Waitress says she was paid just 1 cent for 6 weeks of restaurant work
A TikTok user said she took home just 1 cent over the course of six weeks while working as a waitress at a Nashville restaurant.
The 25-year-old service worker, named Liny, shared a video to the social media site last month showing off her paystubs.
The federal minimum wage for tipped employees across the United States is $2.13 an hour. However, in Tennessee, federal, Social Security and Medicare taxes are deducted from earned income. That left Liny with a measly $0.01 from her employer.
It’s unclear how many hours Liny worked across the six-week pay period, and she did not disclose how much money she accumulated in tips within the same timeframe.
However, in the caption of her video, the waitress writes to her TikTok followers: “Tip your servers!!!”
Many viewers bristled at Liny’s demand, with one replying: “It’s not my job to pay your bills. I got my own to pay.” That comment was liked a whopping 10,200 times.
“Blame the businesses you’re working for, not the consumers,” another viewer concurred. “In other countries, they don’t need to tip because they pay a living wage.”
“I’ve easily made $4400 a month being a server. Don’t let those empty checks fool you if you’re serving and making so much more than you get as an hourly rate,” a third person wrote.
However, others disagreed and came to Liny’s defense.
“If you can’t tip go to McDonalds or cook at home,” one supporter stated.
“Y’all did not pass the vibe check. When someone is taking your order and bringing your food, they are providing a service,” a second person added.
Of course, not all servers have faced the same situation. Last month, a waitress at Hooters took to TikTok saying she was cashed up thanks to generous tips. Still, the hours are grueling.
Kristen Songer, who works at a franchise in South Carolina, claimed she bartended for seven hours on a Sunday and made a hefty $408 in tips. Working from 10:30 a.m. Monday to midnight, she made $350, and $190 for a six-hour shift the following day.
The blond bartender boasted that she was tipped $60 by a man who handed over the cash “just for talking to him.”
