Bier Markt

58 The Esplanade
http://www.thebiermarkt.com/location/detail/2






Pros: Made mad cash!  The money was amazing.  I've never made this much as a server and I doubt I ever will again.  Christmas was amaaazing!

Cons: You work FOREVER. and ever and ever and ever.  No book offs, no vacation time, Work a split 12-3 then again 4pm - 4am.  I missed weddings, camping trips, birthdays, things I booked off months in advance...

The uniform was a $75 lacoste shirt..  I've heard it's something else now that's apparently a touch sexist and revealing for the ladies.

Tip out was 4.5% pretax total (so decent) but you bus your own tables.

Management was..  variable..  I've met the sweetest people ever, and also some of the most temperamental/borderline verbally abusive ever.
The kitchen was a new level of abusive.  Swearing, name calling, throwing things at servers..
The staff were usually pretty great, but even the best servers start to crack while working 80 hour weeks.

The pit - AKA cocktailing on Fri/Saturday.  You could make a ton, you could get screwed, sometimes you pooled, other times people were kinda greedy.  Separate checks - Bruutal, parties of 30 all up and moving around, demanding separate bills.

Dine and Dash was a little sketchy..  if they can get out of paying it, they will try. If you rang it in, you're paying for it, even if the guest is nowhere to be found after ordering 10 shots.

Overall: If don't mind working until you drop, it's a 9/10, but if work-life balance is what you're after, I would not recommend.

Server asked to pay for a walk out/ dine-and-dash

So you've had a walk out what to do? Don't freak out.

What you need to know immediately:
In Ontario it is illegal for a manager to ask you or force you to pay for the walk out.
Handling the situation sensitively is important. Read below for tips from an experienced server.


First off, whenever I could see the effing idiot runaways anywhere on the horizon - I would leaver the floor and chase them down.   I don't want to suggest anyone put themselves in harms way, and if I ever thought that the dine-and-dashers were dangerous I would  If you feel so inclined. Or get a big burly guy to chase them down.
Obviously, don't do this if you think they're dangerous people. Yelling "HEY! HEY! HEEeeeey!"and chasing them down the street can sometimes result in their conscience clicking in and they'll turn around to talk to you and walk back with you etc. I can tell you it does work, it has worked for me on more then one occasion. Your other tables will likely be very understanding when you return to tell them that your momentary absence was to chase down runaways.

If you do manage to catch them and they say something like " I was just on my way to the ATM to get money to pay" (classic, really bad excuse, especially when an establishment has a debit machine...!?) or use some other form of money fetching excuse to explain their running away - ask them to return to the restaurant with you. If they say they have no money - have no fear - ask them to return with you.
Upon arrival find out what they do have.. a driver's license? A guitar on their back? (how did you think you could run away with a guitar on your back silly young man) A maxed out credit card? A funky hat? Whatever seems valuable to them, tell them that you are going to hold it as collateral. Give them their bill. Tell them you're holding their prized item or important document, until they can pay their bill. Print another copy of the bill and attach it to the item with a note. Store it in a safe place.

ALWAYS involve management. Always. Always. Go get them. They may want to take care of the issue their own way. I would personally never close out a bill and 'take the loss' in cash, especially without mentioning it to your boss.    In my opinion you hurt yourself and all other servers whenever you do that.
Tell your manager exactly what happened and what you did. Some managers in some establishments will right away have the house pay for the bill. However this is a rarity, and let me just talk to those who are considering walking out or have walked out on a bill before. First of all you need to know that walking out is stealing. It is theft. You can call it a dine-and-dash and rationalize that food is essential. You can think it is your way of getting back at 'the man' and hurting an establishment. But really, you need to know just how serious a dine and dash is. In a very high majority of cases you are not harming the establishment you are harming the server. While we would all like to change that, and the point of this post is to encourage servers to force the house to pay for their loss, the reality is that most managers find a way to threaten servers and force them to pay for your meal. Not a discounted version, not a

You are hurting the little guy.


 you need to know how absolutely corrupt   

You need to know.


Almost all managers will imply or directly



There are things you can do.


Thought we'd put up some strategies for dealing with management who ask you to




So where were we? Oh yes, of course. Assholes have walked out on you. You're


Who wants to


It must seem easy to blame the waitress, who was supposed to take payment. The boss tells himself that maybe the problem was the waitress was unattentive and the people would have paid if she had just paid attention and done her job. It gives the boss his money, it gives him somebody to blame, and it gives him a false sense of control. If he punishes the waitress by making her pay, she won't make the same mistake again. Problem is, most likely she made no mistake. 



No, This is illegal. According to the Ontario labour website(http://www.labour.gov.on.ca/English/es/pubs/guide/paywage.php) , deductions can only be made when ;
i) There is a federal law requireing said deduction ie. Canadian Pension Plan or Employment Insurance.
ii) There is a court order, ie. the employee owes money to the government, an individual or the employer
OR
If the court decides the employee owes the employer money, then the employer can deduct the money from the employees pay without the court specifically ordering such.
The amount the employer can deduct at any one time is limited by the Wages Act (http://www.e-laws.gov.on.ca/HTML/statutes/English/elaws_statutes_90w01_e.htm)
iii)"An employer may also deduct money from an employee's wages if the employee has signed a written statement authorizing the deduction. This is called a "written authorization."
An employee's written authorization must state that a deduction from wages is allowed. The authorization must also:

• specify the amount of money to be deducted;
  or
• provide a method of calculating the specific amount of money to be deducted.

An employee's verbal authorization or a general statement ("blanket authorization") that an employee owes money to the employer under certain circumstances is not sufficient to allow a deduction from wages.
Even with a signed authorization, an employer cannot make a deduction from wages if:

• the purpose is to cover a loss due to "faulty work." For example, "faulty work" could be a mistake in a credit card transaction, work that is spoiled or rejected, or a situation where tools are broken or company vehicles damaged;
  or
• the employer has a cash shortage or has had property lost or stolen when an employee did not have sole access and total control over cash or property that is lost or stolen. A deduction can only be made when the employee was the only one to have access to the cash or property, and has provided a written authorization to the employer to make the deduction."

http://www.labour.gov.on.ca/English/es/pubs/guide/paywage.php

Frida Restaurant and Bar

999 Eglinton Avenue West
http://www.fridarestaurant.ca/

Tip Out Policy
3% of sales to the house.
2.5% of sales to the bar.

Tips are given via bi-monthly cheque.

Anonymous Tipster says..."No pretense of giving percentages to the kitchen staff which richly deserve it, the place is struggling and has turned to milking it's servers to account for it. The management really has a tough time here, I suppose, but they do shoot themselves in the foot. A common complaint is labour costs, but they often have two or three on for a night when six people come in to dine. They go for a 'family atmosphere' with the staff, and so long as 'dysfunctional' is put in front, it succeeds... Tips are given via bi-monthly checque; it's very rare to walk out with cash...which isn't so bad, really, just a bit different ... Management thinks they have a good 'system' in place when in fact the chef (who is part owner) is overly controlling over front of house when he's never had to work it. He wants to cut every possible cost but readily gives away free meals for the slightest complaint or praise. His prerogative, certainly, but one hand washes the other. Perhaps even more egregious is the front of house manager, who questions every tiny thing that goes on but lets the big things slide; servers get in more trouble for letting chips slide on the floor off the plate than for showing up half an hour late two weeks in a row. Yelling matches are common. It really is a shame, the place has excellent food and a great concept and atmosphere for customers, but the staff side needs a lot of work."