If you have ever worked in the hospitality industry, you’ll be only too aware of the expectations on you to be friendly toward customers. If you are working back in the kitchen that probably does not exist, but for any front-of-house job in a bar, cafe or restaurant, you know that smiling, laughing at bad jokes and happily answering even the dumbest questions is good for tips.
You are also aware that not smiling, walking away when a customer is rude to you or calling them out if they do or say something inappropriate, will all hurt your tips.
Tipping gives customers power over servers
The longstanding norm, where employers pay relatively low wages because they know employees will gain extra in tips, has allowed sexual harassment of servers by customers to flourish. Tips make up a significant part of wages for hospitality workers. Without them, they may struggle to get by. So, most workers will think twice about doing anything that could harm their tips.
By making servers dependent on tips from their customers to make a sufficient wage, employers give the customer power over the server. A better base wage that reduces the server’s dependency on tips would reduce that power gap, putting customer and server on a more equal footing – one where the customer is less likely to try anything on, and the server is more likely to call out or report anything untoward
If you experience sexual harassment from a customer, understanding your legal options can help you feel empowered to take the action you need.
