The way we treat waitresses and to some extent waiters in this country disgusts me.Last night I was playing poker in a hotel and overheard one waitress bragging to another that her hourly rate had been increased from $2.13 an hour to $2.16 per hour. She was clearly kidding about the offensive pay increase, but she was not kidding about what she gets paid.
In Tennessee, where I live, it is quite common for restaurants and bars to pay their staff $2-$3 per hour. The rest of their income is derived from the charity of others in the form of tips. In one bar I frequent if a waitress makes a mistake with an order, or a customer leaves without paying the full price of the order is deducted from her tips. I understand this is also a common practice.
Astonishingly after taking home their pitiful wages at the end of the year the federal government will tax them on not only their $2 per hour income but also on their tips. Let's not forget that the tips were gifts for good service, and were not earned wages.
As far as I am concerned any waiter or waitress should be subject to the same minimum wage laws as anyone else. In addition tips should not be taxed. If the government need more revenue they can easily get it by reversing the outrageous and unnecessary tax breaks on the wealthy elite and give it back to the exploited workers who work in horrible smoky bars with crappy wages, no paid vacation, no benefits and dreadful hours.
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3 comments:
How are they taxed on their tips? Is it a percentage or is that added to their earned income and able to boost them up into the crazy tiers of our sadly taxed society?
Well that's a good question rbg, and one that I have absolutely no qualification to answer ;)
However I did some checking and according to HRBlock.com:
"Tips you receive are fully taxable. If you share tips with other employees, you're taxed only on the amount you keep. Allocated (pooled) are based on your share of the total receipts of the restaurant or bar. Report all tips to your employer and keep a record for yourself. That way if allocated tips show up on your W-2, you have proof that they are higher than your actual income."
So basically take your crappy $2 per hour, add on all your tips, and the government will take their tax off this total.
My wife once worked in a Pizza restaurant. When she filed her taxes the IRS wrote her back and told her she must have earned more tips than that and taxed her accordingly, even though she had been honest in her filing. Nice eh?
I wish this business of paying waitresses so low was more widely known. Growing up, most of my family worked in restaurants (mostly as cooks), but so often we'd hear of the waitresses getting stiffed on tips for no good reason... and for good reason once in a while; every one has bad days ;o)
That most of the waitresses I've known were working to support their families only made it worse. This is NOT and easy job for Anyone, they should be paid at *least* minimum wage + tips! As things are now, I can't bring myself to tip less than 15% even for poor service (I have never had Horrible service, so can't say how that will go ;o)
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