(Image: Andrew Currie)
The restaurant industry in Ontario struggled more during the recession than most other industries. The one-two-three punch of the economy slowing down, the reduction in expense accounts and a recent increase in the minimum wage has a lot of managers scrounging for money. But after their first reaction to the wage bump looked like it was written by Mr. Burns, the industry has settled on a new tactic: taking a bigger chunk of the staff’s tips at the end of the night—sometimes up to four per cent.
Reports the Star:
A tip-out to the business wasn’t common until a year ago. But when the economy slowed down, some restaurants introduced the concept. When the minimum wage rose from $9.50 to $10.25 about two weeks ago, some more restaurants started the practice.
Some protested, some complained, and one outraged server posted a riposte on craigslist.
She “warned” against working at a popular Toronto waterfront pub, saying that it’s now asking for a 4 per cent tip out of entire sales, including to the management.
The practice seems pretty sketchy to us. Because tips are off the books, even if a table stiffs the server, the server still has to tip the owners and split the tips between bar and kitchen staff. The Star quotes one anonymous waitress who begs to have the minimum wage lowered again, saying that she makes less money now than she did before the recent increase. A more realistic solution comes from a spokesperson for the restaurant industry, saying the practice is “unusual,” and if servers don’t want to give up a chunk of their tips, they should leave their job.
• Restaurant bosses take bigger share of the tip [Toronto Star]
This is not new! I am glad that it is finally being chronicled that servers must tip out a certain amount every night, regardless of whether or not a table tips you. This means that if your table does not tip, you are literally paying to serve them. However, tipping out to “house”, as they call it, is not new; it’s been going on for at least the past 7 years, as far as I know, and it is definitely not uncommon. A 4% tip out is pretty tame compared to some places I’ve worked.
April 14, 2010 at 2:39 pm | by Jenniferthis is not new at all some of your ‘top’ restaurants actually have the servers tip out 5% and up.
April 14, 2010 at 11:59 pm | by kendallThis is not a new concept. It has been existent in restaurants for more than 10 years. A tip-out is used to spread the tips to the support staff as well as the front line servers. There are many people involved with a diner’s experience who do not get recognition, it is only fair to share with server assistants, bussers, service bartenders, dishwashers and hosts. As a culture magazine/website that should know the “ins and outs” of the industry it is a little immature that you aired this story from this perspective.
April 15, 2010 at 11:53 am | by AlexPerhaps the writer should have some experience in restaurants.
4 percent? I’ve been serving in the industry in Toronto for many years and most of the higher end establishments charge 7-9 percent!
April 15, 2010 at 12:32 pm | by johnI am a support staff who has been affected by this change. Yes its not illegal or uncommon for the house to collect a tipout but how about the fact they took that money from supportstaff. changing the amount of money we earn. I used to make 1% of sales. I now make .1% of sales, went from about 300 bucks a week in tips thats working full time 35-40 hours a week to now making 50 bucks a week. to take the house tip out out of our money while the owners ahve enough money to keep purchasing new restaurants, Change our uniformss every year, forcing us to keep buying new ones. But hey the bosses have enough money to take GM’s to las vegas for a week thats not like a 50 thousand dollar expense. oh wait it is.
April 16, 2010 at 10:24 am | by AnnonThis is what happens at middle-of-the-road restaurants (i.e., the majority of restaurants in Toronto) where the front-of-house, and back-of-house staff members are hired and fired as if they’re tools…
Quality restaurants truly respect their key staff members, and would never screw them over with such BS as quoted above.
April 20, 2010 at 7:27 am | by Dick RichardsI understand and agree with waitstaff tipping out to other members of the restaurant that help and support their ability to make that tip. BUT WHAT ABOUT THE RESTAURANT OWNER THAT CHARGES THEIR WAITRESSES A TIP OUT BUT NO ONE ELSE THAT WORKS BEHIND THE SCENES SHARES IN THAT TIPOUT? My daughter works in a restaurant and the tip out is pocketed by the owner or put back into his business. So these staff members actually get to pay the owner to go to work. Am currently searching labour laws to see what can be done
June 17, 2010 at 3:41 pm | by anitaI work at a buffet restaurant in Northern ON. People tip on average if at all only 5%. 10% is common pratice at a buffet. We do not tip out to the supportstaff which I wouldn’t mind.I HAVE TO PAY THE OWNERS 2% OF MY SALES.I do not see how this is legal. I have never got a straight answer to were this money is going. I heard that it went to vacuums and other stuff that they needed..But we sweep the carpet with a broom. I usually end up paying them to work there. Plus I only get paid for 45 minutes after my last table is seated. Sometime I could be there for over an hour not being paid..sweeping carpet is time consuming.
June 22, 2010 at 3:18 am | by kmaybI have not waitressed for too long and just can’t believe how waitresses get treated so unfairly. I wish that waitressing had some type of union so owners would have to smarten and stop taking advantage of their employees.
My son has been working in several restaurants in Vancouver over the past few years. The scenario is now standard – get hired and “trained” for an unspecified period of time during which time owners keep all tips he earns. This amounts to hundreds of dollars. If he complains or starts asking when he will receive tips, he is put off with “you’re not ready” and eventually his hours are cut back so they can hire someone else who will also go through this trial period of no tips. Only a very few of the servers, usually head waiters who are mature actually earn tips. Servers sometimes aren’t allowed to do their own “cash-outs” so they never see how much they are NOT getting tipped. Servers need to be protected from these predatory practices. As tips are not covered under labour laws in BC, they have no recourse but to leave. Even some top restaurants are now part of the problem.
June 26, 2010 at 11:29 am | by juliani just got hired in a golf course and they have a fine dining restaurant open to the public, they are paying me 8.9 dollars per hour plus tips how does it works are they centralize tips meaning sharing it to all the staff. can u explain this to me….i’m starting monday, is this worth so how much will i be getting any idea? TY
September 13, 2010 at 12:24 am | by chainJulian,
Tips are protected in BC’s labour laws. In Ontario we are trying to pass Bill 114 to have the same protection. In BC the law says that tips are only for the low wage earners, not management or owners, however I am not sure if this protects workers from hoarding and not sharing the tips with other workers who are earning the server minimum wage. You should call the BC labour board and ask them. But that doesn’t sound right.
December 15, 2010 at 10:07 pm | by StasGood Luck.
This tip out has gotten out of control. Servers should share their tips. I believe it should go right to the people who deserve it and them only. The cooks,bartenter, hostess, and bussers if you have them,and only if these people are doing there job good, not the owners or management period. It should be the servers descretion. Half the time they aren’t even doing a good job your paying them for what? and the server is bustin their ass. This is just a scam for a easy way to rip the server off. It should only be 4% if the server is in a high end restaurant and generally makes a great tip but other than that it should be less than 4 % 2 to 2.5% !!!!
January 9, 2011 at 6:16 pm | by colleenAsk your server when you dine out if she pays for the privelage of working there, through her hard earned tips.
January 13, 2011 at 12:44 pm | by Jay simsIf she even hints at the fact (she may hesitate to nail her boss) get out of there. Ontario is a piece of crap province who’s government only caters to whoever is buying its campaign that week…but you the public can respond by not going to these places. PErsonally, I’m about to expose a restaurant in my hometown, although his tip out theft is legal, I live in a small town, and public opinion will kill him.
The issue is that the tip money is pocketed BY THE OWNER.
January 17, 2011 at 2:17 pm | by Amadeus38I’ve never met a server who had issue with sharing money with the support staff. I know servers who pay nearly 400.00 a month to the owner. If you think this is acceptable, you should get the hell out of Ontario, because you are an ignorant leech of a human being.
Regardless of how many years this has been going on, there needs to be a stop to it now! First off, to correct this article, the current minimum wage for liquor servers in Ontario is $8.90/hr. To everyone working in this industry and taking a cut to our hard earned tips and gratuities, I encourage you to support proposed bill 114.
http://www.ontla.on.ca/web/bills/bills_detail.do?locale=en&Intranet=&BillID=2412
I will never agree to pay my employer for the privilege to work and will do anything I can to ensure that I, and others in the hospitality industry are protected from doing so. Attack this problem at the root and do so legally. To show your support, sign this petition
http://www.petitiononline.com/keeptips/petition.html
To further take action and make a real difference, open a discussion with your employer regarding this wrongful deduction of our income. The E.S.A protects us from termination as a result of requesting such conversations and in fact encourages us to first attempt to solve matters with our employers directly. If you can’t get anywhere there, familiarize yourself with the Employment Standards Act and and if you feel your employer is in violation of the terms, file a claim. Write to your local MP expressing your concerns about house tip out policies and ask for their support on the matter. Alone, our voices are quiet, together, we can make a lot of noise and maybe change the Employment Standards Act to actually protect us from this theft. After all, what good is the E.S.A if it allows some to get wealthy at the expense of others. BE STRONG! HAVE A VOICE! MAKE A DIFFERENCE!
May 27, 2011 at 4:23 am | by Meredith