I was right out of college and was working on finding a full-time job. I needed money. So I got a job working from 4 pm to 2 am at a hugely successful restaurant chain in the Philly area, Chickies and Petes. While I was there:
- Our boss made us clean the restaurant when it was slow instead of cutting us. So I made the minimum $2.83 an hour for 2-3 hours a night.
- Our boss made us pay him our “tip out” out of our own pockets. Normally, every night, you get your tips in cash from the restaurant. Then you pay your “tip out” to management, which goes to the bartenders. At our restaurant, they didn't give us our tips every night if it came from a credit card. We had to wait for our paycheck every two weeks. So for my tip out, I had to give my own money every night. Example: So on a busy night, I sold $2,000 worth of food. I made $20 in cash tips and $175 in credit card tips. I'd have to tip out $80, but I only made $20 in cash tips and the rest in cc tips- so we would have to have extra cash on us to give to our boss because I owe him this $80 tip out in cash. Yes, I'd come home having paid my boss money for being there, until I got my paycheck eventually.
- I had a two week “training” and only got the $2.83 an hour.
Every two weeks, my paycheck would be a funny amount, and they would give me a hard time if I asked questions. I finally got a full-time job, so I quit after 6 months. Then I got a call from the department of labor.
The owner has stolen over 8 million dollars in tips from his servers over all of his restaurants.
I got a $1,700 check and a letter from him. It said that he didn't think he did anything wrong. Really, it was stapled to the check and it essentially said sorry not sorry.
But the worst part, THE WORST PART, is that he's GETTING THE LAW CHANGED.
What he did, stealing tips from servers, is will now be legal as long as the server makes minimum wage in the end. Minimum wage in PA is $7.25.