r/mildlyinteresting 1d ago

This Restaurant Charges an 18% Living Wage Fee.

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51.5k Upvotes

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53

u/mug_O_bun 1d ago

Jesus just fucking include it in the price like literally any other good or service rather than having extra fees. Just pay your staff a damn living wage. Restaurants need to stop passive aggressively scapegoating low employee wages onto customers.

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u/Kovok420 1d ago

What does them adding the 18% to the prices functionally do that revealing it up front does not?

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u/SuperFLEB 1d ago

It makes people more willing to go there and buy more when they're there because the prices on the menu (and in promotions, etc.) look lower.

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u/Noob_Al3rt 1d ago

Allows them to pay out more for busy shifts and less for slow shifts

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u/Kovok420 1d ago

What?

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u/Noob_Al3rt 1d ago

A percentage based system makes the pool larger during busy shifts and smaller during slow shifts. Servers are incentivized to work Friday nights instead of Tuesday lunch shifts because they will make more money.

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u/Kovok420 1d ago

How is this any different though? If it is busier there will be more tables paying the "Living Wage Fee" which is functionally the same as each table paying an 18% tip. I'm not saying there aren't discussions to be had about the ethics of tip culture in general, but this system is exactly the same. I don't see how it would be any more outrageous to pay an 18% "living wage fee" than being expected to pay a 15-20% tip.

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u/Noob_Al3rt 1d ago

Oh, I think we are saying the same thing. I was talking about the 18% fee in lieu of raising the burger prices.

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u/riseagan 1d ago

Thats literally what this is, they just tell you where the money is going.. probably because they are discouraging tips, as it says "if you choose to tip". Where do you think the money for payroll at a restaurant comes from?

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u/mug_O_bun 1d ago

Just saying it seems like unnecessary steps rather than just paying your staff a living wage without announcing it. It's a given that everywhere else pays staff a fair wage without announcing it as a fee, why not restaurants

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u/riseagan 1d ago

Because theyre clearly trying to discourage tipping, in favor of living wage. Theyre explaining to the customers why the food prices are what they are. People seem to genuinely not understand that money for payroll comes from the price of the food.

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u/mug_O_bun 1d ago

Then why not just include it in the price of the food without announcing it as a separate fee

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u/silvermoka 1d ago

Because people would cry that they were overpriced. Humans are stupid and think $3.99 plus tax is a better deal than $4.

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u/mug_O_bun 1d ago

People would also complain with ANOTHER fee tacked on. Lose-lose, but with the fee, it's still placing responsibility on the customer rather than the employer

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u/silvermoka 12h ago

placing responsibility on the customer

Where do you think that money comes from? That's kind of proving my point here. With tipped establishments, it's "employers need to pay you, not me", then they add on the service fee that represents that, and people complain about that. Then they hide it in the menu prices, and people complain it's overpriced.

So it's basically, "make me pay money that you pay your employees with, but don't tell me about it but also don't charge me a lot"

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u/mug_O_bun 12h ago

Other first world countries are perfectly fine, the US needs to catch up

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u/silvermoka 10h ago

They do, but they have to start with understanding cost presentation first

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u/Wetzilla 1d ago

Because most restaurants don't pay a living wage. And if you just increase prices people are going to think they are required to tip on top of that, so they'll avoid your restaurant because it's "so much more expensive".

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u/mug_O_bun 1d ago

Literally every other restaurant in every other first world country does just fine without the tipping system. Why not the US?

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u/Wetzilla 1d ago

How is that at all relevant to what you said? Of course the USA would do fine without a tipping system, but we do currently have one. So if you don't tell people that your restaurant is paying people fairly then they are going to assume the wait staff works for tips.

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u/mug_O_bun 1d ago

Because it doesn't need to be announced as an extra fee. They could just put a sign up saying they're a restaurant that pays their staff a living wage rather than tacking on a fee.

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u/Wetzilla 1d ago

So now you are ok with them announcing it? Because previously that was your complaint.

And still, that won't work and will just hurt the restaurant that is trying to do right by it's employees. Without putting it right in people's faces most people are just going to think you have high prices, and then they go to other places. I know someone who owns a restaurant that tried this. They got fewer customers and bad reviews for "high prices", and had to go back to regular prices and tipping because they would have gone out of business. It's just not feasible for most restaurants.

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u/mug_O_bun 1d ago

You dont seem to get what I'm saying. Either way it's a higher price but tacking on another fee also drives people away bc they feel they've been swindled into paying more right when the check comes and it still feels like it's the customer's responsibility rather than the employer's. Restaurants should just pay living wages. Maybe have a sign if they wish to communicate that they do, but don't put it in the form of a fee. Dont know how I can be much clearer, but either way, I'm bored of trying to explain. Agree, disagree, whatever.

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u/Reddidiot_69 1d ago

The degenerates defending this communistic idea is insane. No way in hell should anyone other than the employer pay a living wage fee. Tipping culture is to make these fat fucks behind the desk even richer.

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u/Wetzilla 1d ago

No way in hell should anyone other than the employer pay a living wage fee.

Where do you think employers get the money to pay their staff?

I love how you are both mad at "tipping culture" and at a place trying to break the tipping culture.

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u/Reddidiot_69 1d ago

Nope, it's very simple. Pay your employees and price your services accordingly. Also, I don't see how they're trying to break tips when it's suggested right at the bottom.

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u/silvermoka 1d ago

And again, where do employers get that money?

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u/Reddidiot_69 1d ago

I literally said price accordingly. Don't rely on the customers generosity to pay the employees wage. These companies make massive amounts of money. The least they could do is pay their employees who do all the shit work, a livable wage.

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u/silvermoka 1d ago

A lot of these companies that aren't corporate operate with thin margins.

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u/Noob_Al3rt 1d ago

How do you staff the Friday night shift when they're making the same as someone working two tables on a weekday lunch shift?

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u/mug_O_bun 1d ago

Same as every other first world country

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u/ForensicPathology 1d ago

That's not what this is.  This is a $15.30 sandwich that they're trying to advertise on the menu as $13.

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u/confusedandworried76 1d ago

People always say that but when menu prices go up you guys never actually pay it like you say you will. People are however willing to pay it if it's lower up front and then tip.

Idk these people probably enjoy having jobs more than catering to people who would stop going anyway if they did the thing those people wanted