Can you imagine dedicating all your time and health to a job and earning $9.28 for 70 hours of work?
An American bartender experienced this bad incident, emphasizing why severs must live on tip instead of their basic salary.
In a video posted on TikTok, Aaliyah Cortez, who comes from Austin, showed her salary slip after working at a local club for a year.
Notably, her hourly pay is just about $2,13 per hour, so she had to depend on the generosity of customers to make enough to live.
With a total of 70,80 hours of work, based on theories, she could make $150.81. However, the truth would leave many shocked.
On the back of the salary slip, as Cortez mentioned, she only earned a total of $9.28 after federal taxes, social insurance, and health insurance.
Cortez emphasized in her TikTok that customers have to pay tip for servers and criticized the service industry as lacking fair and stable pay.
"Of course, I got tips, but this is what I got for my hourly. This is why you tip," she said.
"There are laws set up that allow tipped employees to be paid under the federal minimum wage, which makes us rely on the customer to pay our wages," Cortez added.
"If I had a good two weeks from tips, my check would be on the lower side. At my last restaurant, my checks would come out to be $0.
"I just wish we were all being paid adequately and consistently. As you can see - by my check - I cannot afford to live off of $2.13 an hour, so I solely rely on the generosity of my customers."
"This is why the US should be like EVERY other developed nation and not have a tip culture. Businesses should pay your wages. Tips shouldn't be a thing," one user commented.
$ 2.13 an Hour!!!! Where is this at? The minimum wage is almost 15$ over here! The second said with doubt.
No mam, your bar/restaurant is getting free labor and that's not ok, another replied.
Blame the business not the customers keeping the business open, someone insisted.
I work in California as a waitress, and 3 months ago I got a $0 check. Asked my boss why, and this is the reason! We live on our tips!!! Another had the same situation as Cortez.
