This might be of interest to some Piggy Bank Blues readers, three former waiters from Keith McNally restaurants are suing the high flying NYC restauranteur. The suit alleges that they were not paid minimum wage and/or overtime, and that they had to share their tips with non-tipped employees. Welcome to the club...Keith McNally owns Pastis, Balthazar and Schiller's. Even though I love Schiller's after hours, and Odeon rocked back in the day, I'm just not a fan of the overpriced bistro. But give credit where credit is due, McNally knows how to open a restaurant. You just don't want to work for him.
In all fairness it's not just McNally. The vast majority of city restaurant workers are royally ripped off by owners. For those lucky readers unfamiliar with the NYC restaurant/bar world, it is mostly the wait staff, not the owner, who pays wages for the front of the house. So when the wait staff tips out the bartender, hostess, manager or kitchen it means the owner is paying those people less of a wage or no wage at all. In any other city half of what goes on would be illegal. Well, surprise of all surprises, it turns out it's illegal here as well.
- photo by blaise k via flickr
2 comments:
I've never worked as a waitor..or as an job that received tips...However, I would be extremely frustrated if I had to hand over hard earned cash to other workers because they were making below minimum wage. I hope the waitstaff is properly compensated from this lawsuit.
i hope they are as well, and maybe the crazy restaurant culture will change because of it. their rationale is that the wait staff makes more money in tips, and to be clear most waiters/waitresses in nyc make a decent to very nice living on tips. however, they are also the only ones customers tip, so of course they make more money! and none of it excuses owners not paying the most basic legal requirements for a worker.
it's frustrating for me to work at a place where the owner drives a fancy european automaker station wagon, and pays no wages whatsoever to the wait staff. thank god it's just an extra side job and i'm hardly there, because i'd go ballistic if not...
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