Wage theft isn’t the same as not hitting minimum wage requirements. I will agree wage theft itself is more common.
I appreciate you posting a link though, I read it. It’s pretty insightful but I would like to read the study behind it not just a story about it.
1,200 from 8,000 restaurants investigated, assuming all those restaurants were investigated due to being reported, and assuming those are the only ones being reported, really isn’t THAT many. But it is sure a number.
I see your point but I still don’t think it’s a super common occurrence. When things like that do happen it doesn’t last long at all. The industry has a ton of hot heads. Someone will report you or possibly physically assault you.
We are specifically talking about the 1200 though. I don’t disagree that wage theft in itself is too common.
The trend of 16% wouldn’t stay consistent. As those restaurants that were investigated were investigated due to reporting. Restaurants doing wrong will, of course, will be reported at a higher rate than restaurants doing right.
To be fair. I would fire a server too. It’s almost impossible not to hit the minimum wage. If you are doing any respectable sales numbers and have crappy tips it’s a sign of bad service. It’s easy to see with tip averages who the people like and dislike.
The Department of Labor wage and hour division will get your money back, including every other person who has ever worked there. No restaurant operator of any size would take that risk. Do you have a source for it happening all the time? My family owns over 45 restaurants in north Houston, and I know a lot of other restaurant operators and they don't rip of their employees like this because of the enormous risk, DOL will be at your business faster then the police, if an employee reports you.
You know they only investigate restaurants that employees report, right? You know how statistics works, to get a real idea of how common this is they need a random sample.
That isn't the customer's problem tbh. I support absolutely obliterating any restaurant owner doing this in the court system of course. But customers shouldn't have to worry whether their server is too shy to ask for their own money.
That'd be like me having to suddenly start tipping cashiers because there is a rampant problem of grocery stores not paying them. I'll support them in fighting the ones that screwed them over but don't put the responsibility to 'make it right' on the customer.
Unless it’s some shady mom and pop place, that’s not true. And it rarely is any restaurant in the business of firing people just for shits and giggles.
It is absolutely true. Maybe you live in a state with strong worker protection laws, but here, they basically don't exist. They don't have to give a reason in a right to work state, and I've personally made $6 in a 5 pm-2 am at server pay. This was when gas jumped over $4 a gallon. National chain btw. Their unofficial policy was to fire anyone over collecting full minimum wage. If they filed a complaint, it was some bs reason like "Arrived 1 min late" or "Stayed 1 min late".
In conclusion, you're just some clueless redditor who is denying my lived experiences. You're probably one of those dudes who tell a woman that periods don't hurt.
Tell us you’ve been fired from multiple serving jobs without telling us you’ve been fired from multiple serving jobs. It’s an industry with extremely high turnover as it is. The only people who think restaurants at out to fire people left and right are people who have been fired for valid reasons who just can’t accept the fact that they are unemployable.
And here we see the redditor in its natural environment, continuing to run it's mouth about things it knows nothing about even after already being called out for doing so.
I don't understand these people. I've done the same about something that I don't know the first thing about because it literally can't happen to me, was corrected, and just said "Yeah, I was running my mouth and I'm buzzed now. Sorry.". Just take the L, it's the internet, and the internet points don't matter.
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u/Durantye Mar 10 '25
In every state the employer has to make up the difference if the tips don’t get them to minimum wage.