www.youtube.com/watch?v=GSeEidblXI8

If we are going to be honest, we have to admit that most restaurant server training manuals do not adequately prepare servers to create highly satisfied guests and make above average tips.  In fact, most server training manuals leave waiters and waitresses frustrated and demoralized.  Corporations spend absurd amounts of money training servers on sales techniques that lead to eye rolling guests and the generalized sense of hostility that is pervasive in the modern guest/server relationship.  There is a very simple reason for this.  Deep in the bowels of these restaurant corporate offices, training manuals are being written with the assumption the servers being hired are not intelligent enough to understand anything more than reciting a script upselling to the platinum margarita and “suggestive selling” the awesome nachos.

I discovered early on that the best way to be a better server was to watch the people who were.  I tried to emulate what they did.  I had the good fortune of working with people early in my career with decades in this industry.  I sought out books to teach me how to be a better server and when I couldn’t find any, I read books on sales and customer service.  I tried to adapt as many of the lessons as I could to being a better server.  If a book allowed me to come up with one good line or technique to increase my income, I knew it would pay for itself dozens of times over.  With each new job I took, I smiled and nodded through the training program and wondered why no one was teaching the skills that actually worked.  I tried to provide the same mentorship to the younger servers that I had when I started serving.

The restaurant industry has changed over the years.  As corporate restaurants squeeze out independent restaurants in cities around the country, there are fewer places for experienced servers to make an above average wage.  Service has become a commodity.  If you are willing to pay for it, upscale restaurants will still provide you with a professional server.  The vast majority of restaurants though are competing on price.  This means that the service is marginalized and top quality servers find it incredibly difficult to make a living.  In turn, the staffs at these restaurants view it as a transitional way to make money until they get a “real job.”

This creates two significant problems for the future of the restaurant industry:

1. Who is there to mentor these servers at restaurants where service is secondary to volume?
2. Where will the servers who do want to advance to upscale restaurants get the training to prepare them?

As with every great problem, there is a great opportunity.  For servers who are willing to take charge of their own training, the ability to stand out from your peers has never been greater.  This means building a core of regulars that keep your section full when the restaurant is empty.  This means being able to advance rapidly to higher end restaurants that previously wouldn’t have looked at the resume of servers without a decade of experience.  For independent restaurant owners, the opportunity to stand apart from your corporate competitors is obvious.  You cannot compete with their advertising budgets and ability to offer prices that eliminate profit margins.  You can however train your staff to provide the type of service that will create loyal guests and vocal fans.  This is how you can stand apart and win the battle for the dining dollars of your guests.

This is why I wrote Tips²: Tips For Improving Your Tips.  I know that it is tough to be a server right now because I am a server.  I know it is tough to be an independent restaurant owner because I work with independent restaurant owners to help them find a way to compete.  It took me over a decade to learn the skills that I use today.  When I looked for a book to teach me these skills back in the 90’s, I couldn’t find one.  This is why I sat down and wrote the book containing the knowledge I have now and would have benefited from then.

There is no longer an excuse.  The material is available.  You do not have to wait for a corporate training manual to teach you how to be a better server.  Restaurant owners do not have to take on the expense of hiring someone to write their training manual.  I have even lowered the price of the book.  I offer even deeper discounts for purchases of multiple copies.  Everything is in place for you to get the competitive advantage you need.  All that is left is for you to make the decision that gaining this advantage is worth a small investment of time and money.  If increasing your income is worth this investment, the restaurant server training manual you have been waiting for is available.

I bet I know what he is thinking

Since most of you are not from Kansas City, a bit of background is in order.  The most popular show on our local public television station is called Check Please.  It is a show that allows three people to talk about their favorite restaurant.  Each of the three guests selects a restaurant and all three have a meal there.  Then they get together on camera to discuss them.  You can watch this recent episode online at the KCPT website.

Here is a quick synopsis for those who don’t have time to watch the whole clip.  Two people loved the restaurant and one was not as impressed.  I think this holds true for all three restaurants on this episode and most every episode of the show I have seen.  One line from this episode caught my attention.  The guest who had recommended the home style buffet restaurant said of the classic Kansas City Steakhouse, “For the prices they were charging, I felt like I should have my own server.”

Every since I have made the leap to fine dining, I have postulated that this thought goes through a number of guests’ minds.  This is the first time I heard it actually expressed aloud by a guest.  Her issue was not that the service was inadequate, but rather that it did not meet the level of service she was expecting to accompany the price tag.  This sort of “sliding scale” of service is a factor faced by many fine dining servers.  It is also one of the most frustrating.

While I can’t speak of the service provided at the buffet, I can speak of the service provided at most fine dining restaurants.  Most of the servers in these establishments make it their goal to not be noticed.  Most of them have years of experience at less expensive restaurants that allowed them to move up to a fine dining establishment.  Most of them are armed with a wealth of knowledge about the food, wine, and cocktails they serve.  Most of them can provide you a plethora of information about the local area, nightlife, and romantic spots for after dinner.  Most of them strive to provide non-intrusive service.

This creates a tough standard for the fine dining server.  If 20% at a casual dining restaurant is full drinks and friendly service, what is it at a fine dining restaurant?  There is a limit to what you expect of a server at any restaurant.  Included in the price of the meal at a nicer restaurant are a much more relaxed time frame and often multiple courses.  During that time you receive friendly service and your drinks remain full.  To some people this does not merit the same percentage of a tip as it does in a casual dining restaurant.

This double standard is frustrating as a fine dining server.  I will gladly recite facts about any topic you ask about.  I will present you with specials in a way that will make you salivate.  I will pair the perfect wine with your meal.  I will allow you to relax as I perfectly time multiple courses for maximum enjoyment.  I will patiently refill your drinks as you linger after your meal.  I will not worry when you stay for a meal that lasts three times as long as the average meal in a casual dining restaurant.  During this time, I will be mostly invisible and not disrupt your meal.  My goal is that you do not even know I am there when you do not need me.

At my last restaurant, they had a copy of my “Best Server in Kansas City” plaque in the lobby.  I asked them to take it down.  The owner of the restaurant I work at now offered to promote my book on serving in the restaurant.  I politely declined because I understand the fine dining server’s conundrum.  I don’t sing, dance, lead conga lines, or do magic tricks.  I assume if you are at my restaurant you do not want a server who does those things.  My job is to allow you to not have to worry about a thing while you are at my table.  This is the job of all servers. 

What makes a professional server so valuable is the ability to do this while making it look effortless.  Unfortunately, in the perception of some guests this means they are not earning their tip.  Service standards should not change based on the price of the meal.  We have grown to expect less from casual dining restaurants.  Guests will excuse basic mistakes with less expensive meals.  The standard should be higher for fine dining, but it must still be attainable.  I am not sure what guests who want more than flawless service at a fine dining restaurant are looking for.  I often question whether they know themselves.

I am about to violate one of the most basic rules of marketing and give you an insider’s look at the world of self-publishing in the digital age.  I probably shouldn’t write this post.  My morning coffee hasn’t kicked in and I can tell you that this post will eventually pulled from the site before I even finish the first paragraph.  I am writing it out of a desire to be honest with all of you and to explain a dilemma I have been struggling with since I first wrote my book.

I am a server.  I have never considered myself much of a writer.  After writing almost 400 posts for The Hospitality Formula Network, my writing has improved considerably.  If you would have told me five years ago that I would be a published author, I would have laughed at you.  This partially explains why I did most everything wrong when I wrote my book.

Here is the traditional route to getting a book published.  First you come up with an idea.  You write a proposal for this idea and send query letters to publishers.  Most never read beyond the third sentence of the letter.  The rest look at the name at the bottom and if you haven’t been on a reality show, they discard the letter.  If you are lucky, one or two might decide they want you to send them the first few chapters.  You get excited and send them these chapters and in return they send you a rejection form letter.  I never got that far.

This is not how I did it.  As a matter of fact, I did it in a way similar to how you probably would have done it.  I came up with the idea for the book.  I came up with over 100 potential chapter topics.  The 52 best chapter topics went into the book.  The rest eventually became some of the original posts on this blog.  I spent time before shifts, after shifts, and on my days off writing at my computer.  It took about six months for the first draft.  Then I edited it.  Then I got copies printed and shared it with a few grammarian friends.  They returned it covered in red ink.  I made adjustments from the three edited copies.  I let it sit for a few months and edited it again.  Then I sent query letters to agents and got a handful of rejections.  One of them was nice enough to tell me why, “you don’t have a platform to reach an audience.”

I felt defeated and put the book away.  A few months later, I started reading more about the publishing process.  I found out that through a major publishing house an author could only expect to make a percentage on each sale that would be considered a lousy tip for a server.  On top of that, they own all of the copyrights to the material forever.  This is when I was introduced to self-publishing.  I started my first blog and was determined to build a platform from which I could reach an audience.  That original blog became The Hospitality Formula Network about eight months later.  During that time I met a professional editor who offered to take a look at my book.  Three rounds of edits later, I released the first edition of my book.

I am happy to say that the first edition has sold out.  If you order my book right now you will receive the shiny new second edition (promise to act surprised when I make the big announcement).  It has gone through two more rounds of professional editing.  It has been reformatted and even includes some new features.  All of the first edition sold out without having to sell my literary soul to the literary devil.  You probably know him as Amazon.

What Groupon is to the restaurant business, Amazon is to a self-publisher.  There is no doubt that Amazon provides exposure to a massive audience.  They are successful because of this.  Reaching this audience comes with a price.  Amazon takes more than half of the list price of every book sold.  The publisher pays for printing, ships the books to them, guarantees that no one will get a better price than they do, and then lists your book.  I have often spoken of the evils of Groupon for restaurant owners, but I am faced with the same dilemma.  I will probably have to sell out to Amazon to reach the audience I want to reach.

Once I do that, I can no longer offer a discounted price on my book.  That is why I am going to take some before going on Amazon to make a deal to my readers.  If you order now, I am knocking 25% off the price of the book.  I look at it as splitting Amazon’s cut with you.  I am also going to sweeten the deal a bit.  When the book does come out on Amazon, I am going to offer some bonus material for ordering directly from me.  If you buy the book now, not only will you get a lower price, but you will receive all of the future bonuses for free. 

This is not my attempt to make a hard sell on you.  This is my last ditch attempt to give you a deal while I still can.  If you have been debating buying this book, now is the time.  In a month or so I am going to be restricted by terms of service that will prevent me from offering this deal.  I will only be able to sell my book at full price.  If you want to pay less than $19.95, this is the time.  I’ve never offered a coupon on this site that would make the price any lower.  In just a few weeks, I won’t even be able to honor those.  This isn’t a sales tactic, but a warning and a thank you for being with a reader that I didn’t need Amazon to reach.

Click here to learn more about Tips²: Tips For Improving Your Tips and order your copy at this discounted price.

Introducing Waiters Today

As I approach my second year of writing this blog, I am pretty impressed with the quality of the server blogs on the web. I think that some bloggers like Mike Q at Life On A Cocktail Napkin have significantly raised the bar with the quality of their writing. Other blogs like Sock Puppet Army, You Just Got Sat, and Waitress Tales seem to have gone away. Each of these blogs had killer posts that made them worth reading. Other blogs have changed focus as the author’s jobs have changed. Server blogs come and go. I suppose that is why it takes something special to get me excited about a new server blog.

That is why Waiters Today deserves a mention. As server blogs go, Waiters Today is really something new and different. Waiters Today aspires to be more than a blog. Instead it is a social networking site for servers. With forums, groups, blogs, pictures, and videos, the site has taken an innovative approach to the traditional server blog. Waiters Today might be the first web 2.0 site dedicated exclusively to restaurant employees.

What really caught my eye is a very cool app they just introduced to their website. It allows you to track your tips for each day and be able to look at how much you have made over the course of weeks and months. Sure you could do this on your own with an Excel spreadsheet, but the app makes it far more fun. It also generates graphs with the click of a mouse to allow you to gain greater insight into what you are actually earning. Once you have signed up for an account at Waiters Today, it is simple to install. First go to this link: http://waiterstoday.com/opensocial/application/addByUrl. When you arrive at the page, enter this link: http://skygate.pl/projects/ning/personalTip/personalTip.xml. That is all you have to do, except remembering to update the page with your tips.

I have long been a believer that you cannot adequately measure what you are earning without keeping records. If you focus too much on the bad day or bad week, you will lose sight of the big picture. This type of app will help you focus on the big picture. It may even prevent you from making rash decisions based on a bad week or two. For this reason alone, it is worth visiting Waiters Today.

More importantly, I appreciate what Waiters Today is doing to build a server community. We all know that serving is not an easy job. Waiters Today and other sites like it allow you to find other people who are facing the same struggles. You might even find some insights on how to overcome them. I think that is what makes great server blogs so special. They remind us that we are not alone. Other servers have the same issues and together we can all overcome them.

Click Here To Visit Waiters Today

“They left me 15% and I didn’t even charge them for their drinks”

–Rookie Server

One of the fundamental truths you learn as a server is that hooking someone up with free drinks, food, etc. does not increase your tip. No matter how fundamental of a truth this is, it seems that every server has to learn this on their own. Time and time again new servers will attempt to leave a few sodas off a check or hook their table up with dessert, only to find that the tip percentage remains the same. Soon they realize the percentage is on a total that is artificially lower than what it should be due to the free items and they have actually made less money. I’ve seen newer servers reach this realization time and time again.

Let’s set aside for the moment the obvious problem with doing this. Of course it is tantamount to stealing. No tip is every worth losing your job for. If you are caught intentionally doing this, you will be fired. You will probably deserve to be fired. The items you are giving away are not yours to give. This is theft and it is wrong. It is never worth the risk of getting fired.

Even if none of those reasons are enough to prevent you from giving free items to your guest, you should avoid it because it is not beneficial to your tip. No matter how much logic tells you that guests will reward you for saving them money, they won’t. No matter how grateful you are convinced they will be, they won’t. No matter how great of a compliment you think they will give you to your boss, they won’t. Stack up all the reasons you think this will benefit you and discard them.

The reason is simple, guests tip on the total of the bill. When it comes time to leave a tip, the guest performs a simple mathematic calculation. It looks something like this:

Level of service (defined as a percentage) X Total of bill = Tip

That is it. No matter how much free stuff you give the guest, they will never change their formula into this:

(Level of service X 1.5 for hooking us up) X (Total of bill + Items not on bill) = Tip

Seriously, it doesn’t happen. Not ever. People who will hook you up with a great tip will do so even if you don’t give them free stuff. People who tip poorly will tip poorly in spite of free stuff. Think about all of the ways that people are now being told that it is expected that you tip before the discount when you use a coupon. Most coupons include this message. This is still only effective some of the time. How can you expect them to stop and consider tipping you for free stuff without explicitly saying so (which will get you fired and stiffed).

My advice is simple: stop trying to steal your way into a bigger tip and focus on developing a rapport with your tables. It is all about hospitality. When you take advantage of the opportunity to establish a connection with your guest and offer exceptional service, you will receive an exceptional tip. This is the only way that you can truly improve the percentage that a guest leaves for you. It will also earn you praise from your boss instead of the opportunity to look for a new boss to explain to in the interview why you thought stealing was a good way to make a better tip.

All of these people are really thinking about where to eat dinner.

After all the years I have spent in this business, I thought I had encountered most every type of guest. Working for over 13 companies in restaurants around the country had left me confident of this. My current job proved me wrong. My restaurant is located just blocks from the convention center. This has resulted in gaining a great deal of experience serving the attendees of different convention. It has also led me to the conclusion that serving this type of guest presents a unique challenge to servers.

The fundamentals of serving these guests are not significantly different than other guests. They have the same expectations as any other guest that dines at a restaurant. This blog is all about going beyond these fundamentals to provide the exceptional service that yields larger tips. This group;s expectations differ from other guests you might serve during the course of an evening. Understanding the unique nature of the group and how to offer them the additional services they seek will provide you with the ability to maximize your tips.

The basics of this group should be familiar for those that serve business diners often. They are in from out of town and dining with a set of people they vaguely know. The difference is that roles are more distinctly defined in a business community. A group of business people will have an established hierarchy or archetype. It could be a boss taking out those who work for them or a client being entertained by a supplier. Convention attendees are more often peers. They may know the other people at the table by reputation or have met them at previous conventions, but the hierarchy is far less defined.

This leads to a phenomenon that occurs is easily recognized for anyone who watches nature shows. There will be those who try to establish themselves as the alpha male or the queen bee. Be aware of this, but do not be fooled by it. With business diners this will generally give you the indication of who is picking up the tab and thus who to cater to. If you take this approach with a convention group, you only feed into the battle for dominance by giving the desired response. This in turn leads to others trying the same approach. Avoid feeding into this and establish early on if you need separate checks or if one person will be picking up the tab. Treat all of the guests the same, but defer to the person who is taking the check. This person often will not compete for dominance because their role is established by filling out the tip line.

One of your biggest assets in serving convention attendees is familiarity with your city. The one common trait shared by these attendees is being from someplace else. This will provide you with the ability to go above and beyond the service you provide during the meal by being able to recommend other restaurants, bars, and attractions. Being able to share a bit of trivia about your city will also impress them. Ask them how long they will be in town for and what they hope to do when not at the convention. This will start a conversation that allows you to highlight some other places they might enjoy. Have enough options in your referral repertoire to be able to recommend places that are suited to them. You probably shouldn’t send a group from a religious convention to a strip club or a bunch of drunken businessmen to a church.

Once you have established rapport with the guests and given them recommendation about where to eat tomorrow night, it is safe to ask them for something in return. You want to ask for two things. This is how I phrase this request at the end of the meal.

“I appreciate everyone coming in tonight and hope you enjoy your time in Kansas City. I was hoping you could help me out a bit. Tomorrow night when you go to (insert recommended restaurant) could you let them know that I sent you. It might cause them to return the favor and send me their cool guests. The other favor is that I hope you can tell some other people at your convention about us. Tell them to let us know that you sent them and we will be sure to make you look good.”

Generally it is not advisable to make requests of your guests, but these are pretty safe. The reason why this request works is there are several compliments subtly expressed. You are asking for their help and if you have sufficiently established a rapport with them, they will gladly assist you.

Serving guests that are in town for a convention can be a slightly different process than other types of guests. Recognizing these differences presents an opportunity to showcase your skills. As with every other type of guest, you should cater your service towards their specific needs. Doing so will allow you to capitalize on this source of guests and revenue. This will allow you to host your own convention in your wallet that will be attended by the pictures of many dead Presidents.

After returning from a brief vacation to visit the best Columbia, MO dentist I know and documenting the Jardines mess, it is time to get things back to normal.  This is the fourth installment of the “simple tricks for servers” series.  If you missed the others, check out parts one, two, and three.  These are some of the tricks I have picked up over the years that I believe will make a server’s life easier if they implement them.  They are also from in my experience a sure fire way to fight writer’s block.  If the next post isn’t a series of photoshops on Restaurant Laughs, you will know it worked.

Here are five more simple tricks to make your life easier as a server.

Get Pints Unstuck: If you work at a restaurant where the glasses get stacked, you will occasionally find that they get stuck together.  This is common with pint glasses and gibraltars.  Here is a quick solution that will not cause the glasses to break.  Lay them on their side and roll the glasses back and forth.  Add very slight pressure to the top of the inside glass.  They should come apart with no problem and no breakage.

Get Shakers Unstuck:  I do love boston shakers.  The only problem is that if you stack them with any moisture inside they have a bad habit of getting stuck.  This is where physics comes in handy.  Heat makes metal expand while cold makes it contrast.  Fill a bar sink with hot water.  Fill the shaker with ice and the place the stuck pair of shakers in the water.  Make sure the water level is low enough it will not mix with the ice.  After 30 seconds or so, pull the shakers out of the water and pull them apart.

Get Streak-Free Windows:  If you want your windows to look spotless, use coffee filters to clean them instead of paper towels.  This will prevent streaks.  It will also prevent any lint being left on the window.  Spray the cleaner on the window.  Now start in the top corner and clean a path the entire length of the window.  Continue working down the window in rows that stretch the entire length of the window.  Change filters as needed.

Make Big Anniversaries Flattering:  This is a line I came up with about a year and a half ago and has proven incredibly successful.  When a table tells you they are celebrating an anniversary that is greater than 30, turn to the lady at the table and say, “Happy Birthday.”  When they tell you it is their anniversary, respond by saying, “Oh, I thought you said 30 years.”  When it sinks in the lady will be flattered.  Of course this line is cheesy, but it is so cheesy that it works like a charm every time.

Stop Confusing Ranch And Bleu Cheese:  I cannot tell you how many times I have seen servers hold a cup of dressing an inch from their face to find the specks of paprika that distinguish ranch and bleu cheese dressing.  I was guilty of this myself as a rookie server.  Here is a great way to prevent it from occurring again.  Place a component of the salad next to all salads with one of the two dressings.  In my case, I place a tomato next to ranch dressing.  I place the bleu cheese dressings on the opposite side of the plate from the tomato.  This prevents me from ever being confused at the table.

There are five simple tricks to make life as a server simpler.  I hope they serve you well.  I also hope to be providing more non-pictorial posts following this one.  I know there are a million other little tricks out there.  If you have one that you would like to share, the comment section is open to you.

I'm not talking about this type of habit.

I spend a fair amount of time on the sister site of this blog discussing guest behaviors that annoy servers.  I am sometimes a guest as well.  On the occasions when I take my tips and spend them at a restaurant, I expect quality service.  While I tend to not critique servers, there are definitely habits that I see in other servers that make me cringe.  If they annoy me, I can guarantee they annoy your guests.  In an effort to help you improve you tips, I am sharing some of the ways servers often harm their tip. 

Here are ten habits that you must overcome if you want to provide exceptional service.

Asking me to keep my fork:  This translates loosely in the guest’s mind to, “I am going to be too lazy to get you a new fork, so please leave yours on the table I was too lazy to sanitize until you need to put it back into your mouth.”

Taking my glass to get me a refill:  The only thing worse than a beverage being low is not having a beverage because you just took it away.

Reading a list of ingredients in the special:  I want to know how the special tastes, not just the components.  Describe the dish instead of giving me the recipe.

Setting down menus and walking away:  This shows a negative level of hospitality.  All that is required is a simple “enjoy your meal.”  If you can’t even muster that, you are in the wrong field.

Making me ask for a refill:  If my glass is low or empty, bring me a refill.  You don’t need to ask, just bring it.  Better to leave some in the glass at the end of the meal than need a drink, but have an empty glass.

Saying “I don’t know”:  I am not saying that you have to know, but the proper response is, “I can find out.”  One indicates that you don’t care the other shows you do care.

Lying about your food:  It is insulting.  You don’t know that I can tell the difference between oysters from the Atlantic and Pacific Oceans.  There is no such thing as a 35 day dry aged filet.  Tell the truth and let me make the decision.

Leaving trash on the table:  I will not keep the empty sugar packets or straw wrapper as a souvenir.  Please take them away before dropping the check.

Making me ask for plates with my appetizer:  If there are more than two guests at the table, bring appetizer plates.  If the two people at the table do not seem comfortable sharing bodily fluids, bring plates to them as well.

Asking if I want change:  Just state, “I will be back with your change.”  This gives me the chance to tell you that I don’t need any.  It isn’t your money yet and this is a bad time to give bad service.

If you do any of these 10 things, please stop immediately.  Your guests deserve better service and you deserve the tips that come as a result of providing it.  I am not trying to bash servers with this post, but I am asking you to raise your level of service.  It is tough to be a server and guests expect great service if they are going to part with their money.  Avoiding these ten mistakes puts you well on your way to creating highly satisfied guests and improving your income.

When it comes to a service charge, if it walks like a duck and talks like a duck, then it must be a duck.  That is unless it isn’t and it turns around to sue you for seven figures.  Such is the state of the “service charge” in the restaurant business.  It is quickly becoming one of the most litigated issues in the industry.  Restaurants see it as an added revenue stream.  Servers see it as unbridled greed.  The courts are seeing it as illegal.  The guests rarely see it at all.

In order to understand the concept of a service charge, you must understand the origins.  Hotels have traditionally added a service charge to the tabs of large private functions and banquets.  Since the guest generally does not tip these servers directly, it has generally been assumed by the guests to be a gratuity or tip for the staff.  Some years ago, hotels realized that the service charge was not part of most guest’s value equation.  This means that they could reduce the front end prices by a small percent and add it to the service charge without notice.  This lead to what has traditionally been the servers’ tip to be split between the hotel and the servers.

Hotels are allowed to do this for two reasons.  The first is that hotels require guests to sign long contracts for their events in advance.  While the guests rarely read the entire contract, most all will include a section explaining with a great deal of contrived complexity that the service charge is not a tip.  The second reason that hotels can get away with this is that they do not claim the tipped employee tax credit.  The hotels would pay their servers the full minimum wage as well as a portion of the service charge.

Somewhere along the line, restaurant companies learned of this and decided to start using service charges as well.  Where they failed to follow the hoteliers’ example was in the two areas stated above.  While they require a service charge, they rarely inform their guests that the restaurant will be keeping a percentage of that fee.  They also in many states continue to take the tipped employee tax credit for their servers.  This tax credit allows them to apply the employee’s tips to cover a portion of the minimum wage other employers are obligated to pay.  This is why in some states servers still make as little as $2.13/ hour and why in 44 states they make less than the minimum wage.  The law defines a tip as monies given directly to the person providing the service.  When the employer takes a portion of the money, as is the case with a service charge, it is no longer considered a tip.  This means that there is no tip for that party and the employee is owed at least the full minimum wage.

To clarify, a service charge is only permissible when the guest is aware that it is not a tip and when the employer is not claiming a tip credit against the employee’s minimum wage.

From personal experience and anecdotal stories, I would estimate that 95% of restaurants are currently violating this law.  For a number of years restaurants have considered it a grey area.  If nothing else, they assumed that their staff would not be able to mount a legal challenge large enough to win a case against their corporate lawyers.  The restaurants that believed this have guessed wrong.  Just last month Brinker International subsidiary, Maggiano’s Little Italy, reached a $1.3 million settlement for this practice.  This covers employees in Massachusetts, but leaves the door open for a larger national class action suit.  I wrote last month about a lawsuit regarding the same issue that was lost by the Four Seasons hotel chain.  Restaurant companies can no longer count on their size to flagrantly violate this law.

I write for several different audiences on this network of blogs.  I believe this topic is relevant to all of them.  Let me end with a few words of advice for each.

If you are a restaurant patron who is required to pay a mandatory gratuity or service charge, please clarify what percentage is going to the service staff.  Feel free to express your feeling about this deceptive practice to the person planning your event.  One of the coolest things you can do for your servers is to leave any additional gratuity you choose to leave in cash.  This is the easiest way to make sure that the money goes to the people you intend for it to go to.

If you are a restaurant manager or owner, obey the law.  This issue has been ruled on by a number of courts and all of them have come down on the side of the servers.  There is no more grey area.  This is an illegal practice and one that you cannot afford to continue.  According to their website, Maggiano’s has one restaurant in Massachusetts.  Unless you can afford this size of judgment against your restaurant, you should stop this deceptive practice immediately.

If you are a restaurant server, you must be aware of your legal rights.  You cannot expect your employer to make you aware of ways that they are violating your rights.  It is foolish to believe that simply because a restaurant has a policy that it is legal.  Educate yourself and then educate your management.  A simple google search of “service charge lawsuits” will provide you a wealth of examples.  Give your restaurant time to change their policies.  If they refuse, it may be time to consult with an expert.

I am not trying to be a trouble starter.  It is my sincere wish that service charges were never introduced into the restaurant industry.  Everyone must follow the law though.  If you refuse to follow the law, there are consequences.  The law has been clearly defined and you are now aware of it.  Choosing to ignore this law is done at your own peril.

Tips²: Tips For Improving Your Tips is the new book from the author of The Hospitality Formula Network. It contains the 52 essential skills of the exceptional server. This book teaches the philosophy to turn average service into an exceptional guest experience that will rapidly increase your tips. This book shows how you can provide better customer service and dramatically improve your tips. Enter the coupon code “squared” to receive 20% off your copy today.

I was having a conversation last night with some former servers about the “serving lifestyle.”  They fondly recalled sleeping until noon and closing down the late night bars.  Those are some of the more glamorous parts of being a server.  The part people don’t often fondly recall is being uninsured and any injury being catastrophic.  If you cannot work, you don’t get paid.  A trip to the doctor can cost you weeks’ worth of tips while time off work drains what little savings you have.  After 16 years in this business, I have learned that rule number one of the serving lifestyle is “don’t get hurt.”

I have put away my skateboard and think twice about climbing tall trees.  A broken arm or ankle would mark financial catastrophe.  There is one more area that I do not take risks in.  I am very careful about what I put on my feet.  A good pair of non-slip shoes can be your best insurance policy against winding up in the Emergency Room from slipping on a restaurant floor.  This is why I recently wrote about how much I love my new non-slip shoes.  After reading the review, the nice people over at SR Max sent me an email thanking me for my kind words.  This lead to a discussion of shoes, statistics, and worker’s compensation that turned up some information I think all servers should know.

Slips and falls are the number one cause of workplace injuries in restaurants.  They account for 17% of all disabling injuries.  24% of all slips and falls can be attributed solely to improper footwear.  Slip resistant shoes have been shown to reduce slips and falls by 50%.  Let me break that down.  The way you are most likely to get hurt at work as a server is by slipping and falling.  You have a greater risk of slipping and falling than a cook does of injuring themselves with a knife.  The most effective way you have to prevent this from happening is to wear a quality slip resistant shoe.

I also learned that not all slip resistant shoes are created equal.  Slip resistant shoes are rated by a measure called “coefficient of friction” or “CoF” for short.  A coefficient of friction of 1.0 is the equivalent of a rubber sole on a carpeted surface.  Government guidelines require that all flooring have a CoF of 0.6 or higher.  This means that in order to have a 1.0 CoF your slip resistant shoes must be rated higher than 0.4 under wet/oily conditions.  Unfortunately many of the shoes that are sold in discount and big box retail stores score as low as 0.2-0.25. 

All SR Max brand shoes have a CoF of at least .54 and some as high as .76 under wet and oily conditions.  Baseball players wear cleats on the field and basketball players wear rubber soles on the court.  Both shoes are ideal for the surface they are designed for, but would provide lousy traction on the other surface.  Servers need to wear the shoe designed to give optimal performance on their wet and oily surfaces they work on.  SR Max builds shoes to give you the traction you need in a restaurant.

I know someone out there is thinking that a good slip and fall would be like paid time off.  How long do you think you could live on your hourly wage without any tips?  When they draw your blood in the Emergency Room, are they going to find anything you wouldn’t want them to that could lead to you being fired and stuck with the ER bill?  Remember that part of the employee handbook where they told you that slip resistant shoes are part of your uniform?  Injured, unemployed, and talking to the billing department at the hospital is not a situation you want to find yourself in.

I think I have made a compelling case why top quality slip resistant shoes are an investment you need to make.  The great news is that the investment is minimal.  SR Max shoes don’t cost more than the ones you see in the big box retail stores, they just work better and last longer.  These are high quality shoes sold without the overhead found in a shoe store.  They give you better traction without emptying your bank account.  They also sell other name brands like Skechers, Keen, Dr Martens, and Crocs.  Whether you want a name brand or just a well designed shoe, they can give you the best option at the best price.

I’m not trying to sell you shoes.  I am telling you that you need to understand the “server lifestyle” goes beyond sleeping in and flirting with co-workers.  Most servers live in a financially precarious situation where unexpected time off and hospital bills can cause disaster.  Unless you are the exception to the rule, you should do what you can to minimize your risks.  Since your biggest risk is slipping and falling, you owe it to yourself to invest in a top quality pair of slip resistant shoes.  I am just trying to make you aware of a way to do that without parting with too many of your hard earned tips in the process. 

Note: As an added bonus the folks at SR Max have offered my readers a special discount for a limited time only.  Use coupon code “SRMTWEET” to receive a special discount.  Take advantage of the chance to save some money on some great shoes.

Tips²: Tips For Improving Your Tips is the new book from the author of The Hospitality Formula Network. It contains the 52 essential skills of the exceptional server. This book teaches the philosophy to turn average service into an exceptional guest experience that will rapidly increase your tips. This book shows how you can provide better customer service and dramatically improve your tips. Enter the coupon code “squared” to receive 20% off your copy today.