Dunedin restaurants face pushback over new server pay model – Tampa Bay Times

A Dunedin restaurant’s shift away from tips was supposed to be about “data over drama,” but former employees say it’s definitely been both.The Black Pearl introduced a new pay model for servers. Instead of taking home tips, waiters will receive a flat 20% commission and $1-an-hour wage. Ahead of the change, the restaurant fired some staff, employees told the Tampa Bay Times. Since then, criticism from hospitality workers and patrons pushed the review website Yelp to disable reviews on the restaurant’s page.Owners Zachary and Christina Feinstein, under the company called The Feinstein Group, said they restructured tipping protocols to offer better pay for support staffers like bussers and food runners. The Feinstein Group implemented the pay structure months ago in their two other Dunedin restaurants: the Living Room and Sonder Social Club.Instead of guests choosing the tip amount on receipts, every customer will have a 20% service fee added onto the bill. A server keeps 15% while support staff get the remaining 5%, Zachary Feinstein said. Guests can still add a tip on top of the fee, which would only go to servers.They lowered hourly wages from $8 to $1 an hour for servers to raise kitchen staff pay to…
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