Changes to the employer’s tip credit for tipped employees is a hot topic in the hospitality industry as businesses look for ways to maintain compliance and avoid hefty penalties, while keeping labor costs in check.
The U.S. Department of Labor’s Final Rule amends the Fair Labor Standards Act (FLSA) for tipped employees to clarify that an employer may take a tip credit only when an employee is performing work that is part of a tipped occupation and defined it as work that produces tips or directly supports work that produces tips, provided that the directly supporting work is not performed for a “substantial amount of time.” What this means for employers is that they must pay tipped employees the full minimum wage, rather than the tipped wage, when directly supporting work exceeds 20 percent of workweek hours, or a consecutive period of time exceeding 30 minutes. This has hospitality operators reviewing the time tipped employees spend on side work tasks, including dining room and station prep, silverware polishing and rolling, and glass polishing.
Machine polishing glassware and cutlery is 5X faster than hand polishing
Customers question cleanliness if they see streaky, spotted glassware and cutlery. Polishing by hand with a rag is unsanitary and time consuming. With machine polishing, one employee can polish hundreds of glasses per hour using a Bar Maid glass polisher, or thousands of cutlery per hour using a Bar Maid cutlery polisher. Operators see a fast return on investment with reduced labor cost, virtually no expensive glass breakage, and reduced risk of injury/Workers Compensation claims.
“The Bar Maid glass polisher significantly improved our bartenders’ efficiency and speed. It has freed them up from hours of polishing glassware. The bartender was spending 3-4 hours after close washing and polishing glassware, after receiving the Bar Maid this task was done within 30 minutes after closing. Within weeks this machine paid for itself. It has quickly become the single most important piece of equipment that we use in the front of house. If you own a restaurant or bar, no matter how small, I highly recommend this product! If you think it’s an expense you can’t afford, you are wrong… in fact it’s quite the opposite. The time it saves in labor will pay you back 10-fold in less than a year.” – Michael Waring, Moose-AKa’s Restaurant, Denali National Park, AK
Bar Maid offers two commercial duty, portable glass polisher models that use soft microfiber heads to simultaneously polish wet glassware inside and out, while a warm air blower dries glassware and polishing heads. Capable of polishing up to 350 glasses per hour, the GP-100 is suited for high volume glassware polishing by hotels, event venues, restaurants, caterers and glassware rental companies. Polish up to 290 glasses per hour with the GP-3 Mini. It delivers sparkling results with a significantly smaller footprint and lighter weight than the popular GP-100 model. Its space-saving design makes it the perfect size for use in hotel and restaurant bars, wine bars, wine tasting rooms or other “bar top” applications where space is at a premium.
“We used to polish all the glasses by hand until the day I cut my thumb so badly from a half-broken wine glass. I still have a scar from it. With the machine, any staff can do it when they’re free. It definitely saves me a lot of time, labour and effort, and the business runs smoother. It is my favourite piece of equipment.” – Nguyet Dang, owner of Bonjour Vietnam Bistro, Vancouver, BC
Quickly dry and polish clean, wet cutlery right out of the dishwasher with a Bar Maid cutlery polisher. Operators can choose the model that suits their needs based on volume and available space. The high-output CP-7000 dries and polishes up to 7,000 pieces per hour and the compact CP-3000 up to 3,000 pieces per hour. Both have a relatively small footprint that fits most work tables or use the optional CC/CP wheeled cart for easy portability and storage.
Call (954) 960-1468 to learn how Bar Maid glass polishers and cutlery polishers can help you reduce labor costs, while improving sanitation and safety.