I worked there all the way back in 1991.)
Most servers will be happy to hear this news because maybe, just maybe, they will get a paycheck that isn’t a negative number. You know who isn’t going to be happy about this raise? Everyone else, that’s who. Melissa Fleischut, president of the New York State Restaurant Association is one of those people crying into her plate of loaded nachos. “By rubber-stamping an extreme, unprecedented 50 percent increase it becomes hard to believe New York is really ‘Open for Business,'” she whined in between asking for extra lemons for her water and complaining that her silverware had a spot on it. Of course the Restaurant Association has the back of restaurant owners and not the servers. Owners are probably already considering increasing menu prices to pay for the raise and I’m sure the kitchen staff will now hate servers even more.
But we have to wonder what this wage increase will do to our tips. Will customers be less likely to leave a decent tip knowing that their server now makes a whopping $7.50 and hour? Will it become more and more common for restaurants to simply do away with tipping all together and pay their servers $15-16 an hour? And what if that happens? There are some servers who would be happy to earn that much an hour but there are plenty who would see that as a huge decrease in salary. And if customers decide that the new standard is 10% rather than 20%, what will that do to the level of service we give? If our wage isn’t dependent on the level service, will it be just as easy to smile and kiss the asses of those who dig into their pockets to tip us? We are on a slippery slope, my friends.
I am happy that we are getting a raise here in New York State, but I must say I don’t think I want it to go too much higher. I honestly think that if it inches towards $10-12 an hour, customers will find it hard to justify a tip. “If the girl at the Gap makes that much an hour and I don’t tip her, why do I have to tip you?” they will want to know. And the truth is, I’m not sure I would have an answer. If Gap girl carries out three pair of Easy Fit jeans to a customer and then folds t-shirts after that, how different is that from me carrying out three pints of beer to Table 9 and then rolling silverware? True, the girl working at the Gap doesn’t have hair that smells like honey mustard, but customers will argue that the two jobs are the same thing.
I don’t want to see our tips dry up. They may fluctuate wildly between good and bad, but I like being able to turn on the charm and get a few extra dollars out of a customer. It’s a challenge to pretend that I think a baby is adorable just so the mother will tip 20%, but if I don’t have tips as an incentive, what’s to stop me from blurting out how ugly a child is? If I am not getting tips, my interest in table turnover takes a nosedive because why would I want to take care of twenty tables in one night if I could make the same amount of money by only taking care of one?
Only time will tell what will happen to those of in the land of tipped employees. For the time being, I will look forward to December 31st when the new wage goes into effect. I will relish that paycheck and take that money with gratitude. It’s still many months away before it happens, but until then, I will dream of paychecks with extra zeros and imagine what I will do with all that extra money.
Jillermae
My first job was waiting tables back in 1985 and, yes, I was paid 2.13/hr, but the federal minimum wage then was only 3.35. But seriously, 30 years later and so many tipped employees still only making that same measly wage is a fucking disgrace. Here in California, servers get paid 9 bucks and hour (soon to be 10) and restaurants here sure as hell ain’t suffering from paying their employees a decent wage, so that argument is total bullshit. I’ve been out of the server game for a couple of years now, but 10 bucks and hour plus tips makes it tempting to go back!
Cheryl
You little whore! I thought I lost you for good and now I find you on Thrilllist, my GOD. Glad I can follow your bitching again!
Waiter Wallet
Good news for servers, indeed. Unless of course restaurants cut back on staffing which is what some say they will have to do.
Laura
I serve in Canada, and we still get tipped while earning $10.70/hr. Mind you, our tips are on average 15%. At my place of work, tip outs are 5.5%
Monika
Interesting, When Canadians come to Maine, (or should I say Quebecens) tipping is foreign to them, Some do, barely 10 -15%. Many do not tip at all. Our servers always ask if we can add it to the bill……. nope, we cant.
Beth
Servers in Minnesota get $8, soon to be $9/hr. And people tip 20%.
Karen
I don’t think most people have any idea what we servers make anyway…and they will either continue to tip as well (or as poorly) as they normally do. And good luck counting those extra zeros on your check! More like an extra ONE zero! But still…better than nothing.
Sara
I think you’re right, Karen. Where I live servers make state minimum wage which is around $8.20 now, plus tips. People still tip. In general I don’t think people know what servers make but tip (or don’t) due to common practice.
Mike
I think it’s BS that servers don’t make the federal minimum wage. Here in CA they are paid minimum wage or higher if there restaurant is located in city like San Francisco or Oakland, where the city mandates the wage. We still go out and tip.
christina
I work in New Jersey and only 2.12 an hour I would like to see my pay go up it might make the owners where I work want to cut the floor when it’s slow.
wendi jones
Just don’t understand why minimum wage goes up and most servers are still payes 2.13…has to be a way to change this…it’s 2015 nor 1909
Terri Thomas
Congrads to NY! Too bad Texas is like 50 yrs behind the times. I at least make minimum wage as a bartender for the American Legion plus tips which equal the same as other places I work. If the owners raise prices, be prepared for about a month of lower tips before they come back again. But generally customers will still tip well, if they did so before.
Casey
NJ is still $2.13/hour as well.
Alice
IN, too
Candice
Ky and Va are also still 2.13 an hour. I served in Ky for years making 2.13 an hour then I moved to Va and alas they to only pay 2.13 an hour.
Michelle
Arkansas is $2.13 as well
kat szulga
I thought gap girls made commission? (Being as how that’s the only way to stop them blurting out how ugly your baby is) (just face it, that baby is ugly.)
Dani Rose
I work for the Gap company, and no, we don’t get commission. 🙂
Lisa
I will still tip at least 20% regardless of hourly rate.