But that safety net disappeared in the beginning of last year, when TGI Fridays and most other large restaurant chains got rid of auto-gratuities entirely. The reason: A new rule from the Internal Revenue Service that counted those mandatory charges as wages, making them subject to payroll taxes and a factor in overtime calculations. Employers no longer wanted to put up with the extra hassle and expense of dealing with the new accounting rules, but Freeman thinks servers suffered. Of course, the auto-gratuity is just one piece of a larger debate, with the whole practice of tipping is being called into question as cities pursue higher minimum wages and, importantly, start looking at getting rid of the tipped minimum wage, which still sits at $2.13 nationally. Some large restaurant groups have announced their intention to phase out tips and set higher menu prices to meet the new minimums, both for servers and kitchen staff, effectively adding something that looks like the old auto-gratuity, but calling it something different. The larger problem is, does tipping still have relevance? Should base pay just go up? Is that the job of the employer, which it is in every other industry? asks Carolyn Richmond, who practices employment and hospitality law at Fox Rothschild. Youre seeing businesses look for every possible way to pass on costs without raising the price of that burger. So were at a turning point right now for the restaurant industry, and thats why youre seeing these arguments over so many things. .....snip~ https://www.washingtonpost.com/news...are-furious/?tid=hybrid_experimentrandom_1_na The article explains it out well and ask the relevant questions. What say ye?
I say put an iPad into the table, hook it up to an array of robotic ovens in the back room, and have a Roomba-like shuttle bring out the food. Problem solved.
