In these tough economic times ,the hospitality industry and its employees are suffering. As consumers revisit home cooking and grocery shopping in an effort to cut food costs (and improve eating habits), both the restaurant business and the salary of its employees, which depends on patron numbers, have decreased.
Madison, which is ranked third for restaurants per capita in the entire nation, is home to a large and cheap work force—namely, students. Students do much of the grunt work in Madison. They deliver pizzas and server beer until 3 a.m., and steam milk and pull shots of espresso at 6 a.m.
This large and eager work force has supported and made the hospitality industry of Madison possible. Madison restaurant owners owe their success and livelihood to the thousands of student employees who labor Friday night until close only to turn around and do it all over again Saturday morning for a Badger game.
Waiting tables and tending bar are two of the most difficult service industry jobs. Working in a restaurant is both physically and mentally exhausting. Employees are constantly on their feet and rarely have the opportunity to sit down during a shift. They frequently lug cases of beer up stairs, haul kegs around walk-in refrigerators and bear trays loaded with food and drinks from kitchen to table and back again. Service industry workers suffer the verbal abuse of dissatisfied customers, belligerent and offensive behavior of drunks and dehumanizing treatment of the entitled.
One might assume that restaurant employees are amply compensated for their troubles. In Madison, however, restaurants pay their servers a mere $2.33 per hour. Bartenders might make $6-7 per hour at a nicer establishment, but most campus-area bartenders make $4-5 per hour.
Restaurants are allowed to pay less than minimum wage in Wisconsin as long as an employee's tips make up the difference between minimum wage and $2.33. This is a pretty sweet deal for restaurant owners as it means that they don't have to pay their tipped employees even minimum wage. However, this means the responsibility of paying a restaurant employee falls to the customer. Without customers, servers don't get paid. And in these tight economic times, with restaurant business already down, customers are tipping less. It's a double whammy to service industry salaries.
Service industry professionals should not have to live on such uncertain and volatile circumstances. The exploitation of the student work force (for whom any job is better than no job) must stop. Madison needs to increase the server wage.
It's unacceptable and unfair that the restaurant industry is allowed to pay their employees less than minimum wage. Restaurants in Madison are taking advantage of the large cheap work force here and profiting off both the cheap labor of their employees and the labor of anyone who patronizes their establishment, as it is the patrons who bear the financial burden of a tipped employee's salary.
A tipped employee's livelihood therefore depends on the consideration and generosity of his or her customers. A tipped employee can never have a bad day. Hourly employees can have a bad day and make just as much money as when they have good days. If a tipped employee has a bad day, they get tipped less and consequently, they get paid less. Should one's salary be determined by emotional factors? Is it really fair to pay someone less because their grandma died and they are upset? Or, they have three mid-terms this week and are sleep-deprived and distracted?
Service industry employees should not have to rely solely on tips to pay their rent, heat their home and put food on the table. Restaurants should be required to pay their employees a decent hourly wage and a server's tips should not make up for or affect what the restaurant pays them. Tips are not guaranteed, especially now when people are pinching pennies and shorting their server or bartender. An employee's wage should be guaranteed. No one should have to wonder whether or not they will get paid this week.
The word ‘tip' is formed from the acronym of ‘To Insure Promptness.' Tips should be rewarded for a job well done and in appreciation of good service. Restaurant employees should not be forced to depend on the generosity of a customer to earn a living. It is time for restaurants to take some responsibility for the livelihood of their employees and adequately compensate those who make their business possible.
Kathy Dittrich is a senior majoring in French and English. We welcome all feedback. Please send responses to opinion@dailycardinal.com.
