Parasole restaurants dipping into tip jar, taking 2% of wait staff's credit card tips

I am a server in Kailua Kona and I get only 10%on of my tips. They will not give me a w2 form to fill out. Makes me made. I feel for these servers.

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I'll start off by saying that I was a regular customer to some of these restaurants in Minnesota.  After hearing this, however, I will be rethinking that decision.  I believe that this will be the trade off unfortunately for Parasole. 

I strongly believe that this is exploiting low level workers.  As for the argument that if the employees don't like it they can always choose to leave, that is just an ignorant notion.  Employee in these types of jobs often have very little choice in jobs.  Of course, they could find another restaurant where they can make minimum wage again plus tips, but the fact of the matter is that among the employees ranks are those supporting families.  Perhaps young mothers with a few babies to feed and provide shelter for.  Being so young, i am assuming that the average education level is high school.  Choice, therefore, is limited to sucking it up or starting over fighting for hours at another place as I've talked to more than a few servers about in my time.  That is Parosole's internal rational.  Yes, cost may have increased (even as the federal government limited credit swipe fees to 21 cents?), and more customers use cards.  But, as a business weighing your right to profit over your social and ethical responsibilities can, over time, damage your image.  Yet, like many other businesses profit wins over people every time....we remember though.

This may be a trickle down from banks being limited in those swipe fees; traditionally restaurants receive lowered fees as a rider attached to their processing agreement and this may have been eliminated as a result of big banks having to chase profits elsewhere (can you say monthly debit card fees).  However, credit cards eliminate all the problems of getting paid, they pay fast, unlike checks, and their guaranteed (same reason some bars/restaurants take your card to start a tab)  Exploitation of lower level workers, in my mind, is not the answer.  Business should consider these swipe fees a convenience charge for themselves.  To contrast the 25% higher tab argument in Parasole's tweet, SEE! you make more money by accepting them!  Don't exploit your workers to pay for that convenience.

I, for one, will make a conscious effort to steer clear of Parasole's family or restaurants in the future.  That's the only way we, as American consumers, can speak....with our wallets, or refusal to open them.

This is disgusting!  I can't beleive a succusful company is sucking 2% off their servers to fullfill an endless corparate greed for more money.  

As a chef, I can say that I hope those of you who are saying "Oh, it's only a few cents, big deal. If they don't like it, get another job." , here in Texas, minumum wage for a wait person is $2.13 an hour. Let me spell it out, TWO DOLLARS AND THIRTEEN CENTS AH HOUR! And NO ONE is getting an average of $20 a table. The higher priced restaurant, usually the worse tippers. So yea, the places here that do this are screwing the wait staff big time. And all you jerks saying 'boohoo', you might want to watch the movie Waiting before you start mouthing off about this in real life, instead of hiding behind a computer screen.

I have been a full-time server for many years. I have also worked for Parasole for almost 12 of those years as a server/bartender and even a manager/supervisor. My history with the company notwithstanding, this is my general perspective: A server, before implementing this new 2% 'service charge', is already passing down 25-33% of his/her tipped earnings to support staff. This is based off a full-service restaurant standard (food/full bar. much like most of Parasole's dining spots). Additionally, the overwhelming amount of cards used for business dinners/expense accounts/holiday parties is, pardon the pun, tipped. On any given day/night, the likelihood of receiving no immediate cash from a guest is more likely than receiving any at all. Tipped employees, especially those who make minimum wage with no chance for raises, are ultimately getting nickled and dimed. It also trickles down to the staff that gets compensated from these tips. Bartenders, barbacks, wait assists, food runners, and sushi chefs will all get a smaller piece of this proverbial pie. In the end, and after taxes, you would be surprised how much of that 18% credit card tip your server, from Burger Jones, is really going home with. Frankly, whats another two percent, right?

A friend of mine works at Baja Sol in Arden Hills and the employees don't get ANY of their tips. If they are lucky (and the manager remembers or feels that they deserve it), the employees get a $5 gift card to Target once a month.

I hate that hard working, food industry employees are getting robbed of their hard earned tips. But I am happy that it's getting acknowledged; maybe than it will come to an end!

If you don't like it quit. if you don't like it don't eat or drink there. There are still many places that don't do this. The banks and the credit card companies are the ones really making out.   I do think it's interesting that parasole responded to this article by twitter. I wonder if Steve Jobs would have addressed a controversy via twitter. fyi D'Amico doesen't take 2%, and it's great food.

I find it interesting that City Pages decided to pick on Parasole regarding the new tipping policy.   Other restaurants have been doing this for years!!!! 

To all of you, "If you don't like it go get a different job," I ask you...how many of you would be willing to go and do your jobs for one week for no pay? This is roughly how much servers/bartenders will be losing.

It's just another case of the haves dipping into the pockets of the have nots. Greedy employers.

Wish I were a labor lawyer and could comment intelligently but stealing from your employees seems to me to be a crime. As a customer, I tip the SERVER not the RESTAURANT. And as federal minimum wages guidelines are based on the concept of serers getting tips, I wonder what the Dept. of Labor would make of this - does the restaurant now have to pay employees minimum wage since they aren't really getting tips but 98% of tips????

Hope everyone does the right thing and start paying with CASH. Thats absurd!web-privacy.edu.tc

The City Pages should do a hatchet job cover story on Parasole. They are the evil empire. They deserve it, much more than Big E did. The legal but morally questionable stuff they have been doing over the last several decades is appalling. It shouldn't be too hard to write a story like that, nearly every restaurant lifer in this town has worked for them at some point and most hated it.

The point is not how negligible the amount taken from the servers is, but rather that this is an absurd policy.  Gas stations don't change their employees wages daily based on the price of crude oil.  

The scum is floating to the top rapidly.

Just as the rules are limiting the amount banks can charge merchants down from 44 cents to some 22 cents, merchants decide they need to charge their employs a fee.  Where is the logic in this.  It's greed, plain and simple.  Boycott these restaurants.

Just to clarify some of this.  The CC fee a company pays on tips charged to a CC are not really a "cost of business".  The company gains no financial benefit from that tip.  If you all really wanted to be fair in this then the company should be able to force servers to disclose the 2% the company pays credit card companies for the gratuity as compensation as they are paying that fee for the financial benefit of the employee and not the company.

With that said I fully agree with the sentiment of most people here in that this is insulting to servers. I think this was one of the worst moves I have ever seen from a company.  Parasole and many other organizations really would only need to adjust their prices by less than 1% to cover the costs of the credit card fees.  Raising prices by 0.5% is much more publicly acceptable than charging your employees 2%.  Horrible, horrible PR move on the part of the CFO/CEO/COO/Controller/Whoever made this decision; what an idiot.

Landrys restaurants do 1.5% of your credit card tips.

This can't even be legal. If a business has rising costs they can increase their prices, not steal from employees. I can't imagine this change sticking.

Way to screw over the "little guy" Parasole.  Your servers should organize a Strike!

I will never set foot in any of your restaurants again!

It's also perfectly legal for servers to give very generous portions, substitute steaks for toast, and forget to charge patrons for all of their drinks. Incompentent, perhaps, but what do you expect for minimum wage and a portion of gratuities?

I do not agree with what Parasole is doing here but to all the posters who say that Parasole is a terrible place to work, show me a local restaurant group that offers a benefit package that includes health care package and 401k matching? As a former employee who could take the time to nitpick about minor injustices, I choose not to. Look at the bigger picture. So you got fired for drinking at work or stealing a few dollars, that is self inflicted injustice and you basically fired yourselves. They aren't my favorite place I have worked but they did take pretty good care of me and my family for a long time.

There are other restaurants in TC area that are doing the exact same thing. I used to work at Naviya's Thai Brasserie in Linden Hills. They actually took 3 or 3.5% from the servers' total credit card sale .. yep .. total credit card sale and not the credit card tip. Outrageous!

This is just wrong.  If I was working for this restaurant, server or not, I would walk out. These people work their butts off for minimum wage and a lot of them below minimum wage because they get tips, and now some restaurant wants to take more away from them.  Boo!! Bad company, walk out, make them close and lose money!

They are not the only restaurants in the Twin Cities to do this, and certainly not the first. I know the servers at Pyscho Suzi's have been loosing out on $$ for a long time. Tip in cash people and tip 20%!

Atta boy Kip.............screw the employees and pad your own pockets.  You're despicable. 

Why are you guys still talking about this?

You guys really need to include a dateline in your copy. The average visitor steered here by an external link has *no* clue where the story takes place.

I am sure the higher-ups in Parasole's corporate office are hurting. Perhaps they are going to get a smaller bonus and won't be able to afford the luxury items they are accustomed to. Besides, they make the rules, why would they take a pay reduction when they can make the hard working people that make their salaries and bonuses a reality pay? 

It's hilarious how misinformed most of you commenting here really are. First of all, Kip Clayton is not the only "big wig" of Parasole - SHAME on CityPages for not digging deeper into the issue! For those of you "brilliant" people who want to boycott Parasole - go right ahead, maybe Applebee's microwave cooking is more your style anyways! This credit card policy is in place in many restaurant concepts in CA, NY, IL and more - places like Crave, Champps and many more - boycott them too and when all restaurants go to this policy you can go to the local grocery store and make your own dinners (gasp!). Servers choose their profession just as anyone else, if they think it's unfair they are more than capable of going to college, getting a degree, and changing careers. Stop the irrational emotional responses to an issue many of you do not even understand!