I work at the coffee shop that got a little traction the other day for its ‘administrative fee’ policy, AMA

I’m referring to this post:

https://www.reddit.com/r/antiwork/comments/uavb5s/saw_this_in_a_salem_ma_coffee_shop_im_so/?utm_source=share&utm_medium=ios_app&utm_name=iossmf

NB: this is strictly from my perspective, doesn’t reflect the views of my employer etc. etc.

The long and short of it is that just before tourist season last year we finally opened up to credit card tips (had previously been getting cash in the tip jar only). This was only at the location still offering service to the public (the other one is, for the time being, only for production and wholesale, for various reasons). We pooled that between FOH and BOH but not including drivers or bakers. Great for us staff at the public location, not as fun for folks at the other spot. Further complicating this was that ownership and management quickly discovered that including BOH (me and the rest of the kitchen gremlins) in the tip pool is illegal in the great Commonwealth of Mass. I’m sure there’s reasons for that but certainly something to write a letter to your state rep about.

So around the new year we stopped collecting tips and started adding a 14% ‘administrative fee’ to all checks as well as (I believe) a fixed fee to our wholesale orders. All those fees are pooled and distributed in our paychecks to every employee of the bakery, not including the owners. This is in lieu of tipping, although if a customer wants to throw a few bucks in the jar by the counter they’re not discouraged. Those go to just the few folks working FOH and doesn’t amount to too much normally.

Happy to see that in the comments everyone pretty much got the gist of the reasoning behind it but I figured if anyone wanted to know more or get some clarification I’m happy to answer. Should say again that these are only answers/insight from my perspective and don’t reflect the views of my employer, etc. etc.

And I’ll add in anecdotally that I’ve had nothing but a great experience in my several years at the bakery. They took me in with no food service experience, promoted me, let me in their kitchen, and were incredibly accommodating to me when I had mental health and addiction problems (more than once I should say). The owners are lovely folks personally and the rest of the staff are nothing but wonderful to work with.

If the mods want some kind of verification for this very low-stakes situation, I’m happy to provide it in a dm.