In the United States the federal minimum wage is $7.25 (£4.31) per hour. Tipped workers, such as waiters and bartenders, are paid on a different standard, the so-called "tipped minimum wage". In New Jersey, for example, restaurant owners are required to pay a minimum of $2.13, with customers' tips providing the rest.
Self-study activity:
Watch the video and say whether the statements below are true or false.
The activity is suitable for intermediate 2 students.
1. Elizabeth Henry has been a waitress for 15 years.
2. Elizabeth took some time off work in the previous weeks.
3. Most of workers who are paid under the work-for-tips scheme are female.
4. The hotel owner implies that a tipped minimum wage is sometimes synonymous of poor service.
5. Tipped workers are beneficial for the employers.
6. A lot of tipped workers agree with this system.
Elizabeth Henry has been a waitress since she was 15 years old. Most of her money comes from tips, which her boss takes into account when he pays her. It's called tipped minimum wage.
So these are my last couple of paychecks, but I had to take a day off here and there ‘cause like I said before I was going through an eviction, so I had to take some time off to find out what I'm doing. So this is where it says are hourly rate, which is 2.25. And then this is what they claim we make an hour 9.50 in tips, so they say that we make twelve dollars an hour about which isn’t, which is not true.
3.3 million people in the US work for tips. The vast majority are women. Many employers say they can't afford to pay more than the tip to minimum wage. Others disagree.
It's never affected our bottom line. It really it's not going to make or break us.
This hotel owner is paying more than the minimum because he wants to keep his skilled service. New Jersey has the lowest tipped minimum wage. Washington, on the other side of the country, is the state with the highest.
If I don't make minimum wage an hour, then yeah and they're supposed to reimburse me for that but I've never been at a place that does that and like I said I've been doing it for 10 years.
For employers tipped workers are cheap to hire but when more staff are hired the workers can get even less money.
If I had to split my tips three ways behind the bar instead of just having myself in the bar back I’m making third of the money that I can make, that I'm capable of making, capable of doing a good job.
But many, especially bartenders, prefer tips because in the high season they can make more money. Higher minimum wage with no tips? Probably not. In the winter it's kinda slow but in the summer, I mean, we’re average, you know, upwards of anywhere for forty-five, fifty dollars an hour at times on a really good night.
President Obama supports an increase to the basic minimum wage but that won't help people like Elizabeth Henry as the tipped minimum wage isn't likely to change.
Guess that's life right. It’s life.
Key:
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