I’ve worked in this particular restaurant for about a year. It’s described as “casual upscale dining.” Last summer was easily the most profitable 3 month span I’ve ever had in the dining industry, and I was very much looking forward to this summer. We tend to have 7-10 “large parties” per shift on the weekends consisting of 10+ guests per table. At 10 guests an automatic gratuity is added at 20%.
Now, there has always been an automatic tip out of 5.5% of your sales which translates to a 14.5% tip. On a $300 bill, which is quite common, you walk away with $45 For about 1.5 hours of work ( while handling perhaps another 2-3 tables in addition) it makes for a solid payday overall.
The new policy which was instituted about a month and a half ago requires that any parties over 12 must be split between two servers. Taking again a $300 bill, each server is walking away with $22.50 after of course tip out, and splitting the remaining 14.5%.
The added caveat of having to coordinate with another server to try and time when both servers can be present at the table to take the drink/food orders is painstaking. Adding also that not a single large party has tipped more than the required auto gratuity since this policy was instituted because they see it as a team effort and really have zero time to establish a rapport with the servers who are taking care of them is disheartening. I used to routinely pocket an extra $20-$50.
I’ve taken the matter to management, discussed it at length during a server meeting where management was present, and have tried to bring the matter to our director of operations. Each time I was dismissed as being greedy, or not being a team player, and I’ve gone from being a closer and racking up 40-45 hours a week, to being first out, and barely scraping together 30 hours a week.
I love my team and have plenty of regulars. I don’t want to leave my store. Are there any avenues I haven’t pursued that may lead to fruit?