Tipped Minimum Wage

So, Governor Christie remembered he's a Governor and actually did something in his job description. It's been a while. He vetoed raising the minimum wage to $15. There is one thing people forget. The minimum for tipped employees is different.

$8.38 - current NJ minimum wage ($7.25 federally)

 

$2.13 - current NJ TIPPED employee minimum wage (also federal minimum for tipped employees)

Currently, New Jersey employers must pay tipped workers the federal minimum of $2.13 an hour. Workers do not earn such a low amount, however. If employees earn less than the state minimum wage of $8.25 — including tips and base pay — employers are required to pay them the difference.- Mar 24, 2014

(note: a few years ago NJ passed through vote to gradually increase the minimum wage. It's currently $8.38. This was March of 2014)

 

Meaning - They need to earn $6.10 an hour in tips or the employers have to pay them the difference.

 

Yes, Josh is a tipped employee but he does make more then $2.13 an hour. It's a common misunderstanding. Those who have never worked for tips think their waitress is getting at least $7.25 a hour plus their tips. That would be nice......................but it's not reality.

 

Think about that. Let's say a waitress is working 50 hours a week. $106.50 a week BEFORE taxes. When you add that $6.10 an hour to close the gap..........$419 BEFORE taxes.

 

Can you live off of less then $419 a week? That's assuming a 50 hour work week. Can you get a second job when already working for 50 hours? Those who actually take the time to do the full blown detailed math will see that the answer is indeed "NO!!!"

 

But, the nature of this kind of work is to earn as much as you can in tips. The theory is you can make more then the minimum wage through being a tipped employee. Frankly, that depends on:

 

1. The location of the restaurant

2. How generous or selfish the customer is

3. How many orders there are

4. Employee attitude

5. Some customer views

6. Things out of the waiter/waitress/driver's hands like the food quality

7. How big the orders are

 

Sometimes, Josh has a good night. Sometimes he doesn't. We live in a good town for tipped employees. Yet, some people tip $2 for a $30 order and some tip $10 for a $30 order. He has made deliveries with no tip. Luckily, those are rare! Frankly, non-tippers should be put on a "no deliver" list and the restaurant require them to either add a tip when placing the order, or come get their food themselves!!! Some restaurants have started automatically adding a tip to the check total.

 

I'm not posting what Josh makes but it's more then when he worked for Fairway! It's also better hours too AND two days off instead of one! In his case, being a tipped employee isn't so bad. But, he's also the head driver, the supervisor. He has additional responsibilities.

 

This post is really just about awareness. When you are deciding what to tip, keep in mind how few people fight to raise the minimum wage for tipped employees.

 

We take the total with tax and round it up to the nearest five. Example, $28 with tax included becomes $30. Then tip $1 for every $5. For that example it would be a $6 tip. Some people say that's too generous. I call them cheap tippers.

https://www.dol.gov/whd/state/tipped.htm

https://www.dol.gov/whd/minwage/america.htm