How about a bit of serious discussion about salary?
If we really are thinking about pushing our vocation as a profession then we ought to think about sustainability - for ourselves. The current model for most baristas is that they make a base hourly wage plus tips. As many of you know, tips can and will vary from day to day. This makes it extremely difficult for anyone to budget accurately and really start long-term planning.
I understand that for many of you, thoughts about family, health care, mortgages and such stuff are still relatively abstract and off somewhere in the future, but maybe it's time to start considering this - especially if you desire to make barista your chosen profession and not merely something to do while you wait to do something else - or become a trainer or roaster.
The question is whether or not the base rate plus tips compensation plan works? Can you plan for the future and pay for a house on that plan? Can you afford children and education? That said, are there better salary methods that can help you achieve your goals?
Some restaurants utilize a uniform service charge on all tickets and/or pay their staff a set salary. This, of course, does not allow for the wild swings that a tip-based compensation plan can offer but it does offer a set (and known) schedule of earnings that help you position yourself as one of responsibility (in terms of banks and loans). Can this kind of compensation plan be adopted by the barista world and is it applicable?
One of the reasons I bring this up is because I remember a conversation I had with a barista who had been given a salary instead of the usual base plus tips. He told me, very excitedly, that he finally was able to buy a new car for himself. He was making a livable wage and a steady wage that allowed him to buy something nice for himself and his girlfriend. He was able to join the rest of the world instead of living on its' fringes.
And isn't that what we want for our profession?
I'm interested in discussing all opinions and viewpoints on this topic in the hopes of finding a better way to compensate baristas and help them provide a living wage that allows them a little luxury in life.
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