70 hours of work left one US bartender with less than $10 in pay

Economic downturns on either side of the Atlantic have made pay a sore subject for millions of people, and that’s particularly true for service workers in the US.

Hospitality staff can generally expect a low base rate on their hours, with the assumption being that tips will more than cover their living expenses if they do a good job.

The trouble with that theory is that some people just aren’t particularly generous.

If you’re regularly serving tourists, they might not understand the cultural expectations behind leaving tips in the US, either.

Aaliyah Cortez, a bartender from Austin, Texas, took to TikTok in 2020 to share just how poor her pay could be when she was short on tips, with 70 hours yielding less than $10 after taxes.

Ridiculous, right? Well, some commenters on her video struggled to see the problem.

After taxes, social security and Medicare, Aaliyah was left with just $9.28 on her paycheck. (TikTok/@f.aa.ded)

Whilst running through her threadbare payslip, she stressed the importance of “always” tipping servers, and complained that she should be “paid adequately and consistently”.

Aaliyah had been working at the sports bar in question for a year when she uploaded the payslip video to TikTok in January 2020, with the clip showing how she was paid just $2.13 per hour.

With such incredibly low base pay, tips were essential to making it worth her turning up for shifts.

70 hours of work yielding just over $140 is crazy enough, but after taxes, social security and Medicare she was left with just $9.28.

"So this is why you should always tip your bartenders and servers, anyone who waits on you or provides a service for you," she said.

"Of course, I got tips, but this is what I got for my hourly," she continued. "This is why you tip."

"There are laws set up that allow tipped employees to be paid under the federal minimum wage, which makes us rely on the customer to pay our wages," she told Buzzfeed in 2020.

"It’s not right that we have to do this, but I wanted to shed some light on the issue and inform the public about the importance of tipping.

"If I had a good two weeks from tips, my check will be on the lower side. At my last restaurant, my checks would come out to be $0.

"I just wish we were all being paid adequately and consistently. As you can see — by my check — I cannot afford to live off of $2.13 an hour, so I solely rely on the generosity of my customers."

Aaliyah Cortez spoke out about the importance of tipping on TikTok. (TikTok/@f.aa.ded)

As ever, there were plenty of people on either side of the fence.

"This is why the US should be like every other developed nation and not have a tip culture,” said one commenter. “Businesses should pay your wages. Tips shouldn't be a thing."

It’s unclear whether this particular consternation was aimed at businesses wilfully underpaying staff, or at servers stressing that they need tips to survive: “Tips are optional. Always have been, always will be.

“The whole ‘if you can’t tip, don’t eat out thing is pointless — we pay our bill that’s it."

"Blame the business, not the customers keeping the business open," said a third user.

Thankfully, there are some sympathetic souls out there, too.

"No ma’am, your bar is getting free labour and that's not ok," said one user.

Another added: "The people mad at this are the people who don’t tip, lmao."

"I don’t get why people go to restaurants and and can’t leave a decent tip,” said another. “Like, just go to a fast food place instead.”

Where do you stand on tipping culture in the US?

Should bars and restaurants be compelled to pay a decent wage rather than place the onus on their already-paying customers?

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