Live data from Hacker News

Instacart paying 80 cents an hour because worker received a large tip

workingwa.org

571–580 of 718 posts

Re: Instacart paying 80 cents an hour because worker received a large tip

#571

Earlier quoted context omitted.

It does. Most people I know in SF, including me, don't tip. Waiters here are way more used to it and don't necessarily expect it.

You are simply wrong. It's trivially easy to disprove your several comments about SF tipping culture with a few google searches. Don't confuse the fact that nobody has confronted you for the idea that waiters don't expect you to tip them.

I live in SF. I don't tip, most of my acquaintances don't tip either.

Re: Instacart paying 80 cents an hour because worker received a large tip

#573

More evidence as to why tipping culture needs to die. Tipping fundamentally takes away the responsibility of paying someone for their work from the employer to the customer. In what other business context do I pay an employee of a company I deal with directly outside of the service industry where tipping is common? Wages are a cost of doing business. Pay the worker enough. If you want to still provide them an incenti…

tipping culture has died in part of the country. As another comment pointed out, most people don't tip in San Francisco.

Re: Instacart paying 80 cents an hour because worker received a large tip

#576
post #530

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Tip pooling/sharing is different in a few significant ways, though. First, restaurant staff always know ahead of time if they have to share tips. And their hourly compensation, as ridiculously low as it may be, is never adjusted to compensate for higher than normal tips. And, finally, in most restaurants the tip pool is also split up with bussers, bartenders, and hosts who don't always make tips of their own, but sti…

> And their hourly compensation, as ridiculously low as it may be, is never adjusted to compensate for higher than normal tips. This varies by state. Google "server wage" and your blood will boil. It's illegal in WA, though — servers make standard minimum wage and employers can't take servers' tips.

Yes, minimum wage for servers is lower than for people who don't get tips. But it's still illegal to lower a person's wage below what was advertised because the person got a tip.

Re: Instacart paying 80 cents an hour because worker received a large tip

#577

Earlier quoted context omitted.

> No, it just needs to not treat workers that might receive tips differently: they should have he same minimum wages as other workers and tips should not count as compensation by the employer satisfying minimum wage mandates. Now they're getting minimum wage and I still feel the need to tip. That doesn't fix the problem unless we also make major changes to the minimum wage. > Private employers might then wish to proh…

> Now they're getting minimum wage and I still feel the need to tip. I'm not sure that your dislike of your own sense of obligation is sufficient cause for a legal prohibition on tipping. I think you should be free to tip (though employers should likewise be free to prohibit employees from accepting tips, and should have fewer reasons not to do so than they currently do.) OTOH, I would get behind (and meant to includ…

What sense of "obligation" are you referring to? If it is obligatory then it definitely should be outlawed, because it becomes false advertisement of prices.

Re: Instacart paying 80 cents an hour because worker received a large tip

#578
post #249
post #8

Instacart started out by secretly marking up groceries. Once that game was played out, it seems they started secretly marking down employee (oh sorry, contractor) wages

Frankly I can't fathom how this company is still in business. I live in the bay area and I don't know a single person who's ever used it or mentions it.

I've not really understood the point of grocery delivery other than in cities where car ownership is uncommon. And even there, you can rent a Zipcar once a quarter to stock up on bulky or heavy items (toiler paper, bags of rice or flour etc.) That's what I did when I was a car-less student. For other groceries, especially produce, I prefer to pick stuff out myself. And going to the store myself often exposes me to new products that I would not otherwise have learned about.

Re: Instacart paying 80 cents an hour because worker received a large tip

#579
I've read that similar happens in Guitar Center.

Basically, all floor employees salary is commission based. If you don't get enough commission, they will pay you minimal wage but will get rid of you in several months, otherwise your sale commission kind of "fills" your salary until it gets to minimal wage, and only then starts to increase your wage.

Won't be surprised if most of retail works in similar way.

Re: Instacart paying 80 cents an hour because worker received a large tip

#580
post #380

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Well it should start with you right? Are you willing to never tip again in your entire life? If so, let us know how it goes (or maybe is going?) Or, alternatively, maybe you don't live in a country with a tipping culture. And if so, then tipping doesn't really affect you. People like to tip. I like to tip. Waiters and waitresses like to be tipped. My wife used to work as a waitress and would clear over $300 a night i…

It does. Most people I know in SF, including me, don't tip. Waiters here are way more used to it and don't necessarily expect it.

I for one wasn't aware of a no-tip culture in San Francisco. I would totally not do it provided I was absolutely sure that this culture was a thing.
Post reply on HN