On 2013-05-17 20:29:33 +0000, George Leppla said:

> Every restaurant I've worked in, servers get tips, "back of the house"
> people get minimum wage or higher... no tips. I am 63 years old and
> have never seen or heard of any restaurant where the manager kept the
> tips.

I'm quite surprised by that by my experience in listening to service
personnel, as mentioned. On the other hand, it has never once occured
to me that this shtick was going on around my home turf, including LA.
But I'm guessing if NYC and Paris can get away with it, anyone can.

I'm going to start asking around myself, just to be sure.

> At that, when I was on the grill, some smart waitresses would tip me
> well.... and their plates always seemed to get up faster than some of
> the others, and maybe the portions were a little larger, etc.
>
> In some Amish/Mennonite places in PA - they automatically add a tip to
> every bill and split that among ALL the help, front and back of the
> house. But there, all the help is being paid an hourly wage that is at
> least minimum.... not the "server" minimum.

Note that the IRS rules (as mentioned upstream from SF) indicate this
"compulsory tip for communal" is considered wages; not tips.