Financing

Union Square Hospitality Group's no-tipping plan by the numbers

numbers

$9, $5

The base pay of servers after the plan is implemented, compared with the current base.

75%

The proportion of servers who will see an increase in compensation under the planned no-tipping system, according to Chief Culture Officer Erin Moran.

80 cents

The amount servers at one of the company’s 13 fine-dining concepts currently keep from a $5 tip, according to Chief Restaurant Officer Sabato Sagaria. The rest is tipped out.

12

The number of vacancies USHG’s The Modern restaurant had in its kitchen three months before the company announced it was going to discontinue tipping and adopt a revenue-sharing program that included back-of-the-house staff. “We were in a near crisis,” said Executive Chef Abram Bissell. “It was putting a lot of stress [on us.] It was taking a toll on what we were doing for you [the customer].”

2-3

The number of applications for kitchen jobs The Modern has been fielding daily since the no-tip/revenue sharing plan was announced.

250%, 25%

How much servers’ income has grown in the 30 years USHG has been in business, versus the much smaller increase in the compensation of back-of-the-house employees.

Nov. 18

When The Modern will discontinue tipping. It will be the test ground for all the other USHG restaurants, which plan to make the switch by Jan. 1.

0

The number of tip jars customers will find at any of the 70 or so branches of Shake Shack, the fast-casual burger chain that USHG spun off to the public earlier this year. Meyer said he didn’t allow it and vowed to stop it going forward. The concept has traditionally paid considerably more than the minimum wage as an alternative to letting counter staff solicit tips. That model “gave me the courage” to drop tipping at USHG’s full-service concepts, Meyer said.  

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