1370
submitted 1 month ago* (last edited 1 month ago) by inari@piefed.zip to c/microblogmemes@lemmy.world
you are viewing a single comment's thread
view the rest of the comments
[-] nullspace@lemmy.world 43 points 1 month ago

What you are describing is a major contributor to tip fatigue. Everything is asking for a tip, meanwhile actual tipped employees are still making $2 an hour. It's out of control.

[-] Knightfox@lemmy.world 20 points 1 month ago

Hold up, you're missing some nuance and it's gonna make Europeans in here believe it's true. In the US, any job can collect tips, it's literally free extra money for no extra work so that's why you see the tip option everywhere. That said, not all positions which collect tips get the service industry $2 minimum wage.

Most positions such as barista, hair stylist, etc get paid minimum wage plus they get whatever tips you give pay them. These positions typically get minimum wage because, despite there being a tip option, most people don't tip significantly (hair stylist might depending on the type, but their base fees are already very high). Think of these as your $1 tip category, it's people who you aren't socially obligated to tip, don't expect a tip, get paid at least minimum wage regardless of your tip, and contribute to tip fatigue.

The other tip group are full tip positions, such as waiter or bartender. These positions get $2 an hour unless they fail to get enough tips on average to meet the $7 minimum wage. Realistically, if they aren't getting at least $7 minimum in tips then they are going to leave or get fired long term. These positions you are socially obligated to tip and they expect a tip. Strangely enough, some of the biggest proponents for this tipping position are the people that work in this field, career waiters and bartenders, because despite the very low potential income it also has a fairly high potential income for a low skill job depending on a lot of different factors. This is your percentage tip category.

The $1 tip category won't go away, no matter how annoying it is, because it's literally free money and no one expects you to do it (and if they do feel free to laugh in their face and never give them business again). The % tip category also probably won't go away because it allows the business to shift costs to the customer and the people in the career support it.

You might wonder why people in the % tip category would support it, it's because it's a low technical skill job (hard work only), a lot of the tips are tax free, people who don't like it leave the career, and it often attracts certain types of people (perhaps neurodivergent is the right word, but I really mean the type of people who don't want a 9-5 Mon-Fri job).

[-] stylusmobilus@aussie.zone 1 points 1 month ago

barista

Wow. I’m in Australia and the person who gets most of my tips is a barista, anywhere

I generally empty my change in the tip jar if they have one and the service is good. I believe in tipping good service

[-] Knightfox@lemmy.world 2 points 1 month ago

100% agree and that's why people do give the barista a dollar or two. If your drink was $5 then 20% works out to be about a dollar, but it's different from servers who get 20% on $40. At least in the US, if you frequent somewhere, especially if you are a recognized regular, then you should tip because people will remember it.

[-] stylusmobilus@aussie.zone 1 points 1 month ago

If I was in the US, and I bought a coffee equivalent to what my local gives me, I’d happily tip regardless of culture or wage. The cafe down the road is insanely good, but there’s not a lot of bad coffee around here.

[-] Knightfox@lemmy.world 2 points 1 month ago

I would say that experiences vary greatly and there are plenty of discerning people who appreciate great coffee. Local coffee shops in the US are plentiful, but we perhaps get a bad reputation because of McDonalds and Starbucks. There is something to be said for just wanting a coffee or espresso right now quickly without too much regard for quality or price, that's where McDonalds and Starbucks reign. Personally, I never order from either because their coffee and espresso is bad IMO. Now, my local coffee joint (which is a local place that operates out of a shack with a drive through) makes great coffee and I always give them a dollar or two.

[-] stylusmobilus@aussie.zone 1 points 1 month ago

I thought that might be the case and thanks for the clarification.

I just couldn’t see where every single place had bad coffee and that poor standards of coffee were a general American thing.

[-] iamthetot@piefed.ca 6 points 1 month ago

In the USA, it is illegal for anyone to make less than federal minimum wage. If a tipped employee does not earn tips, the employer must make up the difference. To not do so is wage theft and illegal.

[-] nullspace@lemmy.world 2 points 1 month ago

It doesn't work on a per-shift basis. If they work a slow, below-minimun weekday and a busy, above-minimum weekend, they aren't bumped up on the weekday. What actually happens is their weekend is counted against their weekday. Many shifts they do in fact walk out with sub-minimum wages that do not get corrected.

It's a system that's great for the rockstars is busy urban areas pulling in hundreds of dollars a shift. For everyone else in the industry, not so much.

"But overall they're making above minimum."

While true, it's similar to a laborer working a 12 hour shift and not getting any OT because they're under 40 for the week and OT doesn't kick in until hour 41. They still worked a 12 hour shift and 4 of those hours should have been OT, but due to how the hours are counted their employer is able to avoid the payout.

this post was submitted on 27 Jun 2026
1370 points (100.0% liked)

Microblog Memes

11887 readers
1775 users here now

A place to share screenshots of Microblog posts, whether from Mastodon, tumblr, ~~Twitter~~ X, KBin, Threads or elsewhere.

Created as an evolution of White People Twitter and other tweet-capture subreddits.

RULES:

  1. Your post must be a screen capture of a microblog-type post that includes the UI of the site it came from, preferably also including the avatar and username of the original poster. Including relevant comments made to the original post is encouraged.
  2. Your post, included comments, or your title/comment should include some kind of commentary or remark on the subject of the screen capture. Your title must include at least one word relevant to your post.
  3. You are encouraged to provide a link back to the source of your screen capture in the body of your post.
  4. Current politics and news are allowed, but discouraged. There MUST be some kind of human commentary/reaction included (either by the original poster or you). Just news articles or headlines will be deleted.
  5. Doctored posts/images and AI are allowed, but discouraged. You MUST indicate this in your post (even if you didn't originally know). If an image is found to be fabricated or edited in any way and it is not properly labeled, it will be deleted.
  6. Absolutely no NSFL content.
  7. Be nice. Don't take anything personally. Take political debates to the appropriate communities. Take personal disagreements & arguments to private messages.
  8. No advertising, brand promotion, or guerrilla marketing.

RELATED COMMUNITIES:

founded 3 years ago
MODERATORS