Waitress fired for griping about tip on Facebook, page 2

posted on May, 18 2010 @ 09:58 AM

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As far as I can see she wasn't fired directly for bad mouthing the customer but for mentioning the resturants name aswell and there for putting it in a bad light, which I personaly feel is fair enough. If she hadnt mentioned the resturans name in her rant then that would be unfair.

DJM8507

posted on May, 18 2010 @ 10:04 AM

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This is an excellent example of how one's freedom of speech is limited by those who have the means and ability to control.

yeahright

posted on May, 18 2010 @ 10:15 AM

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The following is my opinion as a member participating in this discussion.

reply to post by DJM8507

Or, an example of how actions have consequences. I fail to see how her right to speak supersedes an employer's right to not employ someone who does damage to the business.

As an ATS Staff Member, I will not moderate in threads such as this where I have participated as a member.

havok

posted on May, 18 2010 @ 10:26 AM

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Originally posted by yeahright
Or, an example of how actions have consequences. I fail to see how her right to speak supersedes an employer's right to not employ someone who does damage to the business.

Ah! Great post! 1000x stars if I could.

People need to understand that main concept!

Everything we do has a consequence.
We need to be responsible for our actions!

But, if you take it one step further in this degrading moral abyss called society...
We don't want to see consequences from our actions!
WE don't do anything wrong!

Try telling that to anyone these days...
Tell them that what they do, they should act like they will be held accountable. Good or bad.
That will raise a few eyebrows.

[edit on 18-5-2010 by havok]

habfan1968

posted on May, 18 2010 @ 10:57 AM

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Just my 2 cents

I worked in the restaurant business when I was in school. I was always well tipped by the staff and customers, although, it was not expected or demanded.

I always hustled and did a little more than was required and it always paid off for me, I was getting $100.00 plus as a bus boy, and over $200.00 as a waiter.

We all have met the server from hell and I would never tip that person.

In this case, she should never have mentioned the name of the establishment, her boss who is her friend by FB standards, had to act on behalf of his employer.

Peruvianmonk

posted on May, 18 2010 @ 11:01 AM

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reply to post by MR BOB

You should not get tipped for no reason. But if you provide a good service are friendly and courteous you should get a tip. Are you aware of some of the wages these people are on??? Its like 3$ an hour for some people i know from New Hampshire.

And it is a difficult job that a lot of people are not up to. There are plenty of professional waiters around, and fair play to them. Not everyone can go to university, especcially in the U.S. where the tuition fees are ridiculous. And not everyone should go to Uni.

Dorian Soran

posted on May, 18 2010 @ 12:30 PM

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Originally posted by DJM8507
This is an excellent example of how one's freedom of speech is limited by those who have the means and ability to control.

Her freedom of speech was NOT limited, in fact as this story proves she had ALL the freedom of speech she wanted.

You are confusing her "freedom of speech" which she has, with "freedom from any consequences because I should be able to post/say whatever I want but you can't hold me responsible when I say/post something stupid"

No one has that right my friend.

Kind of like a lady I used to work with, when someone would complain about having a bad day she would say "You can leave ANYTIME you want, but its up to the boss if you can ever COME BACK"

Truer words were never spoken.

Dorian Soran

nixie_nox

posted on May, 18 2010 @ 12:55 PM

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For those of you who don't seem to know. When you wait tables you have to

tip the bartender
tip the busboy
tip the expiditer if there is one
pay taxes on the food

So when you undertip, not only is that person not getting paid, they may end up owing money on your food.

I was a waitress for a long time. And usually considered the best server at any restaurant I worked at.

I would get stiffed. Everyone gets stiffed. They are out there. There have been times I have given phenomenal service and barely got anything. Yes people are crappy enough to tie up your table for three hours , run you to death, and leave you nothing.

It is a tough job, and tough to make money at.

apacheman

posted on May, 18 2010 @ 12:57 PM

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You guys DO know that waitpersons are legally paid sub-minimum wages (anywhere between $2.00-$4.00/hr) in most places on the assumption that tips will make up the difference?

Been there, done that, know lots of people who have.

It is hard, skilled work.

You try keeping several tables' orders straight, with individuals demanding variations from the menu or changing their minds about the order they just placed because they saw a different meal delivered. Keep it up, on your feet and hustling eight to ten hours a day, every day if you're lucky, being told to clock out early if you aren't.

There is NO SUCH THING AS UNSKILLED labor.

Even ditch digging requires skills.

I could as easily say that stock brokering is unskilled labor because all you do there is punch some numbers that someone else gives you into a computer...jeez, a monkey could be trained to do that.

Everything is unskilled labor until you have to do it yourself and discover that every single task requires thought, training and skill, even mopping floors.

[edit on 18-5-2010 by apacheman]

RedCairo

posted on May, 19 2010 @ 04:21 PM

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I remember signing so many petitions about the subject of wait staff and salary. Restaurants do not have to pay minimum wage -- or they didn't at the time I was working it, anyway -- for wait staff; it was assumed and allowed that their income came dominantly from tips. Then, they passed a law that wait staff would be taxed for receiving at least 8% of their total customer checks as 'tips' whether or not they actually did, of course. We all wailed about this being completely wrong on so many levels, but the restaurants liked it since it wasn't their tax and it allowed them to pay a lot less salary. On top of that, the wait staff usually have to tip/share with all the other workers. So when you stiff someone or tip pathetically (a $60 dinner and someone leaves $4 or whatever), you may literally *cost* someone money. They paid tax on more than that, and they probably only got to keep 25% of it. I don't know if this has changed -- this was back in the dark ages when I was 19 (er, 1984) in California. But tips are pretty serious issues, they are not 'extra' for most people they are the primary income.

However, the waittress in question was ignorant. She either did not know or did not care that you should NEVER name your employer publicly. Just as they would not have the right to post on their website, blog or facebook that some of their staff were such a pain in the ass "like Jane Doe" she hasn't the right to do the same in the return and name them. She must be young (or clueless) as I would think this should be intuitively obvious to anybody.

RC

[edit on 19-5-2010 by RedCairo]

Rockpuck

posted on May, 19 2010 @ 05:33 PM

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I hate tipping. I've been a waiter before too, back in high school .. so I know that omg, their job is soo hard. (not) .. The hardest part about the job was putting up with the back stabbing, blabbing, idiotic women who worked there.. truly evil some of them lol.

I think it's hilarious she got fired for ranting about a $5 tip .. I never tip over $5 if I can help it. I know it's really hard to come by the table every 30 mins to ask "how ya doin" and walk away .. and carrying those dishes away sure does seem like it's worth $20 an hour .. oo how could I forget writing down the order.. so hard..

But it's work a high schooler can do .. or a retiree .. it requires almost no mental capacity, and aside from being on your feet, hardly a labor intensive job.. it deserves minimum wage, without tips. In some states it's tips + minimum wage .. they end up making 15-20/hr .. not worth it. And if your serving my table and you have a bad attitude you get nothing. And no, it's not stiffing them .. if they don't make enough tips, they get paid minimum wage anyways ... and that's all they deserve.

Rockpuck

posted on May, 19 2010 @ 05:38 PM

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reply to post by apacheman

Actually that's wrong and it needs to be cleared up:

Wait staff do not USUALLY make minimum wage + tips, but a set sub-minimum wage by state + tips. In Ohio it was $2.50, HOWEVER .. If a waiter did not meet the required tips to average out $6/hr (minimum wage, or close to it I forget what it was) then the restaurant had to actually pay the difference.

It's impossible for a waiter to make less than Minimum Wage. Unless they are illegally being screwed over.

DJM8507

posted on May, 20 2010 @ 08:29 AM

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Originally posted by Dorian Soran
Her freedom of speech was NOT limited, in fact as this story proves she had ALL the freedom of speech she wanted.

You are confusing her "freedom of speech" which she has, with "freedom from any consequences because I should be able to post/say whatever I want but you can't hold me responsible when I say/post something stupid"

No one has that right my friend.

Kind of like a lady I used to work with, when someone would complain about having a bad day she would say "You can leave ANYTIME you want, but its up to the boss if you can ever COME BACK"

Truer words were never spoken.

Dorian Soran

Her freedom of speech was indeed limited through the use of coercion via a form of duress in order to hold threats over said person to ensure compliance.

I never said what she did was in good taste, but it doesn't change the fact that ones freedom to speech is limited by those with the means to influence you to keep silent. They do this with threats of financial hardship and loss of employment to ensure slave-like compliance.

In this situation it works both ways, the customers who treated her poorly should also not be immune from consequences as well. Nor should her boss who thrust her into financial hardship over stating a factual occurrence and the way it truly made her feel.

It is interesting that we as citizens freely give up so many basic rights, turning them over to corporate dictators who exchange such rights for mediocre forms of financial reward without any promise of stability. Yet we demand in our society a system of representation and shun such iron-fisted leaders in our own government. We freely subject ourselves to tyrannical rule on a small scale yet are disgusted by it on a larger scale.

What this waitress did was utilize her freedom of speech, going against the threats and coercion of corporate dictators. She paid the price for it, as many who worship at the alter of businesses and find those masters infallible, will also find her stand an egregious sin, whose punishment of financial turmoil against her and her family being rightly dealt by these elite gods.

This woman was sacrificed at the alter of profits, as the mob stood idly by and cheered, screaming for more blood...

[edit on 20-5-2010 by DJM8507]

SearchLightsInc

posted on May, 21 2010 @ 06:03 AM

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Perhaps instead of firing the girl a warning would have been more appropriate? To sack someone for having a sour opinion (Which was most likely said in the heat of the moment) is silly.
I'm taking the girls side on this.

zerbot565

posted on May, 21 2010 @ 07:17 AM

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part of my work is in the "customer service" area and what people , specialy young people have a hardtime coping with is that they are paid to smile and stfu and do as me / they are being told , its part of the job ,.

as for the u.s tipping system all i can say is what a rip of scheme that is ,

besides whining about free money when your on a payroll is just paradoxial.

Scarcer

posted on May, 21 2010 @ 07:38 AM

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Wow. Love how greedy people are.

My father used to own a bar/restaurant.

There was a jar that the tips were collected in. At the end of the day my dad told the waitress to split the tips with the cook, the waitress refused and he sent her out the door.

Knowing how generous my dad is, I'm sure that waitress earned a very good living.

See, cooks usually have to do a TON of work, and aside from the waitress having to remember a few faces and who ordered what, the cook has to cook multiple meals simultaneously and pay attention to every food course.

How often do cooks receive tips? Does the waitress or the cook make the meal?

Some people are too greedy.

Hm

I always thought that a $3 tip was fair for a good meal, can't assume your customers can afford to dine out every night

Of course I'd compensate if it clearly was a lot of extra work

[edit on 21-5-2010 by Scarcer]

yeahright

posted on May, 21 2010 @ 08:00 AM

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The following is my opinion as a member participating in this discussion.

reply to post by DJM8507

Wow. That is extremely overstated, in my opinion. As a business owner who is dependent upon the good will of customers, do you not have the right to expect at minimum, your employees don't act in a manner that could potentially harm your revenue stream?

What you call "coercion", I call common sense. No one has infringed upon her right to speak. She can speak all she wants. Does the owner of a business not also possess rights? The right to not continue to employ someone who acts in a manner detrimental to the business?

As an employee, you're asked to do a good many things. Failure to do what is asked of you, or doing something you're told to not do violates an employment agreement in a blatant and obvious way.

"I'll pay you to do a, b, & c. You also agree to not do x, y, and z." If you can't, or won't, live up to that, then the agreement is subject to termination. Everyone who draws a check from someone else understands that as basic common sense.

This woman was sacrificed at the alter of profits, as the mob stood idly by and cheered, screaming for more blood...

Please. She was a waitress at a pizza restaurant who was told her services were no longer required after she made a very public and bad mistake. There are some lines you cross at your peril. "Don't bite the hand that feeds you" is a very basic lesson, and one that is so obvious it shouldn't be up for debate. If you want to be able to say whatever you want, however you want, whenever you want, you better not be in a position to rely on anyone else for anything.

My employees shouldn't go public naming the business and talking badly about my customers. It does harm in a very tangible way. I can't prevent it, but I sure don't have to subsidize it. Or shouldn't businesses have that right?

As an ATS Staff Member, I will not moderate in threads such as this where I have participated as a member.

stumason

posted on May, 21 2010 @ 08:41 AM

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Originally posted by Blanca Rose
If you were charged in the cost of the food, enough to pay the person a decent hourly wage, the cost of your meal would be outrageous. People would quit going to sit down restaurants.

That's not true. Here in the UK tipping is very muc a voluntary thing and not many people do it, because the Waiters/tresses get paid a decent wage. Go to a decent restuarant and you will get good food at a decent price without some waitress getting pissy because you didn't tip.

A tip should be something you are given because you did well, not something you're obliged to do just because some spotty oik carried you food 10 feet from the kitchen to the table. I'd rather go get it myself than be forced into tipping.

Grumble

posted on May, 21 2010 @ 09:15 AM

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People are pigs.

Understand this. In the U.S., not tipping is not acceptable, period. If you do not tip a waiter or waitress, your are a lousy human being.

Their income assumes that the tip will be made. Not tipping them does put them BELOW minimum wage.

Good practice: tip 20% for anything except the most awful of service. Overtip when you are inspired to do so.

Blanca Rose

posted on May, 21 2010 @ 09:20 AM

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Originally posted by stumason

That's not true. Here in the UK tipping is very muc a voluntary thing and not many people do it, because the Waiters/tresses get paid a decent wage. Go to a decent restuarant and you will get good food at a decent price without some waitress getting pissy because you didn't tip.

Well, that is not the way it is in the US. The lowest tip that should be paid to a server is about .75 cents on every five dollars.

It must be nice to earn a decent wage in the UK, while being a server, so I am sure that very few of them would ever feel the need to grumble about not getting a tip.

In the US, restaurants are allowed to pay hourly wages below the minimum wage.

Still this woman should not have bad mouthed her employer on facebook.