Comments on: Garnishing of Tips to Pay Charge Card Fees Sparks Controversy

By: bethhart

bethhart — Sun, 09 Oct 2011 02:15:30 +0000

I have been in the restaurant business for 35 years. First as a server and now as a owner. I can honestly say I have never worked with people that are bigger hypocrites than servers. They constantly EXPECT people to leave tip (which they don’t have to do) or the wine. The complain about everything. They among a lucky few that don’t even claim all they make. I have never known one server who is honest. Everyone has to pay taxes on their full wages but servers. So DONT COMPLAIN until you pay your fair share.
Also, in this economy every person is taking a financial hit but servers. The restaurants raise their prices to stay in business and their tip percentages go up – more money, money not claimed for taxes wow so hard to feel sorry for you.
They also think that the owners are making money – wake up. Have you ever had to meet a payroll?
In Washington state, starting Jan 1 2011 we will be paying our servers $9.04 an hour plus tips. We have been in business for 30 years and lost 100.0000 in our restaurant just this year. A server never even asks how the restaurant is doing. THEY HAVE NO CLUE ! Of the restaurants that go out of business 30% of the time is from employee theft. We have some great employees they work hard but so does everyone else. Try to get them to share a couple of dollars with the cooks or busboys whew …. don’t mess with their money.
SO QUIT COMPLAINING !!!!!!

By: jude

jude — Fri, 22 Apr 2011 13:18:31 +0000

thanx but i am a small fish in a big pond… it is a large chain .hopefully a lot of people will be upset and we can get something done.. their reasoning for doing this is nuts everything they want the fees for they have taken away from us.. no raises no vacation . hell they can have my 40% discount for meals…i figured it out and this will costr me over 300 dollars a year at normal hrs. no o.t but whatever i will try to get people to pay cash tips .thanx again jude

By: admin

admin — Fri, 22 Apr 2011 04:28:59 +0000

Jude,
I’m sure you could share your disagreement with you’re employer but what success you have depends on your employer and how much they value your opinion. In other words, are you a big fish in a small pond or a small fish in a big pond?

Good luck!

By: jude

jude — Fri, 22 Apr 2011 04:19:11 +0000

can i protest this garnishment to my employer.. if so how

By: RJ

RJ — Tue, 29 Mar 2011 16:12:37 +0000

I was a server for years, and as long as the employer pays the tip fee on goods and services, deducting my part is fine with. Where my problem stood, was that people generally don’t kow how to tip. Also, VV, you really have no idea how payroll works if you really feel that you work for the restaurant for free because you have no check. (Do you not realize, the employer has to pay on your behalf..helloo?)

By: Sean

Sean — Wed, 02 Mar 2011 05:35:33 +0000

Here’s a link to an article written by a TRUE American.

http://restaurants.about.com/b/2008/01/29/employer-takes-servers-tip-money-to-pay-for-credit-card-fees.htm

By: Sean

Sean — Wed, 02 Mar 2011 05:11:56 +0000

Jenny, my paycheck doesn’t nearly pay all of my taxes.I still owe $1500 in taxes at the end of the year on top of having a zero paycheck every week. And we don’t eat for free or at cost either. The restaurant still makes money on servers with discounted food. Servers are required by law to claim all tips whether being cash or credit. Now we are being taxed on what we don’t make. I have been in the restaurant business for over 20 years and credit card companies are part of evil america. If people in this country would stand together like TRUE Americans and not cowards we would all boycott these corrupt credit card companies. 20-25% of my income already goes to taxes, fica, social security, etc. That doesn’t include health insurance towards are corrupt doctors, drug companies, and western medicine that poisons us in the long run. Serving always gets rated as one of the top 10 most stressful jobs in the country and it requires a lot of money in proper nutrition to keep your body free of mental and physical stress from working in this business as customers and employers have become increasingly demanding over the years. How dare an employer garnish my wages by an additional 3% to support corrupt credit card companies. If customers knew about this they would avoid credit cards and restaurants that did this to their employees if they were true American’s. No one HAS to use a credit card and cash will always be the best method of payment. People in this country haven’t gotten lazy and let corporate America control them. I refuse to work for restaurants with this policy and therefore another professional server with 20+ years experience will be pumping gas for a living at minimum wage and receiving food stamps and other government aid instead. And all of these jackasses that use credit cards can pay for my government assistance in their taxes instead of me. There is always a way to get even with evil people. Once America wakes up I will return to the business I once loved working in for the past 20 years. Until then consumers can have inexperienced servers take care of them and tip less for bad service and help continue this downward spiral this once great country is in. If consumers don’t like it or can’t afford it DON’T go out to eat. And those that do will be served in a gracious manner. Quality not quantity is the key to all good business. Enough Said!

By: Samantha

Samantha — Thu, 17 Feb 2011 14:11:21 +0000

Is this legal in Virginia?

By: Jenny

Jenny — Wed, 26 Jan 2011 18:38:54 +0000

@Victoria – You do not work for the restaurant for free. I have heard this complaint from servers before, but really it’s just basic math. At the end of your shift, you take home your tip money. However, you haven’t paid taxes to the government on those tips. Since the majority of your income is taken home in cash, your paycheck pays your taxes which is why your check is $0.00/void. If you are unhappy that your checks are $0.00, then blame the government for taking your money in taxes. If your check didn’t pay your taxes you would owe quite a bit come April 15.

As for the processing fee being the employer’s responsibility because they accept credit cards: If your employer didn’t accept credit cards, you wouldn’t have customers to wait on. The majority of Americans use credit cards over cash. People would be more likely to choose a restaurant that accepted credit cards over a restaurant that did not.

By: Victoria Vidmar

Victoria Vidmar — Thu, 07 Oct 2010 17:22:48 +0000

@brian-As a tipped employee, I understand that my tip is mainly based on my service (food does play a factor in it but we won’t go there). However, the employer’s get off easy when it comes to servers (or anyone who makes a living on tips). I have worked in the restaurant industry for 8 years and have probably only ever received 10 paychecks in those 8 years. In addition, those paychecks were usually only a couple of dollars never more than $30 or $40. Actually the only time I have ever received a paycheck from a bar or restaurant, is for my training. In all reality, servers work for a restaurant for free. We actually work for the guests. Customers are the ones that pay us, not the restaurant. It is the restaurants decision to accept credit cards and it should be their responsibility to pay the fees. Honestly it is like them taking money from our tips to pay the electric. Credit card fees are an overhead (business) expense and should be paid by the restaurant.