IHOP will adjust wages based on tips, they try to equal it out to minimum wage. My wife lasted about 3 weeks there. It was also by far the hardest I've ever seen her work, and for context we met in the Army.

I think I finally understand why my former very blue-collar coworkers would never leave a tip when we went out for lunch. I guess they had better information on the local businesses.

A lot of places' wait staff can make fairly decent money. They will usually make below minimum wage, but they often come out way ahead. So at some level, most businesses where you're expected to tip are using tips to subsidize wages. But there are some who take it to the next level, like IHOP or Instacart.

My mom was a waitress most of my life and made decent money, so I always tip 20-25% and a minimum of $5 unless I get extra shitty service. Depending on where you and your coworkers ate at, I would say they were just cheap asses.

No, that’s just rude (given that the tipping culture still exists). If they really wanted to show solidarity they’d leave cash tips, which their server could then forget to report.

I wonder how well using cash tips could solve the problem. I know there are restaurants where servers are required to turn in any cash tips. If a server "forgets to report" and always has far less tips than his/her co-workers, I imagine that he/she would simply be replaced for someone else that does earn tips to report. The employer could say the lack of tips is indicative of poor performance, too.

Most resturants ask you to claim your tips when cashing out, but most just fudge it. They arent going to go through the waiters pockets, as tips are their money and disclosed only to the government. It gets tricky because they try to be the middleman. Just tip cash.

It's an expected business structure in every state where the tipped minimum wage is below actual minimum wage.