Catering Tip

MrsMack10612 · October 2012

For the love of all that's holy. I've been following this thread.

NYU - a service charge is not, not, NOT the same as gratuity or tip.

They are completely different. Service charges are generally added to a large group bill because it requires more SERVICE by all of the staff at a restaurant to handle a large group.

xxstardust · October 2012

In Response to <a href="http://forums.theknot.com/Sites/theknot/Pages/Main.aspx/wedding-boards_etiquette_catering-tip-1?plckFindPostKey=Cat:Wedding%20BoardsForum:9Discussion:21ba81b7-b71e-4f27-a6dd-a46254dc54dbPost:d8b81550-07d0-4f17-9c49-b53fc0882be0">Re: Catering Tip</a>:
[QUOTE]Where I use to work we were not allowed to tell customers that the house gets 25% of the service charge. If asked we just said were taken care of. Whatever that means. I'm sure it was the same for the sales person. ---------------------------------------------------------------------------- If that happened in NY, it would be a labor law violation - not certain about other states. However, if you mean that you got 75% of the service charge, and the rest went to taxes, that would be legal. If your employer was lying, that is not the customer's vault -- I think you should quit -- which you did.
Posted by NYUgirl100[/QUOTE]

That's not illegal in NY - that's exactly what happens where I work. The house gets ALL of the service charge. The house then pays us wages. In terms of paperwork, the two are in no way related. It's how my boss FUNDS the payroll, but it's not explicitly spelled out anywhere (in writing or to the customer) that it's what it's for. In fact my boss goes out of her way not to explain it, because people are more likely to book and less likely to complain about the number of servers necessary when it's written up this way and when they believe gratuity is already included. When servers were itemized and paid for directly by the client (we were until about 2 years ago) we were far more likely to get tipped, because it was clear what we were making and that we weren't getting tipped.

The service charge was NOT a gratuity. It was our paycheck, not a tip. And for the record, I posted about my salary predominantly becuse I disagree with you wholeheartedly, NYUGirl. If you really think that making good money is the same as getting tipped - a reward for exceptional service - then I hope you have no desire to receive a Christmas bonus at any point. You already make good money, right? That's just part of your usual salary.

DramaGeek · October 2012

In Response to <a href="http://forums.theknot.com/Sites/theknot/Pages/Main.aspx/wedding-boards_etiquette_catering-tip-1?plckFindPostKey=Cat:Wedding%20BoardsForum:9Discussion:21ba81b7-b71e-4f27-a6dd-a46254dc54dbPost:3e783d17-bfaf-43be-8bb2-de1d2682ad05">Re: Catering Tip</a>:
[QUOTE]Oh please, if the service charge is paid to the server, it is the same as the tip. This is getting more ludicrous. The question is whether it is paid to the servers. <strong>In NYS, it must be.</strong> ETA (possible exception that service charge can include salary -- which could be minimum wage ).
Posted by NYUgirl100[/QUOTE]

<div>Sorry, but you're wrong.</div><div>
</div><div><a rel="nofollow" href="http://www.tax.ny.gov/pubs_and_bulls/tg_bulletins/st/gratuities.htm">http://www.tax.ny.gov/pubs_and_bulls/tg_bulletins/st/gratuities.htm</a></div><div>
</div><div>CN of the link - a mandatory gratuity may be kept by the business all or in part, but it is then subject to tax. Mandatory gratuities paid out entirely to the staff as a tip are not subject to tax.</div>

Callie22589 · October 2012

I've decided to come back and follow this thread again. I looked through y handbook at Applebee's and it was, at least, store policy not to discuss salaries with anyone (both employer and employee). My husband also said that his retail store only allowed manager and employee to talk about wages. Whether or not it is illegal, most companies have policies that state they will not disclose that information, unless it could be for a job reference.

NYU, you say if the service charge goes to pay for the server's time, it should be considered their tip. A tip is additonal to a salary(no matter what that salary is). You were correct in saying that most people assume we would make minimum wage at Applebees. However, nicer restaurants in our town have higher server wages. Does that mean they don't deserve a tip because they make more than minimum wage? Part of your food bill, even at Applebee's, technically goes to help fund the server's pay check(in a roundabout way). Since your food bill goes toward their salary, I guess you shouldn't tip at a restaurant anymore then....at least by your logic.

Labor doesn't just go to the actual labor. It goes to getting the labor there(gas), possibly feeding the labor, paying the labor, paying the taxes for the labor, etc. IT's more than just their salary.

EDIT: One more point I thought of. Whether or not it is illegal to disclose information to a customer, a GOOD manager, who respects their employees and their privacy, would NEVER give out information about their staff like that. It may not be about law, but it is about morals and ethics.

s-aries8990 · October 2012

"Service" charge is for the company to render the "service", not for the servers tip.

As I said, the wages of a person on the waitstaff are completely irrelevant. If someone who makes $2.50/hour did a horrible job, they will not get much of a tip. If someone who makes $1,000/hour did an unbelievable job, they will get a great tip.

And, as I insinuated, NYU, you will probably retain poor service at the restaurants you frequent. I'd watch out for loogies in your food.

s-aries8990 · October 2012

And taxes have nothing to do with it!

NYU, do you live in a cement box? Are you stuck in there? I feel like you have never been in the real world.

abussen · October 2012

Hi All,

I e-mailed the catering coordinator and she said that gratuity is not included in the “Labor” total or anywhere else for that matter. She went on to say that it is something that is up to my discretion.

I did not ask how much each person working makes because I think that would be out of line and honestly not relavent to what I was asking. Simply I wanted to see what other people were thinking of doing or what they had done in the past.

Thanks!

s-aries8990 · October 2012

In Response to <a href="http://forums.theknot.com/Sites/theknot/Pages/Main.aspx/wedding-boards_etiquette_catering-tip-1?plckFindPostKey=Cat:Wedding%20BoardsForum:9Discussion:21ba81b7-b71e-4f27-a6dd-a46254dc54dbPost:5031348e-ae71-491f-83ca-e46d6bcb8e4f">Re: Catering Tip</a>:
[QUOTE]Hi All, I e-mailed the catering coordinator and she said that gratuity is not included in the “Labor” total or anywhere else for that matter. She went on to say that it is something that is up to my discretion. I did not ask how much each person working makes because I think that would be out of line and honestly not relavent to what I was asking. Simply I wanted to see what other people were thinking of doing or what they had done in the past. Thanks!
Posted by abussen[/QUOTE]

Awesome to have that info! I think basing your tip off of the food total is the best way to go. On your day-of keep the money amount changable so if they suck you don't have to give them the full % you initially planned on, or if they go above and beyond to take care of some circumstances that you wouldn't have foreseen, you can give them a bit more.

I'm glad you didn't ask about wages :)

MrsMack10612 · October 2012

Food total is the right thing to go off; that's what our caterer told us. She also said that gratuity normally runs 15-20% of that. Absolutely at your discretion.

KellyBrian2013 · October 2012

Can someone just ban NYU for being stupid? How about dense and annoying? Are those bannable offenses? Because she reached all of them about 470 posts ago.

OP - GOOD FOR YOU for being concerned about making certain that people are tipped appropriately for good work. I'm sorry it wasn't initially included like you may have thought, but kudos to you for working around that.

As someone who used to be in food service, every little bit helped (regardless of my salary/hourly pay)... there was nothing worse than having customers (like NYU is, I'm sure) who thought that we were "paid good enough" because we generally did make more than minimum wage since the restaurant was in an afluent area. We had $200-$300 bills that people would leave us $5 on (to split between the servers, food runners, and bus boys). It always meant a ton when people felt they had good service and tipped accordingly.

Callie22589 · October 2012

Totally agree Kelly! It seems to me that NYU has never had a job where you would rely on gratuity or accept it. I think that totally changes a person's perspective. Op, I am glad that you are concerned about treating the caterer and their servers the right way. You are correct that asking how much they make is out of line and irrelevant. As Kelly said, it is appreciated by someone who used to work in a restaurant. I know catering is a little different, but when I got tips from a table, I did not get the whole thing necessarily. I had to tip out the bartender or table busser. Most people don't know that. I agree with the previous poster about taking money with you that you can add to or subtract from.

s-aries8990 · October 2012

In Response to <a href="http://forums.theknot.com/Sites/theknot/Pages/Main.aspx/wedding-boards_etiquette_catering-tip-1?plckFindPostKey=Cat:Wedding%20BoardsForum:9Discussion:21ba81b7-b71e-4f27-a6dd-a46254dc54dbPost:d5ef1f2b-8b87-4f71-91a7-5778b16d60c9">Re: Catering Tip</a>:
[QUOTE]Abussen, good luck, but with all due respect, you should have asked this question before you signed a contract. At this point, the venue owner has little motivation to say other than what he did. Its like you asked, would you like me to pay your people a double tip? BEFORE you sign a contract, even if you are not comparing prices, he may think you are.
Posted by NYUgirl100[/QUOTE]

NYU, with all due respect, you are clueless about life.

abussen · October 2012

Thanks all and Happy Friday! (well minus NYU)

s-aries8990 · October 2012

In Response to Re: Catering Tip : NYU, with all due respect, you are clueless about life.
Posted by sydaries

Syd, I spoke to both my parents, who have held a number of affairs, and both of them feel this way. I will ask my mom to speak to the event coordinator at her office on Monday, but I suspect my parents know more of the "buy" end of catering, and we are hearing here from the servers end -- and as someone here said, who wouldnt want more money.

This made my day.

KellyBrian2013 · October 2012

NYU, I'm going to put this very simply, so maybe your thick skull will be able to comprehend it. NO ONE ON TK CARES WHAT YOU THINK, SO PLEASE JUST STOP WASTING EVERYONE'S TIME BY POSTING.

lyndausvi · October 2012

All I get from NYU is she thinks servers should not make more than a certain amount of money (although she can't really tell me what that amount is).   Any additional is somehow bad, I guess because they are not worthy? IDK.

However, I do agree with her that everyone should be informed of their situation.   I was in the exact same situation as the OP (labor charge, no auto grat). We tipped additional money (although not the full 20%). Our guests also tipped the staff, without tip jars out.   So they made great money working our event.   I'm okay with that.

Where I worked, it was an autograt.   I NEVER expected more, yet I always appreciated when we did.   Lucky for me we generally did get something additional, even if it was $20.

lyndausvi · October 2012

All I get from NYU is that servers should not make more than a certain amount. of money

I agree with her that everyone should be informated on how their venue works. However, if a venue says graituty is not included in service or labor charge, that should be good enogh information to know you should tip.

xxstardust · October 2012

In Response to <a href="http://forums.theknot.com/Sites/theknot/Pages/Main.aspx/wedding-boards_etiquette_catering-tip-1?plckFindPostKey=Cat:Wedding%20BoardsForum:9Discussion:21ba81b7-b71e-4f27-a6dd-a46254dc54dbPost:a33a2ba3-1b6b-4ce1-9c01-05b74aaf25dc">Re:Catering Tip</a>:
[QUOTE]Totally agree Kelly! It seems to me that NYU has never had a job where you would rely on gratuity or accept it. I think that totally changes a person's perspective. Op, I am glad that you are concerned about treating the caterer and their servers the right way. You are correct that asking how much they make is out of line and irrelevant. As Kelly said, it is appreciated by someone who used to work in a restaurant. <strong>I know catering is a little different, but when I got tips from a table, I did not get the whole thing necessarily. I had to tip out the bartender or table busser. Most people don't know that.</strong> I agree with the previous poster about taking money with you that you can add to or subtract from.
Posted by Callie22589[/QUOTE]

Many catering halls tip out, too. We tip out the kitchen staff.

And ah, yes, NYU - we poor servers don't do any buy-end catering at all. I'm waitressing my own wedding!

Callie22589 · October 2012

Good to know stardust. Wasn't sure about that! Will have to keep that in mind for the future so I will know how to tip properly.

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