Server waits on table with small children. They rack up a $60 bill—and now she has to pay 5% of it, while cleaning their mess: ‘Evil people’  

Working in the hospitality industry inevitably comes with highs and lows. But for one server, it resulted in a day in the red.

Content creator Tee (@teelagata) said that she served a table that made a mess. Instead of receiving a fat tip, however, she ended up having to pay 5% of the bill and clean up after her customers.​

As of this writing, her post venting about the encounter has more than 401,000 views.

‘Home Training Doesn't…Exist'

Tee posted a video discussing her frustration with a table she served. In her video, she said that she had to clean up after the group, who brought a messy child to her restaurant.

“I am paying the restaurant 5% of $62.42 to have the privilege to clean all this up,” she said, while panning across the floor. The content creator filmed what appeared to be eggs scattered on the floor of the restaurant. “No ‘I'm sorry.' … No ‘Sorry that this happened.' Not even five [expletive] cents from these people, left with a smirk on their face.”

Tee later explained that the table in her section allowed a child to play with an egg, which left a huge mess on the ground and inside the high chair the restaurant provided them. On top of that, Tee said they didn't leave a tip.

That meant she was going to have to pay out the restaurant using her own money, presumably due to a tip pool. Frustrated, she added that she was paying for the privilege of “cleaning this [expletive] up.”

“Why? Why do people go out if they're not going to have [expletive] manners, man? Like, home training doesn't [expletive] exist,” she added.

In her video's description, Tee told her audience that “There are evil people in the world. Service workers are not your source of entertainment. Eggs are not a squishy toy for your toddler to play with instead of eat.”

‘Talk To Your Boss, Not Us'

In the comments section, viewers told Tee that she wasn't just encountering an issue with her table; she was encountering an issue with management. They reasoned that she shouldn't have to “tip out”—provide a mandatory tip percentage—for a table that didn't provide a tip in the first place.

“Talk to your boss, not us. It's not on us to pay you. It's on your boss,” one viewer said.

Another added, “Your EMPLOYER should pay you.”

A third viewer said, “[Why] are you mad at the customers and not the COMPANY that's paying you like $3 an hour????”

Do Restaurants Really Make Servers Go Red for Tables?

Restaurants can require servers who “customarily and regularly receive tips” to participate in a tip pool. But does that mean they still have to participate when tables don't tip?

It depends on a number of factors. Under the Fair Labor Standards Act, restaurants can pay servers and other staff receiving tips $2.13 an hour, as long as their tips make up the difference. Servers, then, may be asked to provide a small portion of their overall pay to a tip pool if they “regularly receive tips.” If a server such as Tee, however, doesn't make above the federal minimum wage, they are entitled to the standard minimum wage for non-tipped workers.

“If ineligible employees inadvertently are included in a mandatory tip pool, the employer risks forfeiting the tip credit altogether and becoming liable for the full federal minimum wage for every employee,” Sheppard Mullin Richter & Hampton LLP, an international law firm, states in one blog post.

But on a case-by-case basis, servers still have to provide a portion of their income to a tip pool, even if they didn't make money on one particular table. That's because if a server is generally making more than minimum wage, they are not entitled to opt out.

As another important note, restaurants have to distribute tips to other staff members, such as bartenders. Managers or restaurant groups cannot keep employee tips.

Subplot News reached out to Tee via email for more information. We will update this story if she responds.

@teelagata There are evil people in the world. Service workers are not your source of entertainment. Eggs are not a squishy toy for your toddler to play with instead of eat. EDIT: Update posted #hospitality #havemanners ♬ original sound – Tee

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