While US tipping culture will always divide the paying customer, one Austin bartender has taken to TikTok to showcase just how little she gets paid.
Mother Aaliyah Cortez - who has worked at a server at a local sports bar for just over a year - revealed that after 70.8 hours' work, she was paid a shocking $9.28 after federal taxes, social security and Medicare. Watch below:
Cortez went on to show that she gets paid just $2.13 an hour without tips, solely relying on the generosity of the customers.
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“So this is why you should always tip your bartenders and servers, anyone who waits on you or provides a service for you” she said in her TikTok, which was posted back in January 2020.
“Of course, I got tips, but this is what I got for my hourly,” Cortez added. “This is why you tip.”
The mom has also hit out at the service industry and says she just wants to be 'paid adequately and consistently'.
She told Buzzfeed: "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.
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"It’s not right that we have to do this, but I wanted to shed some light on the issue and inform the public about the importance of tipping.
"If I had a good two weeks from tips, my check will 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."
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Viewers have been divided by her video, as one person commented: "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."
Another added: "Tips are optional always have been always will be. The whole iF YoU cAnT tIP dOnT EAt oUT thing is point less we pay our bill that’s it."
"Blame the business not the customers keeping the business open," a third thought.
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However, others were a little more sympathetic, as one person thought: "No mam, your bar/restaurant is getting free labor and that's not ok."
A second added: "The people mad at this are the people who don’t tip lmao."
"I don’t get why people go to restaurants and and can’t leave a decent tip like just go to a fast food place instead," complained a third.
Anish Vij