Taking into account tips, restaurant servers today still receive a much more generous salary than that of their colleagues in the kitchen, even if the latter have seen their remuneration increase in recent years.
An employee responsible for table service pockets an average hourly wage of $38.63 (including tips) compared to $21.91 for those behind the stove, according to data collected in October by the Association Restauration Québec (ARQ) . This average difference of $17 per hour therefore encourages the ARQ to continue to campaign with the government to modify the law to allow owners to intervene in the sharing of tips to obtain a better balance between the room eating and cooking.
“The waiters gain from the change because we are in an inflationary period, as the costs on the menu increase, that increases the tip,” underlines the vice-president of public affairs of the ARQ, Martin Vézina. However, for kitchen employees, we increase salaries as best we can. The effort has been made. But every time cooks’ salaries are increased, the gap remains because menu prices increase. »
Under the Labor Standards Act, it is the front-of-house employees who decide whether or not they want to share their prize pool with their colleagues who prepare the plates. Bosses cannot interfere in the process.
While restaurant wages have increased by 25.7% in four years, tips have also increased. “The average hourly tip earned by service employees also experienced a meteoric jump of 40.3%, going from $17.43/h to $24.46/h,” we can read in the press release released Thursday by the ARQ. Increases in the price of dishes on the menu and the tip percentages suggested by payment terminals – which can go up to 25% – explain this increase in particular.
According to the ARQ, the situation “causes a certain frustration in the kitchen due to the fact that catering is team work and that customers leave tips based on the general appreciation of the restaurant’s service, including the quality of the food and, of course, service.”
Discussions have already taken place between the ARQ and the Minister of Labor, Jean Boulet, regarding a possible change in the law. “In the fall of 2021, I formed a working group with the mandate to offer me possible solutions to the issue of sharing tips,” said the minister in an official statement sent by his office at the beginning of the month. of September. The work highlighted various issues with regard to the distribution of tips and the tip sharing agreement which could be clarified or improved given that they present difficulties of application. »
“The Minister of Labor is not closed to our option,” says Mr. Vézina. He should come back to us this winter with an answer. »