Many international fans visiting the US for the World Cup have become frustrated by the culture of tipping servers, telling the BBC that tipping fatigue has set in.

England supporter Geoff Pryor said he understood tipping for good service, but he found it “weird” when buying a bottle of water and “they try to get a tip for doing nothing”.

In the US, staff at some restaurants and bars are paid just over $2 (£1.50) an hour, and they expect customers to tip about 20% of the total cost of the bill so they can earn a living.

Frustrations have also been shared by hospitality staff, with one bar owner telling the BBC that many World Cup tourists have been bad tippers.

  • iamthetot@piefed.ca
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    1 day ago

    makes an hourly rate that’s probably 50% or lower of the minimum wage

    Illegal everywhere in the USA. It is federal law that tipped wage workers must be paid the difference up to minimum wage if tips did not cover that gap.

    • BruisedMoose@piefed.social
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      19 hours ago

      I mean, yeah, but federal minimum wage is only $7.50 an hour. Hardly a livable wage anywhere in the country. The minimum for tipped workers in this town is $6.50 an hour. So at most an employer would need to cover $40 a week under that law.

      • iamthetot@piefed.ca
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        18 hours ago

        I did not claim that the federal minimum wage was liveable. That’s a separate point and convo.

    • Sailor Anarres@lemmy.dbzer0.com
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      1 day ago

      And almost impossible to sue over and get paid not to mention servers don’t have the money for confronting their bosses but sure make excuses for the blatant exploitation.

      • iamthetot@piefed.ca
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        23 hours ago

        I’m not making excuses for exploitation. Servers are absolutely exploited in the US and the laws are dumb as hell. Servers, and everyone, deserves a liveable wage.

      • frongt@lemmy.zip
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        1 day ago

        You don’t need to sue. A couple people with paystubs can file a complaint with the state DoL and they’ll investigate.

        Of course this varies by state and will take months, but it’s not like you have to pay to retain a lawyer.