Restaurant Internal Support Staff Tipping

Internal Support Staff Tipping

A Tip20! original article by Tom Mason

Internal tips are the tips that waiters, waitresses and some bartenders may have to pay their support staff in bars and restaurants. There are many variations of internal tipping, and many combinations of who gets tipped and how much.

Support staff can include positions such as Bartender, Server Assistant, Busser, Bar-back, Food Runners, Expediters, Host, Maitre D, Sommelier, and even management. Tips are given to these positions generally for the same reasons that tips are given by the customer to the server and that is for the help and service provided. Just as there is no law stating that tipping is mandatory there are no laws that internal staff must be tipped as well. But it is done, because like the server waiting on a table hoping for a good tip as a reward for great service, bussers and the like are also hoping for a reward for great service to the wait/bar staff.

Just about every restaurant and bar has a different process for how such internal tipping happens. A general policy if you will. Some variations include:

The honor system – where the servers tip the appropriate support staff based on their income, thankfulness and the level of support they received. This method is the closest to what the waitstaff and bartenders are exposed to with their own tables (with the exception of automatic gratuity for large parties). Consumers leave what they want to based on their level of satisfaction with the service. This method involves the server either handing money to the support staff directly or giving it to the management to disperse later. Honesty of the server is paramount here, but the best tips will generally go to the hardest workers as they work for their tips just as the servers do.

Tip pooling based on the honor system – All of the servers take a percentage of their tips and submit it to a pool where the support staff will divide it based on hours worked. This system relies on the servers being honest about their tips and giving a fair portion to the pool. This system can be troublesome for that reason because there is generally no accountability for each persons deposit into the pool. There is not a good way to track actual tips received because the tips are often cash. Another problem of this system is that it allows for some support staff to ride the coat tails of others, making others work harder for the same money or reducing the tip pool altogether.

Tip pooling based on sales – All of the servers take a percentage of their sales and submit it to a pool where the support staff will divide it based on hours worked. This is similar to tip pooling based on the honor system, but there is more accountability because the sales are trackable and easy math can determine what the server should deposit into the pool. Two main weaknesses to this system are that it does not account for a server who has made poor tips themselves and can take an unfair bite of the servers income and there is a significantly reduced motivation for the tipped support staff to exceptional work. In other words, it takes away the incentive that a tip is usually given for. They will make the same money regardless of the level of work they do, nullifying the purpose of a tip.

Each method has it’s strengths and weaknesses and it is difficult to determine a “best method”. One thing is certain, the support staff can make or break the restaurant. They are a vital part of the machine that make the consumer experience good or bad.

We are very interested in hearing about your companies policies and your stories as servers, bartenders or any support staff member. Please feel free to comment below or join a discussion on this topic in our forum.