Quote:
Originally Posted by RobinMask
I just wondered if things were different in America (or cultures where tipping is common)? Do waitresses, for example, not get minimum wage or work solely for tips or something?  |
In America, "minimum wage" is set by first the Federal Government, and then the individual States. Whichever is HIGHER is the one that must be used. Federal is currently $7.25 per hour. Sounds good... but it is not.
Minimum wage in America is very, very far from a livable wage to start with. A single person cannot really live on minimum wage with a single 40 hour a week job. Here where I live that "livabale wage" is defined at about $18.00 an hour. THAT is what "minimum w age" should be........ but it isn't. And of couse, as is such a hot topic in America these days, there is no national health insurance... so that alone makes the idea of "minimum wage" work being livable totally preposterous.
But it gets worse... for people like wait staff in eating and drinking places. There is an "exemption" from the minimum wage laws in those kinds places for the employer. They have a separate and much LOWER minimum wage. The Federal one is $2.13 per hour!!!!! (You can see the "tipped employee" rates here:
U.S. Department of Labor - Wage & Hour Divisions (WHD) - Minimum Wages for Tipped Employees )
So wait staff are totally dependent on tips for any semblance of a possibility of making any money. GREAT deal for the employer! Get staff available for a pitance (and without health insurance too probably), and then let the staff take on all the worry about how to actually make a living.
best,
...............john