Tips & Minimum wage

Many of us enjoy getting out of our kitchen and heading to a local restaurant where it s all done for you No messes no clean-up no worriesright But what about those who serve us They rely - more than you might think - on that little tip you leave at the end of your meal Here s how it all adds up 18 46 There are days when its good and days when it s bad I think lately with the state of the economy it s gone down 18 54 The economy may not be in tip-top shape right now - but for people like Janelle it doesn t matter she still needs to make a living and relies on the cash you leave at the end of your meal Janelle Wolf Supervisor 21 11 We aren t making Minimum Wage What I think about minimum wage is nobody can live on minimum wage nowadays and we re making below that we re depending upon these tips to fill in the gaps so to speak 21 25 In North Dakota and across the country people who work as waitresses and waiters can and often are paid less than the standard minimum wagebut there is a catch Lisa Fair McEvers 28 38 That tipped employee also needs to be working in that occupation where they customarily receive more than 30 dollars per month in tips 28 44 The Peace Garden State s minimum for tipped employees is actually higher more than double the federal requirement of just 2 13 an hour Kim Levine manages East 40 - and says tipping isn t just something extra Kim Levine East 40 Manager 1 03 The servers live off their tips They don t make very much money hourly and they pay their rent they pay their utilities car payments everything off of their tips 1 14 10 servers work at East 40 and Levine says since she and her husband have arrived in Bismarck - the tips for their employees have gone up Kim Levine 2 15 With our clinetele I definitely see the servers making more money then when they first got here 2 21 Making more - and earning a living something Janelle Wolf says none of us must forget when the bill comes 22 52 We all have expenses to pay we all have cars or rent to pay and just like everybody else we re trying to make a living here 23 01 Jason Torreano K-X News By law employers must ensure that the tips employees receive plus the base wage of 4 39 per hour adds up to at least the North Dakota minimum wage of 6 dollars 55 cents an hour In July 2009 the minimum direct wage goes up to 4 86 an hour