Recent Report Gives the In's and Out's of Restaurant Worker Salaries

Recent Report Gives the In’s and Out’s of Restaurant Worker Salaries

Thursday, February 26, 2015 Running a Business Employees, Small Business Management Permalink

Are you a good tipper? Or are you one of those customers who begrudgingly adds 10% to your total bill? Have you ever wondered how much that friendly server makes? What about that chef who prepares interesting and delicious menus? Or that great bartender who makes your cocktail just the way you like it?

PayScale recently published its Restaurant Report that presents a comprehensive picture of compensation for restaurant workers. As you might have guessed, salaries of restaurant wokers vary depedning on job title, location and gender. PayScale pulled data from 15,000 restaurant workers who took the PayScale Salary Survey in the last two years to find out what the people who prepare and serve our breakfast, lunch and dinner really earn.

The report goes beyond salary and working hours stats, it also includes Best Cities for restaurant workers and informative Server Stories that sheds light on customer behavior from the other side of the table. Here are just a few informative findings:

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The average restaurant worker earns a base salary of $9.90/hour, plus $3.40 per hour in tips.
25% of a restaurant worker’s income come from tips.
Most restaurant workers work part-time, working 31.7 hours per week
Bartenders have the second-hugest total hourly pay at $16.30/hour.
Banquet Captains report the highest overall pay ($20.30/hour), stemming from their combined base pay of $12.20/hour and hourly tips of $8.70/hour.
59% of male restaurant workers say they are underemployed, and 58% of female restaurant workers say that they are underemployed.
69% of Head Chefs are most likely to say that they are underemployed while 51% of pizza makers say that they are underemployed.

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So, if you’re thinking of opening a restaurant or bar, I suggest you spend some time reading this report and get valuable insight into the opinions of restaurant wokers. You may pick-up an idea or two on how to make your compensation package a little different.

And, for the rest of us, let’s get over the idea of exchanging money for service — if you receive good service, then tip according to the level of service you received and the size of your group. Remember how discouraging it must be for someone earning $9.90/hour and you tip $1.50 on a $30 tab that you put on your American Express.