I have an ethically challenged friend who practices “second generation tipping.” He takes a tip off someone else’s table and puts it on his. His rational is, “I get good service, the waiter gets his tip; everyone wins.” To understand where his logic is flawed, I turned to the PayScale Salary Report Database.
Many employees depend on tips for much of their income. In fact, the minimum wage an employer must pay drops below $2.50/hour in 15 states for workers earning tips. The restaurant customer is more the employer of a waiter than the person who hired him.
All this tip data was so interesting, we included it in a larger article of tipping for the holidays on the PayScale website. I’ll highlight a few of the interesting facts here about who relies on tips to make ends meet.
How does your salary fare, with or without tips? Find out with our salary calculator.
Coffee Houses and Casinos
In coffee cafes, the average hourly wage for a Barista is $8.10. Tips typically boost their pay rate per hour to $10.35. Their bosses, Coffee Cafe Managers, earn an average hourly wage of about $11.00. Surprisingly, tips matter for the managers too, bringing in another $1.25/hour.
In Casino and Gaming, we have two job types that stick out: Gaming Dealers and Change Booth Cashiers. The Change Booth Cashiers typically make a higher hourly wage at $12.31/hour than Gaming Dealers at $7.50/hour, but their tips potential is much less; it’s the Gaming Dealers who are ‘rewarded” with tips for dealing “lucky hands.”
In fact, unless you’re a regular high roller, you might not even know that you’re supposed tip the Change Booth Cashiers.
The tips of Change Booth Cashiers can usually boost their hourly wage by $2.42 to $14.73, whereas the average Gaming Dealer can pump up his or her hourly wage by an additional $18.36/hour to earn over $25/hour. Gaming Dealers’ tips represent a whopping 71% of their income.
Nanny Salary Rate vs. Babysitter
The Child Care category yielded two jobs that most people are familiar with: Babysitter and Nanny/Au Pair. Even though these workers are responsible for the safety of their client’s children, both jobs receive very little in the way of tips! Babysitters can expect approximately a wage rate of $7.77 per hour, whereas a Nanny/Au Pair can expect $11.09 per hour.
Tips represented 5% of a Nanny’s hourly pay rate and 16% of the Babysitter’s. Clearly, it pays more to deal blackjack in Vegas than to care for a child; maybe we need to bone up on tipping day care employees.
Slipping the Minister a C Note
At first, I thought the PayScale compensation data was lying: who tips a pastor or rabbi? These are two jobs which receive a significant portion of their income from tips. However, I realized there are times when one tips a pastor or, rather, pay an “honorarium”: weddings, funerals, etc.
In our database, Rabbis saw 40% of their income from tips. Pastors have a similar uplift from Honorariums, but to a lesser degree. Their average Honorariums represent 23% of the average pastors salary. I recommend tipping the mohel before hand, and tipping generously. 🙂
Tipping Gratuity for Hair Stylist
In the salon, employees live and die by the tips. Manicurist makes only $11/hour in wages, but tips are $21/hour, increasing pay by a whopping 67 percent! Some Manicurists have an opportunity to earn commissions on products and services as well. Tips turn a job at the poverty line to a respectable wage in any city.
Similarly, Hair Stylists earn wages of about $14/hour, but tips increase income by 40% to about $20/hour. Commissions for selling products can also be an important source of income for Hairstylists.
Hourly Rates and Tips in Hospitality
In the hospitality industry, we found a job where it pays more not to be in management. Bellhops and their Supervisors are making a base hourly wage of $9.00 and $8.50 respectively. Bellhops win even bigger with tips, which push their total pay to $16.75.
Room Service Clerks make about $5.50/hour (basically, minimum wage), but tips increase total income to more than $11.50/hour, when tips are added to the equation. Chauffeurs, with base pay at $11.50/hour, can earn a nice tip to bring their total compensation to 16.75/hour; this especially works if they know the bouncer at trendy late night bars. 🙂
Speaking of drinks, remember my friend, the “second generation tipper?” He may not be violating federal laws on restaurant tipping, but he is definitely hurting the wait staff when he pulls his switch-a-roo. Waiters, Waitresses and Bartenders make more than 50% of their income through tips and gratuities. For example, a typical bartender pulls down about $7/hour in wages, but tips push total pay to $18.25/hour.
Stiffing a waiter is not like a boss skipping the 5% holiday bonus; it is cutting the waiter’s pay in half.
How does your salary add up? Find out with our salary calculator.
Cheers,
Dr. Al Lee
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