There are two opposing camps: those who want restaurant servers to share their tips with the kitchen staff and those who prefer the status quo. Here are their arguments.
The reality is as follows: servers earn average of $24/hr while kitchen staff are often capped under $20/hr, with $18.58/hr for head chefs and $15.75/hr for specialty chefs. 1
In a video published in the “PROFESSIONAL COOK: for a better future for our profession” Facebook group, it is estimated that 50% of cooks live below the poverty line, and 92% leave the profession after 5 years.
“Conditions for cooks have not improved for 20 years,” said cook and professor Patrice Gosselin in an interview with the Mario Dumont show in 2016.
Patrice Gosselin then revived the debate on tips via social media by proposing a modified bill with two distinct percentages: a percentage of the tip for serving and another for the kitchen. The reaction came quickly, provoking a passionate debate between supporters for sharing and for the status quo.
It should be mentioned that sharing tips is currently possible, but must come from the employees themselves, because Section 50 of the Labour Standards Act prohibits restaurant owners from imposing the terms for distribution of these revenues.
The Association des restaurateurs du Québec (ARQ) is calling for a change to the law to “allow restaurant owners to implement sharing of tips in their establishment or, at least, to be able to initiate discussions and actively participate in its implementation.”
In the other camp, the CSN and the FTQ object to any change that would result in sharing. “A fair and equitable solution will not be found by correcting the salaries of one lower-paid group on the backs of another group,” declared Jacques Létourneau, president of the CSN.
The two major trade unions favour an increase in the minimum wage to break the deadlock.
Confronted with this debate, many interest groups and commentators are proposing the pure and simple abolition of tips. The principle would be that the price of meals is increased to then increase the wages of all employees.
What if the customer’s opinion were asked?
During his time with Mario Dumont, Patrice Gosselin reframed the debate by returning the question as follows: to whom is the customer really wanting to provide a tip, to the server or the cook? 2 “We go to the restaurant for the food,” he reminds us, “and not for the service.”
A SOM survey conducted in September 2017 and sponsored by the ARQ 3 gives us a clue about what the customer wants: 77% would agree with restaurant owners putting in place a mechanism for sharing of tips, while 29% prefer that only the servers benefit…
1 The figures are drawn from the 2016 Edition: 2016 Edition: Annual Salary Survey, conducted by ARQ
3 Survey on sharing tips. http://www.restaurateurs.ca/20170921_sondage_pourboires_fn
Related article: Should Tipping be Abolished or Shared?