Depends on what state you live in. For example, CA requires wait staff to be paid at least minimum wage. Also, many cooks are also receiving minimum wage.
All wait staff have to be paid minimum wage, it's a federal law. If they don't make minimum wage in tips, then the employer has to make up the difference.
Which is a massive pain in the ass to actually track and prove, and employees who do it don't tend to stick around for long. Especially if you (like me) live in an at-will employment state where no reason for dismissal is required.
Left side has an hourly rate that’s almost always less than minimum wage. This is allowed because of the assumed tip income.
This part depends on the state, thankfully. Seems phased out on most of the West coast, to my knowledge. I know it's still pretty widespread in the south.
Being phased out in DC too. That said, the transition period has been rough, many places are now using service fees to cover the costs, which makes sense but the fact that it’s still so inconsistent causes great annoyance.
Then again, so do tipping expectations, what exactly am I paying for? Can I opt out? What legally constitutes a tipped employee? WHY ARE THERE TIPPING OPTIONS AT FAST FOOD PLACES NOW!?
Overall, a clusterfuck that I’m happy to see is dying out, (I’ve also heard that it’s racially and sexually unjust.)
Waiters where I used to work were some of the best paid employees in the place even when including directors that were making 130k+... if they had included all their tip on their paycheck (instead of the default 10% of every bill under their name) they would have ended up getting a 0$ paycheck every two weeks and would have still owed taxes at the end of the year... and that's while making above minimum wage from the get go...