Woman shocked after finding 'employee health' charge while looking at restaurant receipt

A woman was left stunned after looking at her restaurant receipt, following her discovery that she'd been charged for ‘employee health’.

You should always check your receipt just in case something is amiss. Usually the water or pre-meal snacks you thought were free were not. This was not the case for Ashley Nicole, who discovered that the extra charge was for something completely different.

Watch her explain below:

Nicole took to TikTok where she shared her reaction to the unusual charge and what happened when she raised the issue with a member of staff.

In the TikTok video she said: “The weirdest thing just happened to me. It’s cold and it’s rainy in LA, so me and my bestie decided to go out to dinner. We go to one of my favorite restaurants.

"This is the Osteria La Buca. It is an Italian restaurant here in LA and I’ve been to multiple times. We enjoy our meal. We get the check, we pay for our check, and as we are like signing the tip and stuff, we notice something.”

Nicole included a picture of her receipt which doesn’t look out of the ordinary initially. There’s some delicious-sounding crispy potatoes and short rib ravioli. But a quick glance under the $42 New York steak shows a 5 percent charge for ‘Employee Health’ which set Nicole and her friend back almost $5.

ashnichole_xo/TikTok

She continued: “Here’s the receipt, and if you notice down here towards the bottom, there is a $4.75 cent charge for employee health.

"Do you see that, a 5 percent charge for employee health? My immediate thought was, ‘What is employee health? What does that mean?’ We run through a couple of options and I’m like, ‘You know what? I’m just gonna ask.'”

Nicole decided to ask the hostess about the charge and it’s essentially exactly what it says on the tin.

She added: “So as we’re like walking out, I go up to the hostess and I’m like, ‘Hey, quick question, just curious. I saw that you guys charged us $5 each, not total for the table, each, both of us, for employee health and I just had to ask like, what is that?’ And she goes, ‘Oh, that’s our healthcare’ and my reaction was, ‘Your healthcare?’ And she goes, ‘Yes, our healthcare.'”

The TikToker was left feeling confused and asked the internet if it’s a common thing.

“I’ve never heard of that before, ever,” she confessed. “And I had to find out – is that normal and have I been living under a rock? Is it a normal thing or is this weird because I’ve never experienced this before and it feels weird, but maybe this is normal elsewhere. "Let me know ’cause I’ve never seen this before.”

The meaning behind the charge shocked Ashley Nicole. CredtI: ashnichole_xo/TikTok

In the U.S. there is an especially big expectation for diners to tip service staff to subsidize the server's low salary.

Since the 1938 Fair Labor Standards Act and further legislation in 1970, employers are only required to pay tipped workers a wage that would total the federal minimum wage when tips were added. The minimum wage for tipped employees (e.g. servers) is $2.13.

Although it may seem odd for restaurant customers to pay for their server's healthcare, it shows just how difficult the healthcare system is for tipped employees in the U.S.

Over 15,000 comments were posted in response to Nicole’s video with a variety of reactions. “I'm sorry but I’m not paying for this,” one commenter wrote.

“Just tax and tip. Healthcare should be covered by the employee. These fees are getting out of hand.”

Another shocked TikTok user wrote: “This is insane. I pay so much for my own healthcare and now restaurants employees! No way. That’s the owner responsibility.

A third wrote: “I don’t even have healthcare, not paying for someone else’s!”