Tip sharing | “No one in life wants to take a pay cut”

The sharing of tips is a subject that divides the room, both among employees and among major restaurateurs

“Have you ever seen a business where employees pay other employees? Why would I take my tips and divide them with people who have a higher salary than mine? »

While restaurateurs are putting more and more pressure on the government to change the law to allow them to intervene in the sharing of tips between the room and the kitchen, servers, like Diane L., who works in a restaurant establishment Saint-Jérôme, are already gnashing their teeth at the idea of ​​seeing their income disappear if they have to give part of it to their colleagues in the kitchen.

Aged 60, Diane L., a career waitress who defines herself as “a real one”, does not wish to give her full name since she has never broached the subject with the cooks who work with her and fears that her exit poisons working relationships. “You can’t talk about it,” she said.

At the end of the phone, however, she does not mince her words and does not hide her concern at the idea of ​​seeing her boss interfere in the sharing of tips if the government gives her free rein.

Under the Labor Standards Act, it is the front-of-house employees who decide whether or not they want to share their tips with those in the kitchen and in what proportion. The bosses cannot intervene.

The minimum wage with tips is set at $12.20, while the minimum hourly rate without tips – that paid to cooks, in particular – is $15.25. For this reason, this experienced waitress does not see why she would cut her remuneration in favor of employees whose base salary is higher than hers.

In the restaurant where Diane L. works, the servers do not give part of what they receive to the kitchen team. The latter, however, decided to share with those she affectionately calls her “little barmaid” and her “little hostess”.

“I don’t think there is anyone in life who wants to take a pay cut. I don’t want it to go down. »

This kind of reaction does not surprise Victor Afonso, co-owner of the Tapeo and Mesón restaurants in Montreal. “Not being home four nights a week if you make $1,500 in tips might be worth it.” But if that amount drops to $800, will you still find it worth it? “, he asks himself.

In its two establishments, the dining room employees do not share with those who prepare the squid and other tapas. Mr. Afonso nevertheless believes that the people in the kitchen would like to receive some of it. Moreover, during interviews, candidates aspiring to work in the kitchen generally ask about the distribution of tips. If the law changed, would he intervene in this direction? “I’m not there yet,” he replies thoughtfully.

Don’t go to war

At the head of Groupe Grandio, of which La Cage–Brasserie sportif is a part, Jean Bédard, who insists that he does not want to go on a crusade against the government or against indoor staff, believes that a change in the law is required. It would help to improve labor relations. He does not hide the fact that in certain establishments – not the majority – a climate of disagreement currently reigns between the dining room and the kitchen.

And waiters do not hesitate to remind owners that they “don’t have a say”. “Sometimes, we are at the mercy of a few employees who decide to cause us trouble,” he said bluntly during an interview with The Presswith Éric Lefebvre, President and CEO of Groupe d’Alimentation MTY, and Patrick St-Vincent, director of development and relations with the members of the Round Table.

“My mother is a lawyer, you have no right” are all things that managers have heard.

Patrick St-Vincent nevertheless recalls that in several establishments where tips are shared, relations between employees are harmonious.

“We just want a framework for a distribution that would be fair and equitable,” declares Éric Lefebvre. We are not appropriating any funds,” he said.

“Waiters, in good restaurants, are not difficult to find,” adds Jean Bédard. Good cooks are a little more difficult. »

On this subject, Victor Afonso believes that sharing tips could, on the other hand, encourage waiters unhappy about suffering a pay cut to slam the door.

Jean Bédard, for his part, adds that the idea is not to impose a single model everywhere. “There are some for whom it is not viable, sharing tips, because there are not enough. That’s not a one size fits all because otherwise, you will lose your employees,” he admits.

Discussions have already taken place between the Association Restauration Québec (ARQ) and the Minister of Labor, Jean Boulet, on this subject. “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. »