[jeromec]

wait staff in the US make around $2-3/hour. they aren't paid a living wage.

Not true. That's why we have federal minimum wage laws. If the wait staff are actually employed and not acting as independent contractors, then they are paid the minimum wage for their state. (Although I will grant that this being a living wage is definitely arguable.)

Edit: Correction - although not California (my state), apparently some states do allow minimum wages in the $2-3 range if employees receive tips [1]. For the downvoters, I only count about 5 states that do this, however. The original statement does not accurately reflect the majority of the U.S.

[1] http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/List_of_U.S._minimum_wages

[illumin8]

Not true. Waiters have a different minimum wage:

http://www.dol.gov/wb/faq26.htm

Question: Is it legal for waiters and waitresses to be paid below the minimum wage? Answer: According to the Fair Labor Standards Act, tipped employees are individuals engaged in occupations in which they customarily and regularly receive more than $30 a month in tips. The employer may consider tips as part of wages, but the employer must pay at least $2.13 an hour in direct wages. An employer may credit a portion of a tipped employee's tips against the federal minimum wage of $7.25 per hour effective July 24, 2009. An employer must pay at least $2.13 per hour. However, if an employee's tips combined with the employer's wage of $2.13 per hour do not equal the hourly minimum wage, the employer is required to make up the difference. The employer who elects to use the tip credit provision must inform the employee in advance and must be able to show that the employee receives at least the applicable minimum wage (see above) when direct wages and the tip credit allowance are combined. If an employee's tips combined with the employer's direct wages of at least $2.13 an hour do not equal the minimum hourly wage, the employer must make up the difference. Also, employees must retain all of their tips, except to the extent that they participate in a valid tip pooling or sharing arrangement.

[sambe]

So, although waiting tables is - predictably - not a great job, nearly all waitstaff in the US will be making 7.25/h as you would expect from federal minimum wage? And contrary to what most people attempt to convince me?

Coming from a country with a culture of smaller tips and significantly less social pressure to give them, I usually say that I should not be forced to make up for the employer's false advertising when receiving only mediocre service. This now seems correct - not tipping wi make the employer pay the remainder, not force the waitstaff on to the streets. Right?

[c0riander]

"Tipped workers" are paid under different rules, and it varies state by state. They typically have a minimum cash wage ($2.13 federally and in NY for example) and an hourly "tip credit" ($5.12 fed/in NY) to bring them up to standard "minimum wage" ($7.25). They only get paid $2.13 an hour by their employer.

More here: http://www.paywizard.org/main/Minimumwageandovertime/Minimum...

[SkyFoxMedia]

Actually this is true. Average tips are calculated when determining hourly wage. I worked as a server for 4 years in high school/college. My hourly wage was about $4/hr while the minimum in Florida was $6.25. My paychecks mostly went to paying taxes on my tips.

[noodle]

yes, you're right, what i said wasn't fully true for expediency's sake, but your statement isn't fully true either. federal minimum wage laws don't apply to tipped workers in the same way (iirc, it varies based on the state, i'm not sure).

if an employee doesn't at least make minimum wage after tips are considered, an employer is required by law to compensate an employee up to the point where they do make minimum wage. in theory.

in practice, this doesn't always happen.

[jeromec]

Yes, I added a correction.