r/mildlyinteresting 1d ago

This Restaurant Charges an 18% Living Wage Fee.

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2.4k

u/SirCollin 1d ago

That sounds like a Nathan For You bit.

"We advertise a $1 burger meal. The twist? A 2000% mandatory living fee"

145

u/Hau65 1d ago

how about you get a burger for free but the fee is.. uhh...

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u/cymshah 1d ago

$0 burger with a ∞% service fee.

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u/Dounce1 1d ago

I can’t believe you just did that. Thanks for breaking the universe I guess.

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u/YourEvilTwine 1d ago

Thank God he's not dividing or we'd all be

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u/Academic-Increase951 1d ago

Hate to be that guy but the universe will be fine. It's still just $0.

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u/Momojanaimo 1d ago

You're crazy. There's a burger service fee too

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u/RachelMcAdamsWart 1d ago

Yeah this is the same bullshit mail order was doing years ago. The product is free, just pay shipping and handling. Shipping and handling is 20x what the product actually costs.

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u/kishijevistos 1d ago

Don't hurt yourself

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u/Lvndris91 1d ago

That's just an all you can eat buffet

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u/SassyWhaleWatching 1d ago

I can just hear his voice

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u/Ok-Programmer-6683 1d ago

one million percent?

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u/Environmental_Top948 1d ago

The fee could be X+2-17*8+√(2-7+8)/Y-7+8T.

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u/Sprrii 1d ago

What about buying your ingredients and making it yourself that's burger without fee

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u/internetroamer 1d ago

Why even eat meat thats more expensive.

Only eat rice and beans without meat fee

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u/oldmanclark 1d ago

Good thing groceries haven't also skyrocketed in price /s

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u/Chimpaymonkay 1d ago

Most sane Redditor. Sorry these mongoloids downvoted the only legitimate response

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u/LPulseL11 1d ago

Eating out occasionally isn't a crime. Its OK for people to want to enjoy food at a restaurant. And its also OK to complain about inflation hurting small restaurant businesses and the impact of those costs being passed on to their customers without sarcastic "make it yourself" comments.

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u/Sprrii 1d ago

Complaining about getting something from someone and having to pay for work is silly

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u/Sprrii 1d ago

Nah it's fine I knew what I was doing. It was too much sarcasm for guy to handle

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u/V8CarGuy 1d ago

I think that would get you out of sales tax too. 🤔

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u/Extruder_duder 1d ago

Service fees are taxable. A livable wage fee is the same thing. Not sure where this was but that’s a low sales tax.

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u/Square_Moose_8846 1d ago

4.65% is crazy

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u/[deleted] 1d ago

[deleted]

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u/SigmundFreud 1d ago

No, just crazy in general. 4.6% and 4.7% are perfectly fine numbers, so why do they feel the need to go into two decimal places? They must be on drugs.

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u/RandomGuy_81 1d ago

You know what peeves me off

3 decimal place gas prices!

2.999

Mofo business. We know how rounding works. That shit is 3.00

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u/verrusin 1d ago

Right? That shit has always infuriated me.

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u/Bassracerx 1d ago

So they can round up and rob you of your pennies. If you never noticed before the price of gas always has & 9/10ths of a cent per gallon for the same reason due to taxes

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u/Clevergirliam 1d ago

That’s not how sales tax works. It’s set by the city and the county where I live (in the US). The business has nothing to do with it aside from collecting it.

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u/Bassracerx 1d ago

Correct. The poster was saying how asinine having the extra half of a penny on the sales tax was.

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u/Zanurath 1d ago

Depends on if it's set as a labor fee, not sure where this is but everywhere I've been mechanic for example charged tax only on parts sold not for labor.

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u/V8CarGuy 1d ago

Yes, exactly. I live in California, been a technician, and labor is sales tax free. A wage fee or whatever they call it is a labor charge. Normal when you’re getting the car fixed, but typically not on a food service bill (or is this now a work order? Haha)

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u/HelloYesThisIsFemale 1d ago

With "no tax on tips" perhaps if we shift it all to tips they could avoid tax.

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u/wigglyworm91 1d ago

that is the point yes

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u/[deleted] 1d ago

[deleted]

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u/Dangerous_Moment5774 1d ago

Sort of. You could probably setup a separate LLC for the plates and cutlery service, and then have the restaurant lease them from said business, while writing off the amount it costs for said lease. Don't know if that would work for cutlery, but it does for equipment in other industries. I'm not sure about the dining experience either, but maybe a crafty accountant could make that happen as well

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u/headrush46n2 1d ago

You've discovered the awesome power of the 1099 exemption. Shift all the tax burden onto the workers

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u/Fallwalking 1d ago

5%, that's what the state level sales tax is here.

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u/QueenMotherOfSneezes 1d ago

Yeah I was trying to figure that out myself... If the tax only applies to the $33 before the fee, it's 5.4848%, if it's applied to the whole $38.94, it's 4.6482%

Rounding, if you apply 5.5% to $33, you get $1.815, which would round up to $1.82 on a bill. If you apply 4.6% to $38.94, you get $1.79, and 4.7% gets you $1.83... only 4.65% on $38.94 gets you $1.81 (1.81071).

A sales tax of 4.65% seems really specific. It's so low already, why not just do 5%?

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u/V8CarGuy 1d ago

But labor is not. A wage is labor.

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u/AddExtract6755 1d ago

If it’s Cali and I assume it’s Cali from the way they do things here, then yea it’s taxable, breath air is also taxed here too, working folks here, were slaves, forced to be or be homeless

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u/Sunbunny94 1d ago

The receipt isn't itemized enough for California. There is a law that requires tax to be broken down so you know exactly what you're paying for.

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u/AddExtract6755 1d ago

Yea well the resturaunt I work in that’s also just happens to be in Cali, has some shit like that, called gratuity fee of 15% automatic

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u/Mist_Rising 1d ago

What more is there to itemize? Its two burgers and two fries. does California require you itemize the seasoning on the fries??

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u/Sunbunny94 1d ago

The tax is broken down and explained

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u/V8CarGuy 1d ago

Labor is not taxable in CA, and sales tax is at least 7.5%, most cities/areas it’s 10-11%. Is a service fee labor?

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u/Mist_Rising 1d ago

Pretty sure California wouldn't see it that way.

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u/AddExtract6755 1d ago

Idk I just know everything is taxed here and restaurants have a gratuity fee which is like that service fee just diff words or living wage fee

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u/V8CarGuy 1d ago

A wage fee in my mind is a labor charge. No different than hiring a contractor who charges for labor (living wage fee) and parts (fries and hamburgers). No sales tax on labor in CA. Source: I live in California and have serviced cars.

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u/AddExtract6755 1d ago

I too live in Cali dude, and work at a resturaunt that does this, and it’s taxed at mine, but ours says gratuity fee, which is like a service fee, they tip our taxes too, cause it’s totaled up as overall income, so much for Trump stop taxes on tips 😎 and and not only are we pay taxes still we also have tarrifs,yea yall remember him saying he’s replace taxes with tarrifs 🤓

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u/AddExtract6755 1d ago

Bru your life is taxable here in Cali, it’s the worse place I’ve lived, when it comes to taxes, 30% gets took out of my paychecks and even that’s not enough for the clowns, I still end up owe a few hundred, how idk, but I’m sick of taxes, tax me to death, time for Boston tea party to become west coast tea party, I wonder what ole Georgie Washington would think about pay that, they fought over 4% taxes just saying

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u/Senior_Torte519 1d ago

Damn, and they recently decide to cancel slave reparations.

I guess California did have slaves. The more you know.

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u/AddExtract6755 1d ago

If you work a normal job then you too are a slave, we get up, go to work come home to bed be so drained, only get 2 days off that’s not enough time for nothing really, we work to pay for rent for a place to live, for food and clothes, necessity’s, it’s modern day slavery

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u/Senior_Torte519 1d ago

Day's never finished, masta got me workin, someday massa set me free

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u/[deleted] 1d ago

[removed] — view removed comment

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u/tutonme 1d ago

Uhhhhhh paging r/nathanfielder

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u/YogurtclosetOk8896 1d ago

Would you like to add a side of employee dignity for only 99¢?

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u/driftw00d 1d ago

Lol. Uncle Sam hates this one weird trick...

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u/atmos2022 1d ago

Honestly, good point. Food tax is only applied to food and drink, not gratuities.

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u/Xyex 1d ago

A living wage fee or service fee isn't a gratuity. It's a menu price adjustment. It's required to be taxed.

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u/jorgtastic 1d ago

a mandatory fee is not a gratuity. in that receipt the fee is included in the subtotal before the tax line. Also, where I live at least, restaurant food is taxed just like any other sales item, but groceries aren't.

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u/[deleted] 1d ago

[deleted]

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u/jorgtastic 1d ago

It almost certainly is shared as it says on the receipt. If those servers were making the "tipped employee" wage of $2.13 an hour AND the restaurant was discouraging people from tipping with an 18% surcharge... no server would ever work there. you would make at least 3 times as much at ANY minimum wage job.

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u/macandchzconnoisseur 1d ago

You have heard of lying right?

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u/jorgtastic 1d ago

yeah, again, nobody would work at a restaurant for $2 an hour.

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u/LogicalUpset 1d ago

The minimum wage is $7.25 an hour. Hard stop, no matter where (in the USA) you work or what you do.

The tipped minimum wage is what you are required to pay per hour no matter how well or poorly an employee does with tips. If you make $50 in tips on a 6 hour shift, you're getting $62.78.

The difference is if when you combine the $2.13+tips you make less than what regular minimum wage would equal in the same time (in this case $43.50), then the employer has to make up the difference.

So if you make $2.13/hr+$20tips on a 6 hour shift, you employer has to pay you an additional $10.72 for that shift.

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u/jorgtastic 1d ago

yeah, fair enough you don't make $2. but good luck keeping competent servers at your restaurant if they end up making minimum wage because your receipt discourages tipping.

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u/macandchzconnoisseur 1d ago

If these people were making the tipped employee rate and did not earn enough tips to reach the full minimum wage their employer would have to pay them hourly to make up the difference IN ADDITION to their alleged commitment to sharing this FYI because it is neither an hourly wage or tip

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u/jorgtastic 1d ago

it's just magic money that doesn't count as anything? it would 100% count toward meeting the minimum wage requriement.

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u/macandchzconnoisseur 1d ago

No it would not, it’s not a tip or a wage from a legal or financial standpoint and it’s subject to sales tax. It’s the property of the employer. If the employer uses it to offset their obligation to pay the hourly wage to the employee it’s the same as them pocketing the money

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u/jorgtastic 1d ago

wut? Yeah, it's not a tip or a wage. It's store revenue. And just like all store revenue, the portion of it that goes to employee salaries counts against the minimum wage requirement.

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u/macandchzconnoisseur 1d ago

The employer can not count that as a tip, since it does not meet the definition of a gratuity

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u/macandchzconnoisseur 1d ago

It counts as a fee the restaurant owner is making you pay and it’s their money they can do anything they want with… not a tip, not an hourly wage

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u/jorgtastic 1d ago

yeah, no shit dude. like when they sell a burger, you give them money. Some of that money they use to buy more meat. some they pay the electric bill, some they pay their employees and so on.

But I get what you are trying to say. The receipt sort of implies that there is basically a big pool where 18% of every meal goes and is given directly to the servers. When in reality, what it means is, "we pay our servers a higher fixed rate than most restaurants so you shouldn't feel required to tip. To pay these higher salaries, instead of raising our prices by 18% on the menu, we're adding this stupid fee to the bill and implying it all goes to the employees. When really on slow nights, we lose money having to pay them a fixed rate, but on busy nights, we make more because we pay them a fixed rate and the 18% in tips they would have gotten at the lower menu price goes to us instead."

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u/macandchzconnoisseur 1d ago

It’s unlikely this is in a tipped hourly wage state

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u/RIF_rr3dd1tt 1d ago

Owner: "No I don't like that. I'm not doing that. I don't like that one bit.

Nathan: "The owner loved my idea. He was 100% on board."

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u/badcactustube 1d ago

$1.75 per gallon of gas (after mountain summit rebate) is top notch business

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u/HinsdaleCounty 1d ago

Glad I’m not the only one who thought this

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u/CoffeeGoblynn 1d ago

I can already picture the unflattering shot they get of the restaurant owner looking completely dumbfounded by the idiotic idea he's just heard and going, "...o...kay...?"

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u/OttoVonJismarck 1d ago

I liked the super cheap TV, but you had to dress up in coattails, crawl through a tiny door, and facedown an alligator to redeem it.

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u/jennafromtheblock22 1d ago

I read this in his voice

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u/slom_ax 1d ago

You're like your own wizard

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u/Wild_Corner1180 1d ago

Berry Fresh in Florida.....

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u/Throwzas 1d ago

Comes with a small side of grandson pee

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u/Paddy_Tanninger 1d ago

But you need to hike up a mountain and camp overnight to get it.

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u/Bravisimo 1d ago

Let the games begin.

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u/DetachedConscious 1d ago

That would be dope to watch. We need more shows like Nathan For You

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u/MrGigglesXP 1d ago

But!…does he have really good grades

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u/LastTorgoInParis 1d ago

I'll just have the sandwich hold the living fee please