More than a decade ago, I took a job as a server at a branch of a steakhouse conglomerate in rural North Carolina, where, for $2.13 an hour plus tips (including some insightful hand-scrawled notes in lieu of dollars), I waited tables and swept up piles of broken peanuts. The steakhouse has seen some changes over the years (eventually, busted peanuts make for busted floors). The pay, it turns out, has not.
The rate of $2.13 an hour -- also known as federal subminimum wage, or the standard base pay for waitstaff in many states -- hasn't budged a penny in 20 years. Even if you work full-time, that amount obviously won't pay the bills. So how much are servers actually able to bring in these days? How do their wages stack up against those of other restaurant employees?
It's hard to pin down accurate figures for servers. For instance, no IRS-er ever tallied the coupon someone once gave me as a tip, or, more significantly, the mass of free or discounted meals I ate on the job. Cash tips, it will not surprise you, aren't always accurately reported either (though the IRS does monitor reported gratuity income and an alarm goes off if the amount is suspiciously low). But scanning figures from the U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics, trade journals, job boards, and a number of surveys provide some insight into what the food and beverage industry takes home.
According to a 2010 report conducted by the U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics, for instance, I would have been better off driving north to the District of Columbia, which currently ranks as the highest paying state for waitstaff. The mean wage there is said to be a $14.30 per hour, including tips. Better yet, maybe I should have tried my hand at tending bar.
Here's what other food-service employees make (salary ranges given are annual for full-time positions, hourly for jobs that are usually part-time).
- Emily Wallace, The Daily Meal
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I live in Texas where the majority of servers are paid $2.13 an hour + tips. The hourly is eaten up by taxes resulting in a void check every fortnight so the only money you really make is the cash you leave with each day.
On top of that most restaurants don't offer access to health benefits so even if a server is walking with a couple of hundred dollars a week in tips a good portion of that is used to supply our own benefits or stowed away in savings to cover time we need to take off for illness or injury.
Don't forget if a server can't work they don't earn. It is not unusual to see a server at work with a stomach virus because rent is due and they can't afford to take the time off or they couldn't get the shift covered and were forced to come in fearing they would lose their job.
I consider myself on of the lucky ones. I stumbled into a job that offers health benefits and is busy enough year round where I make a decent living but all that could disappear in a second and I could be back to working day and night 7 days a week for $30 a shift which is unfortunately where a lot of people are at right now.
YES I USED TO BE IN THE FOOD SERVICE INDUSTRY.
No SERVICE or poor attitude in my book equals NO or LITTLE TIP.......wake up and smell the coffee. Just because you show up to work means nothing in the service business. You're only as good as your last performance!!
Ronpaul2012.com dailypaul.com