Restaurant owners must be able to get involved in the process of sharing tips between the dining room and the kitchen. Otherwise, to close the wage gap between waiters and cooks, they may well have to once again raise the price of plates – which have been rising for a year –, argue several owners interviewed.

With inflation, restaurant meal bills have increased by an average of 10% to 20%, thereby inflating waiters’ tips. However, not everyone is ready to divide the prize pool. However, under the Labor Standards Act, it is the front-of-house employees who decide whether or not they want to share their tips with those in the kitchen, and in what proportion. The bosses cannot intervene.

“The disproportion between the service salary and the cook’s salary has increased,” notes Pierre-Marc Tremblay, owner of Pacini. This is where the issue is. If we compensate by increasing the salaries of kitchen employees, it is the consumer who will pay the costs and the consumer begins to get tired of price increases. »

Better redistribution also remains the most viable solution, according to the Association Restauration Québec (ARQ). Raising the price of dishes in order to pay better salaries to kitchen workers would inevitably end up increasing the salaries of servers, since a higher bill generates a higher tip. Thus, we will never be able to reduce the gap, notes Martin Vézina, vice-president, public affairs, of the ARQ. “It’s a spinning wheel. »

It is high time for the law to change, he said. Bosses must be able to intervene to allow better sharing and facilitate the hiring of kitchen employees, says Martin Vézina.

And for some, being a waiter has never paid so much. “We’re full all week. So, for sure, my servers are making a better living right now,” says Marc-André Jetté, owner of Hoogan et Beaufort restaurant and Annette wine bar. It pays more right now to be a server in a restaurant that works. With us, it pays more. »

“We can’t hide it, inflation is good for servers,” adds Mr. Vézina. Currently, in some establishments, a server can pocket up to $90,000 annually.

Since May 1st in Quebec, the wage with tip – therefore that earned by the servers – is established at $12.20, while the minimum wage (without tip) – paid to kitchen employees is set at $15.25 . In three years, kitchen pay has increased by 21%. The ARQ is not asking for a change in remuneration, but a better balance that would go through sharing.

“Our goal is not equal sharing, but we want to reduce the gap between the two. The wait staff will still save the majority of the tips. In some restaurants, the people in the kitchen receive between 2% and 3% of the tip left by the customer.

Discussions have already taken place with the Minister of Labor, Jean Boulet, on this subject. According to the ARQ, the latter was “listening” and was open to exploring solutions. “In the fall of 2021, I formed a working group with the mandate to propose possible solutions to me on the issue of sharing tips, for his part mentioned the minister in an official statement sent by his Cabinet. The work has brought to light various problems with respect to the distribution of tips and the tip-sharing agreement that could be clarified or improved, given that they present difficulties in application. »

“We are ready to ask for protections to avoid horror stories of owners who take a portion of the tips for the business, adds Mr. Vézina. It is believed that tips should belong to employees. »

At both of Mr. Jetté’s establishments, servers share tips with their colleagues. Aware that this is not the situation that prevails in all restaurants, he too is asking for changes so that the bosses “can get involved”.

“Before, the waiter raised fish at the table, he made crepes Suzette in front of the customers,” he illustrates. The cooks were behind the door and we couldn’t see them. Today, modern cooks talk at the tables and the waiter does much less work in the dining room than in the past. But we remained on the same vision that the cook is the thug in the kitchen, and that the waiter is the one who makes the sale and who must manage the customer. »

According to Pierre-Marc Tremblay, a change in the law “would greatly facilitate the lives of restaurateurs”.

“For a lot of people it’s automatic,” he adds, “but it just takes one or two fiercely opposed servers to be unable to set up tip sharing.” »