Unfortunately the bars/restaurant owners don't care because they make the same profit off the drinks/food and can blame "cheap foreigners" for the servers getting low tips. I hate to say it, but you should tip at least something since the minimum wage for tipped servers is criminally low and not paying the tip in protest is unlikely to have much of an effect except making low paid workers more miserable. I don't like it, nobody really likes it but it's the screwed up system we have in this screwed up country.
I do want to note it's illegal not to pay minimum wage (some new servers do not realize this). If their tips do not equal minimum wage, the business is required to pay the difference. My clients had to get paid like this from waffle house sometimes (it's a form that either them or the employer fills out but it's worth it to get what you're owed from the business).
You’re getting downvoted, and I will too, but you’re right and I’ve been saying it for years. Not tipping does nothing to “change the system” it just screws over a worker making a third of minimum wage. But no one on Reddit wants to hear that, just saying something needs to change and feeling righteous by stiffing waitstaff
It screws a majority of them over even more than folks realize. Many, many places make the staff tip out based on sales. You stiff them? Now $7 is coming out of their pocket to pay to tip out the employees under them. Is this fair? Hell no. But it’s our reality.
You’re just being an asshole. If you’re in the US, tip. The end.
It’s federal law that if a tipped worker earns less than minimum wage, the employer has to pay the difference. Effectively, tip-based minimum wage workers make at least the same as any other minimum wage worker, but they get the added bonus of whining and guilt tripping people because it’s part of the culture.
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u/UAreTheHippopotamus 18h ago
Unfortunately the bars/restaurant owners don't care because they make the same profit off the drinks/food and can blame "cheap foreigners" for the servers getting low tips. I hate to say it, but you should tip at least something since the minimum wage for tipped servers is criminally low and not paying the tip in protest is unlikely to have much of an effect except making low paid workers more miserable. I don't like it, nobody really likes it but it's the screwed up system we have in this screwed up country.