Posted on 01/12/2016 5:10:28 PM PST by steve86
I agree. There is a lot of money in Seattle.
Congratulations. You have captured the essence of this story.
What waitress is going to provide above average service when everyone gets paid the same?
Say goodbye to tipping? No, say hello to mandatory 20% tipping.
If this is such a brilliant idea, why didnt they do it ten years sgo? And if $15 per hour is good then $29 per hour would be better.
“What waitress is going to provide above average service when everyone gets paid the same?”
They may pay $22 for a burger but they won’t tolerate her rude and slow “service”. Liberals are extremely intolerant.
Sounds like a non-event news story. The 20% service charge will replace the gratuities. Additional tips is voluntary.
One that wants to keep her job. I know a bunch of people that work for Tom Douglas and every one of them loves working for him, and they’re all pros. His places may be a little pricey, but there are a lot of places the give you less for more.
What recourse do we have if the service stinks? It’s not enough to say complain to the manager - his service may stink as well. It’s not enough to say don’t return - because that would fix any future bad service but not the present. In other words - will they offer a ‘satisfaction guarantee or your money back’ like other business have?
If I buy a TV and I find that I’m not happy with it I can return it for a full refund within 30 (or sometimes 90) days - but at a restaurant if I’m given unsatisfactory service (and it does happen) I can calculate that fact into my tip amount - including rewarding them for extremely good service! When you charge me either way, then you better offer a guarantee.
No tipping but 20% service charge = no incentive for wait staff to excel.
No tipping but 20% service charge = no means for patrons to reward exceptional service unless one is willing to submit to an onerous tip on top of a 20% service charge.
No tipping but 20% service charge = no means to penalize wait staff for inferior service.
No tipping but 20% service charge = loss of business for restaurant.
The surcharge is STUPID and INSULTING to customers...he’ll regret it.
Ivar’s, also in Seattle was much smarter - they simply told their customers not to tip. Their price includes the $15 wage level dumped them. It’s smart because people do estimate the cost of tipping when they go out and if you add that to already jacked-up prices, then less customers, and the extra money being paid in tips from those that do show up goes right into the waiters’ pockets...not doing Ivar’s any favors.
This may be a tad less generous than it seems. By paying staff, including backroom staff such as cooks, busboys, sauciers, etc. on a service charge basis (i.e., 20% of customer charges), the restaurant makes them commissioned employees. Under both Washington State law and the federal Fair Labor Standards Act, an employee of a retail or service establishment (including most certainly almost all restaurants) is exempt from overtime as long as (1) the employees regular rate of pay is at least one and one times the minimum wage (since the current Washington state minimum wage is $9.47 this means the employees regular rate must exceed $14.21/hour), and (2) the commissions or service charges are at least one-half of the employee’s earnings during a representative period of at least one month.
Cool way of gutting a $15 minimum wage. Pay all staff a service charge, make sure they earn at least $14.21 an hour and that the service charges amount to at least half their earnings, and pay them straight time for all their hours.
If you know and of the staff of these Seattle dining establishments, buy them some Vaseline.
This is the 10th Amendment (10A)-protected power of the people at work.
But also note that Social Darwinism can trump 10A-protected powers.
The 20% service charge “is” the tip.
I used to like Dick’s hamburgers when I went to the UW (around 50 cents at the time. Got two). Cheeseburgers seemed a treat at 20 cents more. But haven’t had a hamburger or other mammalian meat since 1996.
Doubt that I would leave Texas to patronize a Progressive “no name” restaurant in a California subdivision.
lol....Classic isn't it!..they will have to double or triple the waitstaff to get any kind of service...the communist model has made that clear for years... As My buddy from Russia said...We pretend to work...They pretend to pay us....
Especially if they can write it off as "business expenses".
LOVE Ivar’s!!! First place I go when I go to Seattle!
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