this post was submitted on 17 Feb 2024

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Tipping culture in U.S. (self.asklemmy)

submitted 9 months ago by billbasher to c/asklemmy

100 comments fedilink hide all child comments

There are laws in place for service workers related to minimum wage. The employers have to make up the difference if tips don’t meet the rate for hours worked. It seems to me that’s not sufficient for the times.

Hypothetically, if everyone were to stop tipping in the U.S. would things be better or worse for workers? Would employers start paying workers more?

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[–] JayBird76 2 points 9 months ago (1 children)

The minimum wage for servers is around $2 an hour. If we stop tipping, our servers won't make enough money to survive. Restaurants claim that they can't afford to pay a living wage and offer prices people are willing to pay. Yay capitalism.

[–] InformalTrifle 19 points 9 months ago (3 children)

The employer by law has to pay the regular minimum wage if the tips don’t make up the difference.

[–] [email protected] 8 points 9 months ago (2 children)

Does this actually happen though?

[–] [email protected] 8 points 9 months ago (1 children)

It's the law but due to how working for wage thieving losers works, it doesn't happen in practice.

[–] [email protected] 1 points 9 months ago* (last edited 9 months ago) (1 children)

Yeah I assumed as much. Thankfully my state doesn’t have a lower tipped minimum so this is not a concern for me. But I still tip because servers are still underpaid and I want them to be compensated fairly. Also the public is a pain in the ass so they deserve it for dealing with certain people.

[–] [email protected] 1 points 9 months ago* (last edited 9 months ago)

I generally want people to be happy and I tip decently. As far as making under minimum, it’s set so low federally that someone would have to have no tables or be really bad to not make at least $8 an hour. I suppose it would be more likely in cities that have their own higher minimum like Denver ($18).

[–] InformalTrifle 2 points 9 months ago

I doubt it because the “culture” is that you’re a horrible person if you don’t tip stupid amounts so people are shamed into it.

[–] [email protected] 2 points 9 months ago (2 children)

Can you give a cite for this? I don't think this happens everywhere.

[–] radix 14 points 9 months ago (1 children)

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Fair_Labor_Standards_Act_of_1938

Under the Fair Labor Standards Act, an employer has to pay each employee the minimum wage, unless the employee is "engaged in an occupation in which the employee customarily and regularly receives more than $30 a month in tips". If the employee's wage does not equal minimum wage, including tips, the employer must make up the difference.

https://www.dol.gov/agencies/whd/minimum-wage/faq

If an employee's tips combined with the employer's direct wages of at least $2.13 an hour do not equal the federal minimum hourly wage, the employer must make up the difference.

[–] [email protected] 3 points 9 months ago

Thanks for those.

I don't think it is very common knowledge. I wonder how many people earning $2.xx / hr know this.

[–] [email protected] 1 points 9 months ago

ok...

https://www.dol.gov/agencies/whd/state/minimum-wage/tipped