Tips being withheld from servers at Naan On Broughton in lieu of “competitive $10/hour wage.”
November 9 2022
Author’s note: Names have been changed at the request of the interviewees. Interviews have been translated from Hinglish to English.
The management at popular Indian food spot Naan On Broughton located in the historic downtown district of Savannah has been pocketing tips which normally go to the servers. This is a years-long established system that is causing distress to their employees.
In exchange the owner of the restaurant Sharath Kumar offers his employees a “competitive $10/hour” wage. Why would anyone accept such a deal? Circumstances like not having the correct documentation to work combined with a lack of job opportunities and rising costs to name a few.
“We usually pay servers $8 an hour but we will start you off at $10.” Ms. Lopez repeats Kumar’s concluding statement to her after her interview. “Looks like I’ll finally be able to make rent without having to ask my parents for money!” she says, as she’s trying not to move to another city until her contract starts, and a temporary job is just what she needs to make ends meet.
Lopez recalls the manager at Naan On Broughton explain to her curtly “So, the management keeps the tips.” after her first week of work. Lopez was disappointed to see her check was a few hundred dollars lower than what she expected.
“But he is literally the manager who does he mean by management?” she exclaims, frustrated.
The rising cost of groceries, her expensive lease that she cannot get out of, and a lack of better and fair job opportunities are what is keeping thousands of people like Ms. Lopez stuck at a workplace which is exploiting the workforce due to the lack of better circumstances.
These wage trends have been noticed mostly in Indian owned Indian food restaurants, where a sense of false comfort and unity combine to ensure that the owners of these restaurants are able to use the Indian roots of many servers to their advantage. Some servers are catching up to this thinly veiled deception.
“Not giving the workers tips is common practice in India, business owners try to replicate the same system here. (they) Enjoy the advantages of owning a business in America and earning in US Dollars, but at the cost of their workers.” Explains Mr. Pravin a server, with more than 10 years of experience working at Indian restaurants in USA.
It is, to some extent, a relief that not all restaurants serving Indian food are not utilizing these practices to make profits at the expense of their employees.
“The tips are 100% theirs (the servers) to keep, I don’t care if you make $500 or $1000 in a day.” The owner of and occasional chef at Namaste Savannah Loken Chand says while explaining his system of distributing wages. His restaurant is located withing walking distance from Naan on Broughton and is its major competition.
“I made anywhere between $200-$700 just in tips working a double shift.” Says Gupta, an ex-employee at Namaste Savannah when being asked about his average wage trends. To compare these figures, a double shift at Naan On Broughton would only set you up for $120 for 12 hours of work with a 30 minute break.
“It’s just not the American way, the customers would not even tip if they knew the owner (of Naan on Broughton) was pulling this kind of stuff.” Says grill chef at Namaste Savannah, Mr. Steve elaborating his views on tip culture and wages.
Part of owning a business and being a citizen of any country means that you have to follow the rules and not just when they are convenient to you but more importantly when they’re not. Abandoning the rules at the cost of the livelihoods of other human beings will just result in chaos.