How much does a waitress make? Waitresses make a lower than average salary for their work duties. Waitresses depend on daily tips to add to their hourly wage in order to make a living. Wait staff, or servers are employees who work at a restaurant or a bar attending customers, supplying customers with food and drink, prepare itemized checks, and sometimes accept payment for the meal. Male wait staff is called a “waiter” while a female wait staff is called a “waitress” with the gender-neutral name of wait person called a “server”.
Waitress Salary / FRED TANNEAU/AFP/GettyImages
Waitresses duties include taking customers’ orders, preparing tables for customer meals, serving drinks and food, and cleaning up before, during and after customer meals or drinks in a restaurant. Duties for waitresses varies depending on the establishment. In casual-dining restaurants serving basic meals such as soups, salads, and sandwiches, waitresses would be expected to provide fast, efficient, and courteous service. In fine dining restaurants where more complicated meals are prepared, served over several courses, waitresses provide a service emphasizing attentive, personal, unobtrusive treatment at a more leisurely pace. Waitresses may meet with managers and chefs prior to their shift to discuss menu items, specials and any problems overlapping from the previous shift. Waitresses may be called upon to check legal identification when customers purchase alchohol or tobacco from the restaurant, ensuring customers meet the minimum age requirement for these purchases.
Most waitress jobs are part time and have little to no educational requirements, attracting young people to the occupation. Generally food and beverage service jobs are entry level, requiring a high school diploma or less, with the majority of training received on the job or from prior waiting jobs. Servers working for upscale restaurants may require more experience and vocational training. Opportunities for promotion are typically limited in food-serving establishments, with servers leaving to work for better tips at more expensive restaurants.
Job openings for waiters and waitresses are expected to be plentiful through 2018, creating excellent opportunities for jobseekers. Tips comprise a major portion of earnings for wait staff, making competition high for jobs in fine dining and popular restaurants.Average employment growth is expected for wait server positions, with excellent job opportunities sfor food and beverage servers. Employment for wait servers will increase by 10 percent over the 2008-2018.
How much does a waitress make per hour?
A May 2009 Bureau of Labor Statistics report shows the median hourly wages for waitresses was $9.80.
Industry Hourly Wages
Full-Service Restaurants $9.69
Limited-Service Eating Places $8.69
Traveler Accommodation $11.61
Drinking Places (Alcoholic Beverages) $9.10
Other Amusement and Recreation Industries $10.62
How much does a waitress make per year?
The median yearly salary for waitresses according to a May 2009 Bureau of Labor Statistics report was $20,380.
Industry Annual Wages
Full-Service Restaurants $20,160
Limited-Service Eating Places $18,070
Traveler Accommodation $24,160
Drinking Places (Alcoholic Beverages) $18,930
Other Amusement and Recreation Industries $22,100
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