Bad working conditions in restaurants for kitchen and wait staff are well-known and well-covered in the media across the world. Various articles (see below) have reported strict hierarchical structures in kitchens and restaurant management, rough conversational tones, widespread verbal abuse and bullying, and physical abuse.

High stress levels can also lead to a high consumption of alcohol and drugs, which is common in the industry.

Furthermore, direct and constant customer feedback, intensified by the use of social media, increase the pressure on restaurant managers, chefs, and staff.

Survey on tipping habits of restaurant customers

Bookatable, an online service for making restaurant reservations, asked their users in German-speaking countries about their tipping habits.

34 percent of survey participants said they leave tips because they think waiters receive low wages. 55 percent reported that they pay tips to honour good service. 11 percent of customers prefer not to tip at all, either because they think it is already included in the price, or because eating in restaurants is costly enough without tipping. Restaurant owners were also involved in the survey. According to them, income from tipping has been decreasing.  

Chinese restaurant workers underpaid and overworked

A Toronto-based community organization supporting low income, non-English speaking members of the Chinese and Southeast Asian communities in Toronto, surveyed the working conditions in Chinese restaurants in the city. They found that many workers were paid less than the minimum wage and did not receive overtime pay. Some were also owed wages by employers. Complaints were rare, because according to the report, the typical worker is male, older, immigrant and afraid of losing his job. People with an uncertain and precarious immigration status, and whose residence permits are tied to their working contract, are particularly vulnerable for abusive working conditions. Age, gender, language barriers, and lack of awareness or knowledge about employment standards and occupational health and safety rights also appear to increase workers’ vulnerability to employer exploitation and abuse.

Job segmentation by gender and race 

In the food and beverage sector, employment conditions are often precarious for all workers. However, there are specific segmentation patterns by which white people mainly occupy the most visible jobs, especially in restaurants’ reception. At the same time, women and people discriminated by race work in the kitchen, preparing food and washing dishes. These hierarchies produce differences not only in wages but also in social benefits, training and progress opportunities, and in working conditions. For instance, most immigrant workers rarely have access to a promotion and are trapped in the same job category. Therefore, jobs are often not assigned by skill and experience, but by racial, gender, and migratory status differences.