Henry Ford
Footballguy
I think it would be good for business owners and customers. In the long run, likely for employees as well.
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Fair workweek laws (1 Viewer)
- Thread starter bostonfred
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Stealthycat
Footballguy
actually it isn't
I've been poor and in jobless areas, homeless and with $8 in my bank account, jobless ............ I've been there and done that
if you don't like wages, quit and get something better
you control your life
Stealthycat
Footballguy
what is a fair wage ?
its exactly the time/work someone agree's to give in exchange for the money the employer agrees to give for the time/work
if you don't like the agreement you made, quit and find something better
it really IS that simple, we live in the United States of America
its exactly the time/work someone agree's to give in exchange for the money the employer agrees to give for the time/work
if you don't like the agreement you made, quit and find something better
it really IS that simple, we live in the United States of America
MAC_32
Footballguy
I was excited to post in this thread but @dkp993 killed my buzz. Probably for the best anyway. I've been out of the industry for a few years. But what he said about staffing being an employer/employee thing. I want to expound on that because it is absolutely true from my multiple experiences.
A service industry employee generally doesn't want to work unless it's busy. They understand the volatility in forecasting quantity of business from the employer perspective. So, make yourself flexibility to maximize your hourly earnings. These people often work at more than one place. They'll have their set schedule, whatever that is. Then be 'on call' otherwise. This isn't like nursing 'on call" though. They dont need to hit pause on their life if the boss calls. They have the option to say no. I've dealt with these issues from all perspectives - server, head server, shift manager, general manager, probably more. City, rural, suburbs, college town. Those same themes have existed everywhere.
Regs like these sound like a good idea when separated from the situation, but they are a practicality nightmare. Good restaurants figure it out and compensate their employees accordingly. If they don't then they usually don't last. They take care of themselves. Gov't intervention is suboptimal for all parties.
A service industry employee generally doesn't want to work unless it's busy. They understand the volatility in forecasting quantity of business from the employer perspective. So, make yourself flexibility to maximize your hourly earnings. These people often work at more than one place. They'll have their set schedule, whatever that is. Then be 'on call' otherwise. This isn't like nursing 'on call" though. They dont need to hit pause on their life if the boss calls. They have the option to say no. I've dealt with these issues from all perspectives - server, head server, shift manager, general manager, probably more. City, rural, suburbs, college town. Those same themes have existed everywhere.
Regs like these sound like a good idea when separated from the situation, but they are a practicality nightmare. Good restaurants figure it out and compensate their employees accordingly. If they don't then they usually don't last. They take care of themselves. Gov't intervention is suboptimal for all parties.
MAC_32
Footballguy
Not every restaurant is ran the same...and some will not like reading this, but there's also the tax free earnings angle. Cash is king. Employees are required to disclose tips and the generally accepted industry unsaid rule is report at least 10% and no one will question anything. If your credit card/large party gratuity exceeds that then you need to disclose it. Anything else on top of that (looks the other way). So, a server may make $1k in a given week, but if it's on $4500 in sales then their taxable income may be around $500 and the rest is under the table. This is a high turnover industry, but if you run a quality joint and you have an employee turning in those numbers you're more likely to retain them and that can only be good for business.
Is it a game? Absolutely. But remember those margins dkp mentioned. A manager/owner is aware this is happening, but outside of barring cash in the establishment there is no practical way to police it. Not doing anything about it keeps prices and wages down. It keeps employees motivated. I think if you take away the working for tips incentive the quality of service will deteriorate, which can only be a negative for the customer experience. And it's always easier to retain an existing customer than attract a new one.
dkp993
Footballguy
I literally can not count the number of times I’ve had conversations with staff about under claiming and how they’re just hurting themselves in the long run. Good luck getting a loan for approval for an apartment when your W2 shows you made 10k last year, especially when it was actually 50.....
MAC_32
Footballguy
Absolutely correct and members of your staff will have that much more respect for you for your being forthcoming about it. I think there is a direct correlation between that sort of practical honesty from management and a generally satisfied staff, which in turn leads to good service and happy customers. And it still won't eliminate that behavior and the positive impact it will have on the bottom line.
dkp993
Footballguy
Thanks. Yeah I’m one of those lucky few that actually likes my job. I work hard at trying to be the best leader I can be. It became very real for me the impact I can have when I opened my own restaurant and fully staffed it from people I had worked with prior, with zero recurring.
Sheriff Bart
Footballguy
No tipping is glorious. There's something very satisfying about ordering X amount of food and drink and paying only that amount. Especially because I tend to tip too much.
bostonfred
Footballguy
What about the retail side of this issue?
A big box store might give their part time employees 25 hours a week to avoid paying benefits, then schedule them for shifts without regard for their needs.
(You can make a reasonable argument that this is the consequence of requiring benefits for full time jobs, and I'll gladly counter with getting rid of that in exchange for universal healthcare coverage so people don't need their job to provide their coverage.)
The issue for me is that policies that reward big companies with tax breaks and economy of scale hurt the labor market by reducing the quality options, and their policies make it difficult for people who work in those jobs to get a second job, take night classes, or arrange care for their kids so they can otherwise work to improve themselves.
Maybe the best answer is to tear down a lot of the systemic problems together, not just attacking them one at a time.
A big box store might give their part time employees 25 hours a week to avoid paying benefits, then schedule them for shifts without regard for their needs.
(You can make a reasonable argument that this is the consequence of requiring benefits for full time jobs, and I'll gladly counter with getting rid of that in exchange for universal healthcare coverage so people don't need their job to provide their coverage.)
The issue for me is that policies that reward big companies with tax breaks and economy of scale hurt the labor market by reducing the quality options, and their policies make it difficult for people who work in those jobs to get a second job, take night classes, or arrange care for their kids so they can otherwise work to improve themselves.
Maybe the best answer is to tear down a lot of the systemic problems together, not just attacking them one at a time.
