How Much Money Could You Earn as an Olive Garden Server? We’ll Show You the Exact Numbers
Kayy (@kayylaao) raked in over 138,000 likes and some 6,300+ comments on her post showing off her earnings for the time period where she displayed the tickets with tips she received on diners’ cards, along with the cash payouts she earned in cold, hard moolah.
A Peek Into How Much an Olive Garden Server Can Earn in One Night
Kayy begins her video by stating: “How much money do I make serving at Olive Garden? So I’m a waitress at Oliver Garden we only go based on tips. We get $2 an hour but that gets taxed out so we only go on tips so this is me just packing up my apron, pens, server book, my money pouch, a Jolly Rancher of course, and today’s Monday so let’s see what we make in tips.”
Breaking Down the Numbers: A Play-by-Play of Kayy’s Nightly Earnings
“$10, $30, $10, $29, we had a party so this was a 15 top whenever you have over 8 at Olive Garden you have to split it so they gave us $73 split in half we each got $26. I got a $5 tip, a $12 tip, $11 so I made $87 on the card which goes to my bank account, $34 cash, so I made $121 in five hours.”
Deconstructing the Debate Around Olive Garden Servers’ Salaries
Numerous commenters who saw Kayy’s video had differing responses to her clip. One person thought it was crazy for her to be making the amount of money she was earning per hour and in the manner in which she was earning it: “This is insane. Your employer is basically NOT paying you a salary. You work for free. The client needs to pay for food AND your salary. Calling this economy is madness.”
Whereas another person didn’t think she was making out too badly: “$121 in 5 hours isn’t bad if it’s consistent, that’s the same as I make in Seattle if I’m working for $20/hr for a 6 hours shift”
Dissecting the Truth About Olive Garden Servers’ Base Wages
Many commenters were surprised that Kayy’s base wage as a server was only $2/hr, but one person helped to clear up some of the misconceptions that viewers had:
“She gets paid $2/hr but has to make AT LEAST $7.25/hr including tips (federal minimum wage) so if after tips she doesn’t hit an average of $7.25/hr her employer will cover the difference. Doesn’t really matter because almost all servers make well over $7.25/hr including tips. ADVICE: tip your servers in cash so they can declare a lower amount at the end of the night, increasing their contribution from the employer and reducing their taxable income!”
Exploring Real Olive Garden Server Earnings and Salary Statistics
According to the US Department of Labor’s website, it appears that the aforementioned explanation of tipped employees is accurate: while an Olive Garden server might be receiving $2.13 per hour as part of their salary, that’s not how much they’re actually earning.
If the tipped server in question doesn’t receive $7.25 an hour even with their gratuities included, then the employer is obligated to pay them that amount as part of the USA’s Federal Minimum Wage.
When it comes to the average salary for an Olive Garden server, Zip Recruiter writes that folks can expect to make around $15.89 an hour, based on national figures from all across the United States. Location, of course, plays a big role in how much someone is going to earn at the Olive Garden — a server at a Berkeley, California location, for instance, can expect to earn about $4,000 more per year on average than their counterpart in Bellevue, Washington.