How Do you Want To Be Paid?
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.
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.
Replies to This Discussion
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Permalink Reply by Joe Marrocco on
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Lorenzo,
I love this idea. Please keep me abreast of how it is recieved!!
Jay,
The model we use at Kaldi's is as follows:
New hire gets lower salary, equal to most regular barista salaries... just above minimum wage. We then enter this person into our training program. We have a three tiered aproach. Level 1: Aprentice. Minimal time on bar. When on bar, working with a higher level barista. Lots of POS time, customer service training, menu work, table wiping, basic grunt work. Within the first six months of employment we encourage this person and nurture them up to the Certified Barista level. We have three barista trainers on staff (Mike Marquard, Dale Bassham and myself) who will spend a few shifts one on one with these baristas. Then they must pass a written test, write an in depth essay on brewing, demonstrate brewing knowledge and then pass a barista test (which usually takes 3-4 hours). It is after this and ONLY after this that they will recieve a raise, and be eligable for higher positions.
At this point we turn them loose on the machine and they are able to start working toward our third level: Master Barista. This phase of training is left entirely up to the barista and we just check on their status and test them. This level is usually persued by the baristas who see this as a career. We will invest in them as much as they are willing to invest in themselves. This level requires many more hoops to be jumped through, books to be read, tests, et... But, upon completion there is another raise and many more perks to be had.
The difficulty that a lot of us in the industry face is the "train a migrant barista" problem. To invest so much time and energy into a barista that is going to leave is completely irresponsible and irrational. This is one of the reasons we leave the Master Barista level up to the barista. This gives them insentive to stick around, and us insentive to keep them around. We match their investment.
TIPS... We do accept tips in our shops, but this is not pushed at all. The tips are split between everyone on the clock. Everyone plays a role, so everyone gets a cut. I totally agree with your perspective on tips, however. I love it when I go to a fast food restaurant and see the shock on the persons face when I tip them for excellent service. At a restaurant or coffee shop you get the stink eye if you do not tip enough. Rediculous. Paying for the service and the drink/food is enough. Tipping should be reserved for above and beyond expectations service and quality. I do love to tip though.
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Permalink Reply by Chris DeMarse on
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I think that many of these questions and concerns are valid, but some considerations need to be made
1. It is much easier for a roasting based company (take your pick) who has mass production to have sustainable cafes and offers high salaries for qualified professionals. However, in a "indy cafe" setting it is less realistic or sustainable to offer benefits and salary. This is quite a juxtaposition with the high qualifications we set for baristas (which I maintain that we should uphold, by the way)
2. A lot of our assumptions about sustainability in wages are based on the assumption that we deal in high volumes and have a local economy to sustain $4 capps and microlot french presses for $5 bucks. If we operate only out of that foundation in the conversation we instantly negate possibilities for anyone doing less than a couple grand a day.
*side note: Tips were originally established as a way of ensuring quality service by being given before a service or delivery of a good. There has been an interesting shift in tipping practices in the last fifty years to be at the completion of what one percieves to be quality service or goods.
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Chris, what is your definition of "indy". Is it: an independently owned business that is not publicly traded? The way you are talking about "indy" shops is making them sound small, poorly run, barely making ends meet, etc... This is not the way things are. If a company cannot afford to pay its workers what they are worth due to the market, due to cutting salaries to increase the quality of inventory, etc... Then this company cannot afford to be around. The model today is to have 15 college or high school kids pulling 4-6 hour shifts part time, filtering in and out between classes, and going away over the summer months. This is not a sustainable model. We have to hire less people who are more qualified and will receive the proper income they are due. If a shop is making less than $1500 a day, there is no need for more than a couple of fantastic baristas at a time. This model does not exclude the "indies", of which I consider Kaldi's to be one, even though we have a roasting facility and more than one shop... we started with one shop in '94 and are successful. This model will help shops save money in the long run. Less turn over, more consistency, less put toward training new people over and over.
As for the history of tips: Tips were people's ONLY income in the service industry for a long time. This is how one would pay a shoe shiner, bell hop, or server. Now we have wage standards, thus a person's salary is decided upon and the goods and services are a transaction between the ownership and the patron, and the salary of the employee is decided between the employee and the ownership. The tip now is a BONUS! The bonus is a transaction between the employee and the patron that goes ABOVE AND BEYOND the expected salary, due to the fact the employee's service and presentation went ABOVE AND BEYOND the expectations of the customer. This is convoluted by the restaurants that are allowed to pay their servers less than minimum wage on the basis that tips will be culculated into their salary. Coffee shops are not doing this. Coffee shops pay a wage without the expectation of tips, but then add, "Oh, on top of minimum wage you'll also be recieving tips."
We could argue about this 'til we are blue in the face. But, long story short, it's like my grandpa and dad always say, "You get waht you pay for." Or, "You get out what you put in." If finances are too tight to pay employees what they are worth, then we have to find another place in the company to tighten the belt. If we do not, then when we tighten our belts we are choking our biggest assets, great people.
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Joe,
Forgive me for my miscommunications. I would stand with you in agreeing with a large majority of what you said. I actually had a company that wanted me to do quality control and run the cupping program along with sourcing green and wanted to pay me like I was 18 and mowing lawns. I simply told them that I don't agree with their priorities because I believe that it is more important to do things the hard and legitimate way by valuing the highest quality and paying for it from the get go.
However, it's a little unfair for you, in a large city in the midwest, to look down upon the idea that our assumptions about the need for higher wages negate a large majority of small town cafes with an underdeveloped cafe culture. I do understand that some places require more time and effort to develop such an atmosphere, but it would be unrealistic to think that a person such as myself who works at a cafe in muncie, indiana has an option for 401k and paid vacation with cafe i work with.
I know that it needs to change, but there is always someone who has to initially sacrifice to to fulfill the dream of a thriving and sustainable business model that wholistically values the art of coffee preparation. It might mean that we don't open such cafes in places like muncie until we can guarantee sustainability, but then that is sort of a catch 22.
I believe in all the ideals of valuing good work and skill, but I would challenge anyone's perspective who lives in an economic climate that values local sustainability and skilled artisan craft on whether or not they really understand where I'm coming from when I ask these questions, because most people take for granted that not everyone lives in a climate where skill is valued over "price". I simply live in a place of humble means where, at my estimation, 85-90% of the local mindset is "i can get it cheaper at". Ideals are largely fulfilled in diverse economic settings because there is a large enough contingency to meet the artisan niche.
Joe Marrocco said:Chris, what is your definition of "indy". Is it: an independently owned business that is not publicly traded? The way you are talking about "indy" shops is making them sound small, poorly run, barely making ends meet, etc... This is not the way things are. If a company cannot afford to pay its workers what they are worth due to the market, due to cutting salaries to increase the quality of inventory, etc... Then this company cannot afford to be around. The model today is to have 15 college or high school kids pulling 4-6 hour shifts part time, filtering in and out between classes, and going away over the summer months. This is not a sustainable model. We have to hire less people who are more qualified and will receive the proper income they are due. If a shop is making less than $1500 a day, there is no need for more than a couple of fantastic baristas at a time. This model does not exclude the "indies", of which I consider Kaldi's to be one, even though we have a roasting facility and more than one shop... we started with one shop in '94 and are successful. This model will help shops save money in the long run. Less turn over, more consistency, less put toward training new people over and over.
As for the history of tips: Tips were people's ONLY income in the service industry for a long time. This is how one would pay a shoe shiner, bell hop, or server. Now we have wage standards, thus a person's salary is decided upon and the goods and services are a transaction between the ownership and the patron, and the salary of the employee is decided between the employee and the ownership. The tip now is a BONUS! The bonus is a transaction between the employee and the patron that goes ABOVE AND BEYOND the expected salary, due to the fact the employee's service and presentation went ABOVE AND BEYOND the expectations of the customer. This is convoluted by the restaurants that are allowed to pay their servers less than minimum wage on the basis that tips will be culculated into their salary. Coffee shops are not doing this. Coffee shops pay a wage without the expectation of tips, but then add, "Oh, on top of minimum wage you'll also be recieving tips."
We could argue about this 'til we are blue in the face. But, long story short, it's like my grandpa and dad always say, "You get waht you pay for." Or, "You get out what you put in." If finances are too tight to pay employees what they are worth, then we have to find another place in the company to tighten the belt. If we do not, then when we tighten our belts we are choking our biggest assets, great people.
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Chris,
I can relate to your situation more than you realize. I am from small town America. I worked at an "Indy"shop in Cape Girardeau, MO for a few years. I managed it with Robbie Britt, who is now with Zoka in Seattle. We grew, we learned, we had to move on. We have families and bills and that shop could not sustain us. Now, Grace's is closed. It is a sad story. We were invested in on the education and quality side, but not on the financial side. Thus, we could no longer afford to work there. But, without sustainability built in, the shop began to be unsustainable itself. There are tons of factors to this tragedy. But, in my opinion it was just focused on too many things and not streamlined enough. We were spread to thin. The market in Cape Girardeau would definitely be similar to yours. Medium size town, blue collar, thrifty, and totally uneducated about things like specialty coffee. It was a battle to get people into the door. We were not a $1500 a day store. We should have and could have been though. You have to consider markets by their per capita value. How many shops per how many people. If you look at it from this vantage point, in a place like Muncie you may actually have an edge over a market with more saturation. So, take heart... keep plugging away. St. Louis may be a bigger market, but it is still the mid-west, a quality coffee desert. We all have a work cut out for us in this industry, where ever we are.
Anyway, i will also apologize. I may have been a bit defensive about the "indy" thing. We get all kinds of flack for being too "big", and "coporate" even though we are still a tiny company. I'm sorry if I came back too strong.
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no bad blood. I know it's just passion coming out of people who continue to "miss it" in trying to be trendy without substance and not having heart investment in coffee ( just check out the pix of 15th avenue and you'll know what i'm saying) . I appreciate your perspective and do expect a growth in the industry here. I want to see the same realizations of a valued skill and i hope that we can keep pushing to grow without sacrificing in terms of valuing people... really, as much as coffee is great itself, it would be amiss without its quality people. I do also appreciate the maintenance of a grass roots feel despite your company's success... let us all press on as if we are far from reaching our potential.
Joe Marrocco said:Chris,
I can relate to your situation more than you realize. I am from small town America. I worked at an "Indy"shop in Cape Girardeau, MO for a few years. I managed it with Robbie Britt, who is now with Zoka in Seattle. We grew, we learned, we had to move on. We have families and bills and that shop could not sustain us. Now, Grace's is closed. It is a sad story. We were invested in on the education and quality side, but not on the financial side. Thus, we could no longer afford to work there. But, without sustainability built in, the shop began to be unsustainable itself. There are tons of factors to this tragedy. But, in my opinion it was just focused on too many things and not streamlined enough. We were spread to thin. The market in Cape Girardeau would definitely be similar to yours. Medium size town, blue collar, thrifty, and totally uneducated about things like specialty coffee. It was a battle to get people into the door. We were not a $1500 a day store. We should have and could have been though. You have to consider markets by their per capita value. How many shops per how many people. If you look at it from this vantage point, in a place like Muncie you may actually have an edge over a market with more saturation. So, take heart... keep plugging away. St. Louis may be a bigger market, but it is still the mid-west, a quality coffee desert. We all have a work cut out for us in this industry, where ever we are.
Anyway, i will also apologize. I may have been a bit defensive about the "indy" thing. We get all kinds of flack for being too "big", and "coporate" even though we are still a tiny company. I'm sorry if I came back too strong.
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Permalink Reply by Katie Cline on
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With the raise in minimum wage, now our base employees make just under a dollar of the years experienced baristas. I think that's wrong. Also, Charbucks is now hiring at just under .25 cents of the experienced barista. I think that's wrong to the extent of the former. Being a barista and having the skills to make a true cup of coffee is a trade that deserves recogcognition. We've worked hard for our skills and deserve to be paid higher than Taco bell employees who have been there for a minute.
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