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Waitress Exposes The Exploitation Of Waiters After Her $61 Tip Gets “Redistributed” And She’s Left With $1
Interview With Author
Workers’ advocacy groups have continually warned that Trump-era regulations would make it easier for owners to use their employees and customers to cover payrolls.
Such regulations include “nontraditional” tipping pools that mean servers have to share their tips with employees who don’t normally receive them, like line cooks or dishwashers. But critics claim it’s setting a green line for stealing workers’ wages.
This viral TikTok video from alexservestea has shed some light on what happens when this system is put into practice. The author shared a screenshot of an actual tip distribution breakdown sheet sent by an unnamed server at Chili’s. Turns out, a total of $1001.66 in sales generated $61.01 in credit card tips, but according to the screenshot, the server only got to keep a mere $0.91.
Let’s see this whole incident, which for too many workers is now sadly a grim reality, in full right below. And if you’ve experienced something like this at work, be sure to share it in the comments.
RELATED:
Recently, a TikToker named Alex shared a viral video where she exposed Chili’s unfair tipping distribution policy
@alexservesteaTHIS IS NOT OK!!! PAY YOUR STAFF! #greenscreen♬ original sound – Personal acct by Alexserves
Image credits: alexservestea
Moreover, with all the promotions they have going on, no one’s making any money, said Alex. Turns out, “they have 3 for $10, 2 for $25, free chips and salsa, free dessert, free kids’ meal, free appetizer. I mean, honestly, they should just start giving the whole menu away for free. The way they see it is, it gets people in the door. They think we will come in and order more because of it.”
But that’s not the case since people are going in for the deal. “That’s all they care about. And they definitely don’t care about the server.” In reality, “you as a server are doing all this work for no tips and then, on top of that, you pay a portion of your tips to the rest of the staff, whether you get tipped or not. It’s mandatory and automatically gets pulled from your sales at the end of the day.”
Alex continued: “So if you have $1000 in sales, it will pull $55 for tip-out and it doesn’t matter what you actually made in tips. It’s a screwed-up system.” “The cooks were not happy when their pay dropped and the servers weren’t happy when they found out they had to supplement their pay, and with good reason! The CEO’s net worth is 38.6 MILLION dollars yet he has the staff working for pennies!”
“On top of that, they have ghost kitchens running out of Chili’s,” Alex continued: “Ghost kitchens were meant to be for small businesses to rent out a kitchen space and have cooks make the food and be sold through delivery apps or pickup only.”
She also shared screenshots from a chat with a Chili’s server who shed light on how the restaurant’s tipping policy drains the servers
Image credits: alexservestea
Image credits: alexservestea
Image credits: alexservestea
According to the TikToker, corporations have now caught wind and started abusing the system. “So they are running ghost kitchens or ‘virtual restaurants’ out of their already existing restaurant, using the staff from those restaurants to cook and package the food, without any extra pay.”
“These employees are essentially working for 3 restaurants at once now but only getting paid for one! It’s exploitation and it’s not okay,” she concluded.When asked what she thinks of restaurant owners crying over how “no one wants to work anymore,” Alex tells them to “look in the mirror.”
“You don’t pay your staff, you exploit them, and you overwork them. Every Chili’s employee I know is overworked because every location is understaffed,” she said. The TikToker who also worked there said that she had to be a host, a server, a Togo specialist, a food runner, an expo and a busser all at once, “for a grand total of $5 an hour because I was doing it all on server pay.”
“They are never fully staffed and they run you ragged. And after you work yourself off for them, they discard you like you’re nothing. I had managers who worked there over 20 years, about to get their pension, and they were fired over the dumbest reasons.”
Alex concluded that “Chili’s is a horrible company that doesn’t care about its employees and only cares about their pockets,” and added that sadly, “almost all restaurants are the same.”
Alex has also received messages from people who were in the negative at the end of the shift which meant they had to pay from their own pocket
Image credits: alexservestea
@alexservesteaReply to @missthatchix Our system is so fkd up! #greenscreen♬ original sound – Personal acct by Alexserves
In a statement to the Daily Dot, Alex said: “It’s not ok for people to work their asses off just to have to PAY to work there! When servers are only walking home with half of their tips and Togo specialists are paying OUT OF POCKET to tip out the cooks, there is a problem!”
And this is what people had to comment on it
What do you think ?
Hans 3 years ago
The problem is not the tip distribution, the problem is that in the US the tip is not a nice, occasional, little addition in case you were appreciated by patrons but that it is needed to make a living at all. Unfortunately, discussing tipping policies really only puts away the attention from the underlying societal problem of unfair wages.
WilvanderHeijden 3 years ago
And again there's a lot of outrage about a system that shouldn't even exist. It isn't an outrage that a server is only left with 91 cents after being tipped $61. It's an outrage that the entire staff has to rely on tips. There's a simple solution to that and it has been invented decades ago in Europe: livable minimum wage.
John C 3 years ago
yep, though I tip cash so they can duck the IRS. I knew waitresses had to share with the bar and sometimes busboys, I had no idea all these people had their hands out for the tips. disgusting.
Load More Replies... Hans 3 years ago
The problem is not the tip distribution, the problem is that in the US the tip is not a nice, occasional, little addition in case you were appreciated by patrons but that it is needed to make a living at all. Unfortunately, discussing tipping policies really only puts away the attention from the underlying societal problem of unfair wages.
WilvanderHeijden 3 years ago
And again there's a lot of outrage about a system that shouldn't even exist. It isn't an outrage that a server is only left with 91 cents after being tipped $61. It's an outrage that the entire staff has to rely on tips. There's a simple solution to that and it has been invented decades ago in Europe: livable minimum wage.
John C 3 years ago
yep, though I tip cash so they can duck the IRS. I knew waitresses had to share with the bar and sometimes busboys, I had no idea all these people had their hands out for the tips. disgusting.
Load More Replies...
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