So Called “Tip Pools”
I came across this 10 things your restaurant won’t tell you on Digg.
It’s simple enough until you get to #9, “Nice tip — too bad your waiter won’t get it.”
It seems some restaurants have initiated a ‘tip pool.’ At the end of the day/shift, all the tips are pooled together and spread evenly amongst the staff. What a crock of shit!
Before I get on a rant here, let me state that I firmly believe it is a business owner’s right to run their company anyway they see fit. If they want to have a ‘tip pool,’ so be it. On top of that, it’s an employee’s decision to work in an environment where their tips are not actually theirs. If they don’t like it, they can quit.
With that said, let’s call this ‘tip pool’ what it really is, a ‘Redistribution of Wealth Pool.’ These employers are penalizing the servers that bust their ass for a good tip and rewarding the lazy slackasses whose tables go without refills or any attention. These employers are indoctrinating their staff with the values of socialism and considering so many people’s first job is in the service industry, this is a pretty scary thought. These kids will go into their next job believing that what’s theirs really isn’t theirs at all. They’ll grow up believing that no matter how hard they work, they will be rewarded as equally as the guy who did nothing all day long. Eventually they’ll stop busting their ass. Why should they? They’ll draw the same paycheck either way.
Redistribution of wealth stifles ambition. It causes people to lose their self worth. It ruins a society.
I will not knowingly go to any restaurant that participates in a ‘tip pool’ and I encourage everyone else to do the same.
related articles
- Basing Our Future Off the Post Office (December 3rd, 2008)
- People Are Idiots (September 16th, 2008)
- It’s an Emergency! What’s your street address? (May 13th, 2008)
- Earth Hour (March 27th, 2008)
- Is Around the Clock News Good for Us? (March 20th, 2008)
June 15th, 2007 at 10:58 am
This is pretty much how every Chinese restaurant is run. It totally sucks, too, because you can see how much they don’t care about serving you. But it’s really a tradition that started overseas - go abroad and you’ll notice that people don’t tip servers at all. We’re the only country (that I’ve lived in) that does.
June 15th, 2007 at 11:16 am
Yeah, but aren’t all the people in a chinese restaurant related to one another? They look like it.
Not tipping servers and having a ‘tip pool’ are two different things. I believe in other countries servers are paid better than the base pay they receive here. Could be wrong… it’s happened.
June 15th, 2007 at 1:28 pm
Don’t go back to your old spiel on this site.
June 15th, 2007 at 1:37 pm
I wouldn’t take too much stock on what MSN said. In states like California, for example, non-voluntary tip pools are illegal; however, you are allowed to voluntary engage in tip pools with other employees if you so desire.
June 15th, 2007 at 1:57 pm
Almost every restaurant practices tipping out, which is where servers “voluntarily” give the hostesses, bartenders and bussers a portion of their tips, based on food and liquor sales. It would probably be impossible to avoid a restaurant that has that practice. And some servers really like tip pools, because even if you have a terrible section or the hostess hates you and never seats you, you still know you’re going to go home with something for your 4-8 hours of work.
June 15th, 2007 at 3:24 pm
It’s been my experience that the “tip pool” is usually distributed to the hostess or bartenders that helped the server. Now I don’t see anything wrong with that as they have contributed to the good service….the whole dining experience requires more than a fucking server. I digress.
June 17th, 2007 at 2:53 pm
I’ve been a server for over 10 years. I’ve worked in both types of restaurants. There are benefits to both. I have to say that working in a restaurant with a tip pool really fosters a true team work environment where everyone is held accountable for the entire restaurant’s success. Sometimes I’m busier than others in the place and I need their help to do what I don’t have time to do and other times I am helping those who are busier. If I’m working for my own tips only, I am less likely to find the time to assist someone else when it could potentially take time away from my tables. In my opinion, you are much more likely to get better service in a restaurant that tip pools than you are in one that doesn’t. That is not always the case, but it doesn’t hurt.
Also, to think that an owner/manager is willing to keep a server on who is willing to do the minimum and let everyone else do all the work, knowing that they are going to make the same amount as everyone else is a little short sighted. The slackers are weeded out fairly quickly by the management and if they don’t do it, I guarantee that the stronger servers will make working there not very pleasant as every mistake/weakness is pointed out until those slackers no longer wish to be there and that won’t take long.
Accountability is the name of the game in a tip pool and everyone has to be willing to do the same amount of work or they will be forced out one way or the other.
June 18th, 2007 at 5:43 am
I have worked in pooled and unpooled restaurants before - pooled was in the upscale places and unpooled was in the bars and regular restaurants. Here’s why pooled works - you get better service. When tips are pooled, no one worries about what table they get, how many people, how much they spend, etc. They are also not worrying about how much they have made in tips so far and how much more they need to make. Most servers spend the night thinking about the money they are going to take home and if the table that just sat down is going to add to that or not. With pooled I never thought about it because I always knew I would make money (we always did well). Also, in pooled places everyone usually works every table. You have one server that takes your order and attends to you, but all the servers in the restaurant serve you, help you, etc… It is required in pooled places because everyone works together.
Now, this doesn’t work if the manager doesn’t screen when they hire. Pooled places need to have all good servers and everyone must be into the teamwork thing. In the place I worked, you lasted one night if you didn’t subscribe to this mentality, and the hiring process was more than “can you carry a plate?” So, I liked it and it was the best money I made as a server in Hoboken. In NYC, the places I worked at were not pooled but I had friends that worked in pooled places and they liked it as well. The night was less stressful and the money was good. BUT…Some places pretend to pool (Spice Market in NYC) and steal $$ from servers and you have to tip everyone from the hostess to the guy that cleans the floors at night - that is not pooling and you have to look out for that. Anyone who gets a job in NYC has served before and enough to see that and leave right away.
June 26th, 2007 at 1:49 pm
“Tipping out” and “TIp Pools” are completely different. One encourages hard-work while the other rewards laziness.
Buzzy/vtjenn, you’re absolutely right, it’s up to the managers to weed out the worthless. It’s the only way Tip Pools will work and encourage better service. This is a prime example of why “distribution of wealth” would not work however. The government doesn’t have the ability to weed out the worthless… the worthless are the main beneficiary of the program.