‘You're required to take tables no matter the size of the party. A party can be 4 to 25 persons.’
Dear Quentin, I currently work at a fast-casual restaurant on the Las Vegas Strip. I have worked at the company for three years. I work at the busiest outlet of this restaurant in the world. During the slow winter months, this restaurant makes an average of $130,000 a week. During the summer months, we make twice that amount.
We run our shift with no service assistance, one cook, sometimes two servers and a manager. The graveyard shift is the most understaffed shift. Financially, some nights are not even worth it. How can I raise the issue in the company to include a gratuity?Dear Stressed-Out, I redacted the name of your restaurant from your letter, but a cursory search shows that other franchisees in the chain have had issues underpaying staff. There is power in numbers.
“Tipping has been incorporated into the social contract: If you don’t want to tip your server, stay home and cook. ” Assuming your manager declines your request to add a gratuity or service charge to parties of six people, you could add one but this could also backfire, and lead the customers to complain to the manager. Alternatively, you could add a note to the bill saying, “Tip not included.” But there’s no predicting customers’ behavior at 3 a.m.
Whatever you do as a server, be transparent and direct. The good and bad news is that you must do all of this while juggling multiple orders, enduring the whims and demands of customers, while constantly smiling as if your livelihood depended on it — I only wish more customers realized that in many cases it does.