> ... by allowing the employer to pay these other workers
> wages below the minimum wage requirements of this country.
I suspect a majority of posters on this site would support
abolishing the minimum wage altogether, rather than trying
(and failing) to address its unintended consequences with
tip gambits, training wages, and the social burden of those
whose are employable but not yet performaning at MW levels.
Bottom line is: when you take a job, figure out the total
compensation package. If you can beat it elsewhere, go there.
So how do you figure the compensation package on something as nebulous as tips? There is no law (knock on wood) that mandates tipping.
Another unconstitutional law was passed in the '80s that taxed restaurants some additional 8% of their gross because it is ASSUMED that they take in tip income.
It's as bad as their ex-post-facto tax codes under William the Bent.