Except for waitresses, taxis and beauticians, and the paper delevery person the idea of tipping people who make good wages is ridiculous and better spent on a charity.

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OUT TARGET STORE ( IN NORTH CAROLINA) HAS FRESH BAKED ( RIGHT IN THE STORE) EINSTEIN BAGELS BEST IVE EATEN AND IM FROM NY

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The federal minimum wage act has a different minimum for food service employees; it used to be $3 or $4 less than the standard. This is based on the expectation that the employees will get tips. I hope Einsteins is paying these folks the regular minimum.

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I agree, as long as Einstein's is paying the regular minimum wage and not the reduced food rate, then the sign removal is OK. IF however they are paying their employees the reduced rate, then they are off base.

I remember when I started processing payroll when the minimum wage was 1.50, that waitresses (yes, they were waitresses back then) were getting less than $.50 per hour...

It made me very conscious of tipping waitresses (et.al.) were not paid a regular wage. I still tipped according to service.

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Great, lets leave it up to these large corporations, such as Einstein's to pay a fair and working wage....it will not happen and without tips employees will now make less and your service will suffer.
I bartend and if you cant throw an extra 50 cents into a tip cup, after you spent 4 dollars for coffee, you should keep your cheap ass home and complain about the f#@KING COFFEE BEING 4 DOLLARS, NOT THE TIP...............

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Food servers have long had a somewhat unfair deal, and the government has also placed an implied burden on customers to make up for it. Not only was it deemed appropriate for food servers to receive less than the federal minimum wage, they began taxing servers on their receipts--which assumes a minimum tip from every patron, whether or not it was actually received. The initial concept of tipping was to say," Hey, thanks for making my___________(meal, event, experience) extra special." It became an expectation and--in fact--is included for parties of 8 or more, no matter what kind of service you get. In essence, it has become a tax. The whole thing is not right. In Australia, there is no tipping. People do a good job because they want to do a good job, and neither they nor the customer gets taxed unfairly. Einstein's is taking the lead, but there need to be changes in the government's approach too.

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Just a couple of things. There is no need to check on Eistein Bagels to see if they get paid regular or not because I can guarantee that they do. They do not meet the criteria for being able to pay their people less (i.e. no waiters or waitresses, just like at Starbucks). So those kinds of people were getting tips on top of getting paid regular wages. I don't believe in that. I also don't believe in the fact that there is a different minimum wage for anyone. The fact that Applebees can make their waitresses come in and clean and do nothing else (like wait on customers) for 2 dollars an hours is a crock. I know over fifteen waiters, waitresses, and bartenders and not a single one claims all their tips. NOT A SINGLE ONE. So they all cheat the tax system which is based on 10 percvent of your slaes that day. A lot of people make a lot more than that every single time. So in that respect, I dont feel bad for them at all.

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I was so niave, some 40 years ago I worked a second job part time at a Holiday Inn restaurant, when people tried to tip me when I seated them, I refused it saying "No, no, this is my job....". I guess they think I was an idiot, but I really felt like the job of a hostess was to make people feel comfortable & want to return. DUH!

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The problem also comes from the fact that most people don't know how to tip and rude waitesses and waiters expect you to tip them more then they deserve or are worth.
Folks tipping is 15 to 20% before tax- why before tax because that keeps it even whereever you go (you tip the same at all applebee's in the country). Minimum of $1 per person at the table.
If you tip a dollar at Starbuck's for a 3 or 4 buck cup of coffee you are overtipping- and you haven't even tasted the product. Unless you have money to throw away or the person has consistantly done a good job for you do they deserve it. (The Dunkin donuts where my wife goes to knows her order by heart and makes it perfectly ready to drink with her saying the usual in a large metropolitan area where she only frequents a couple of times a week- that's service that deserves a tip)
If the service sucks tip them the minimum 10%. They don't deserve it.
And what's the deal with buffets? It's a dollar a person- you are doing all the work they aren't making suggestions taking your order making sure your meal is ok if you are lucky they get you a soda or coffee, maybe a refill, maybe bus your table once- this isn't the same service that you recieve at a restaurant so why are you treating it as such and tipping as much? The thought is that the people working at buffets can service a lot more tables since they do alot less so if you tip them 15 to 20% you are paying them alot more then waitress and waiters who are actually doing more work.
And anybody from the food service industry who wants to say that people who work the counter at fast food places, coffee houses w/ tip jars barmaids that open beer bottles, and buffet workers who brought me the bill and a diet coke should be tipped as much as a hard working waiter or waitress that kept all our orders straight, checked on me thru out the dinner brought me my food and anything else I wanted deserves to be paid as much is belittling the profession.




maybe they will get a clue and do a better job or get out of the food service industry.

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