Equity Amongst the Crew

 

Our motto is to “Change the world through better business”. We mean that. It’s the reason we spend more money on higher quality, often local, ingredients. It’s the reason we go above and beyond for our guests, and it’s the reason we try so hard to make this a place worth working for at. With that in mind, we want to make a big change to help EVERYONE working make a living wage. We are putting together a system that will allow the BOH to be included in the tip share. I know this is a scary change but stick with me the numbers look good for everyone.

 

I’ll get into the math in a bit, but first I want to point out the disparity that currently plagues restaurants. On an average shift, the BOH works 28% longer for only 72% of the take-home. This means that if both FOH and BOH work a 10-hour shift FOH makes $100 more. If we all think about it, there’s no way BOH works $100 less hard.  I recently had the FOH ask me to check sales after a particularly rough weekday shift. The FOH all cheered when I said $2,600. Then I walked into the kitchen and was asked by a fellow BOH crew member and when I said $2,600 they just dejectedly said “It felt like it”. BOH busts ass for no reward in the current system. I wish we could just afford to pay more, but we already pay near the limit. Restaurant margins are razor thin, and emergencies happen frequently.

 

The solution we are working on looks like this:

 

Everyone is paid $11/hr.

Every check has a 22% service charge added.

 

The service charge will be split based on a point system. Since the FOH is still the one providing the most service to the guest they will be weighted between 5-6 points. BOH will be weighted between 3-5 points.

 

15% of the service charge will be distributed as hourly to help us cover the $11/hr for everyone. The remaining 85% will be distributed based on the point system.

 

 

Example: This is an extreme example that was a busy day when understaffed up front. Jaye and I helped, and the FOH made a lot more than BOH. These are going to be the most extreme examples because all of management's work goes toward FOH.

 

REGULAR                    Hours               HourlyPay        Total Pay

 

Cook 1 -                       10.6     =          $170                 $170

Cook 2 -                       10.6     =          $148                $148

Cook 3 -                       10.1     =          $141                  $141

 

 

 

Server 1                       9.4       =          $24 + 236   =    $260

Server 2                       9.4       =          $24 + 236   =   $260               

 

 

EXAMPLE OF SHARING          

                        points

Cook 1 -            4.5       10.6     =         $117 + 82  =    $200   

Cook 2 -           3.5       10.6     =         $117 + 63  =    $180   

Cook 3 -           3.5       10.1     =          $111 + 60  =     $161

 

 

 

Server 1            6          9.4       =          $103 + 97  =     $200

Server 2           6          9.4       =          $103 + 97  =     $200

 

 

If you note in example 1 the server worked more than an hour less and made more than $100 more than cook 2. In example 2 you can see the servers still make good money, but so do the cooks.

Example of a more normal day: Sunday with only $4,800 in sales.

 

 

REGULAR                    Hours               HourlyPay        Total Pay

 

Cook 1 -                       11        =           $176                  $176

Cook 2 -                      11.5     =           $207                $207

Cook 3 -                      11        =           $178                  $178

 

 

 

Server 1                        8.6       =          22 + 155   =     $177

Server 2                       8.6       =          22 + 155   =     $177   

Server 3                       8.6       =          22 + 155   =     $177

Server 4                       8.6       =          22 + 155   =     $177   

Server 5                       8.6       =          22 + 155   =     $177

Server 6                       8.6       =          22 + 155   =     $177

 

 

SHARE:

 

Cook 1 -           4.5       11        =           98 + 121          $219

Cook 2 -          4.5       11.5     =         102 + 127         $229

Cook 3 -           4          11        =          87 + 105         $192

 

 

 

Server 1            6          8.6       =           95 + 102  =    $197

Server 2           6          8.6       =          95 + 102   =     $197

Server 3           6          8.6       =          95 + 102   =     $197

Server 4           6          8.6       =          95 + 102   =     $197   

Server 5           6          8.6       =          95 + 102   =     $197

Server 6           6          8.6       =          95 + 102   =     $197

 

 

Now there were only 3 cooks on this day, but we also only sold $4,800. I did quick math and with 2 extra cooks, everyone would make about $20 less. But if we sold $6,100 with the 2 extra cooks everyone would still make over $200. And as FOH you should note it was still 2.5-3 hours less time worked than the BOH.

 

Since BOH does usually work longer hours, the FOH will be able to learn how to prep/clean and come in early or stay later to help with those duties in order to maximize your share of the pool.

 

While we are working on a system to award the best of you over the long term, we aren’t sure yet how it will work. There will be a little room for adding to point totals, but not much. I would like you all to keep in mind that we are paying more out of pocket for this system, and will already (hopefully) be paying better than everyone else in the industry. So this might mean there is less room for “raises” in the traditional sense.

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None of this will take effect for several weeks/months as we transition to using Toast as our point of sale system. 

 

Please let me know if you have any questions. And I’m sure there are concerns, so lay them on me.

           

 

-Ben