As another commenter crudely pointed out with their "not my problem", your boss is supposed to make up the difference between your <$5/hr and whatever the minim

As another commenter crudely pointed out with their "not my problem", your boss is supposed to make up the difference between your <$5/hr and whatever the minimum wage is in your area[1]. Therefore any tips _up to_ your minimum wage are directly subsidizing your boss, even if you end up making a higher hourly wage overall. FWIW, I always tip 20% because that's the society I grew up in, but it always leave a bad taste in my mouth when I'm not exactly sure what I'm tipping for, my wage has been stagnant for several years and all of my own costs are going up. Ultimately it just leads to me going out less, which I think is a net negative for my local service economy. It's hard to justify $20+ for a single meal when I easily can turn that into 4-5 meals at home. [1] https://www.dol.gov/agencies/whd/fact-sheets/15-tipped-employees-flsa https://www.dol.gov/agencies/whd/fact-sheets/15-tipped-emplo...