How I came to working for this restaurant: I ate there and asked Bangkok Thai Cuisine for an application in September. There was an interview with Danny Vang, the owner, and Rose Yang, his wife as the manager. Rose doesn't even have a management degree, and seems like she only got that job just because the owner is her husband, and luckily she never had to go through the hassle of interviewing for that position. They hired me on the spot and told me they only want to hire someone they can trust. I didn't fully understand what they meant by “only someone they can trust” since they didn't have the finest communication skills, but I only work two weeks when I figured them out. We signed and went through all the legal employment paper works the day before I started and they said those papers will be turn in within 3 months, but I thought that usually it's required to turned in those paper immediately. I didn't get why they're running their business differently because the interview lacked details and precise explanations. On the first day that I started, they asked me to sign another form that claim I'm only here as a volunteer and gave me a long explanation that only left me confused, and then threw all the other paper works away after a week keeping only the Volunteer form. They also clarify to me that I must give them all my tips, and just accept the $7/hr (that's below minimum wage!). My curiosity was answered with another awkward and confusing explaination that their restaurant is a small business and tips won't be satisfying due to why most of their past waitress all quit was because they didn't make enough tips. They strongly tried to convince me that the $7/hr will keep every waitress happy since we are all going to help serve the same tables. I thought that since this is a small restaurant it was a great idea to just work together serving the same tables, but at the same time I had a second thought. If I'm the only waitress plus just the second waitress, Lee, obviously I will make enough tips with the hours I was given. I work only 3 hours during the day and come back to work either another 3 or 4 hour at night. Sometimes I even work the whole day. The schedule was usually 30 hours a week and with $7/hour that only gave me $203 a week. I know for sure with that many hours and if I kept my tips, I would have made more than just that.
An example of how I got rip-off: if I work 3 hours, take 3 hours multiply with $7/hour, and that is only $21.in those 3 hours I usually make about $30-$50 on steady days that I work alone, and on busy days that I work with Lee we would make enough to have almost $30-$40 each during those 3 hours. I spoke to Rose and told her I'll just accept the actual waitress wage and I want to keep my tips by taking care of my own tables, and she only gave me unreasonable excuses to why I should just keep the $7/hour and continue giving up my tips. So, let's just say that for one day I made $40 tips in 3 hours, and they pay me by the hourly wage, then they only gave me $21, and the rest they kept it for themselves. That isn't right. They're not even paying me from their own pockets but used my hard earn tips for their own expenses!!! Aren't tips meant for waitress and that's the reason why waitress wage is the way it is.
All the excuses Bangkok gave me refusing to keep my tips:
(Rose did all the talking and Danny never talks to us.)
1. Rose said, “It's all up to Danny, ” it's not her decision. So she can't do anything even though she claims she wants to let me keep my tips. Danny never talks to us, and Rose is only his messenger, though that's what she wants it to look like, I'm sure she's also behind all this planning along with this scam.
2. They want to keep us employed under the table and was also saying that every other regular business are required to fill out the same employment paper work once every month for each employee. They don't want to pay their accountant extra money to do all those paper work, and also there's another fee to send the paper works they don't want to deal with. She only said “paper works” and I didn't really get what she meant, since she wasn't clear and specific.
3. Told me not to worry, because all the tips will obviously come back to me. She said they don't keep it, and simply said that they used all the tips I made to pay me $7/hour. She makes it sound like her deal with me is all peaches and cream, but I notice they are ripping me off and they may think that they're slick, but really they weren't fooling me.
4. I was told that the second waitress, Lee Yang, doesn't agree with just getting the waitress wage and keep tips. They all think the $7/hour work way better for everyone, since the past waitress weren't successful at tips and assume new waitress won't be successful either. Rose said that her former employee Neng Yang, who has worked for them for 6 years, and herself came up with that idea. Lee and Neng are sisters, so of course they all agree with each other and just want to keep it that way. (Even though Lee was taking tips for herself secretly, she never got caught since she was highly trusted for being Neng's sister.)
5. Rose claim that there's not enough tips to split equally between Lee and I. On days that I work by myself I shouldn't need to spare my tips to Lee if she wasn't working with me, but it seems like even though I worked alone and do change to just keeping my tips, Rose still wants me to split my tips with the Lee, and Rose herself. She said it's all too hard to work things out by letting us keep our tips. I simply explained to her that there's no need to split tips with the person that didn't work with me. I made it clear that if I take care of my own tables, then I deserve to keep my own tips. She told me she'll talk to Danny about it and get back with me, and came back with the same excuses.
6. She said that they don't want to lose profit, so that's why it's a better plan to take our tips and just give us $7/hour, still trying to convince me that that'll make everyone happier. It certainly isn't making me happier, but only pissed off.
7. They tried convincing me that they're already paying me a lot, and since they won't employ me legally, I don't have to have tax taken off of my pay check and get paid cash gives me a lot more. This was another thing they tried to make it all seem like peaches and cream, but I thought it's not right.
8. They set their restaurant title as a “Family Restaurant” and claim that only family members are working. That way they can never get caught even though they hired non-relatives. They just want to keep it that way so they can avoid legal employment tax payments and that way they think they can save more money for themselves. This part is where Rose mentioned again that this is why they want to keep us illegally employed.
How they resigned me: Since I started asking a lot of questions and also told them what they're doing is wrong, they called me, on the second week of working, after I got home from a shift at night and told me I don't need to come in next week or the week after anymore. Rose also mentioned that she caught me stealing tips but it shouldn't be considered as stealing, instead just taking a part of what's rightfully mine. They immediately called Neng's friend, Mai Nou, to replace me. Now I get why in the first place they said they only want to hire someone they can trust. I've been asking too many questions out of suspicions and they feared their secret will get revealed. I'm certainly not happy with how they run things.
The last things I have to say: I kept track of my own tips and also the tips that were earned when Lee and I worked together. I don't know why Bangkok Thai claim that tips aren't good here and also said that their past waitress didn't make good tips, but I certainly made excellent tips and is extremely upset that all my tips were taken away from me in place of a rip-off and cheap wage. I deserve my tips and they have no right to just lay me off since I no longer support their idea of forcing me to give up my tips. The other waitress just puts up with $7/hour since they can take part of the tips for themselves and never get caught since they've worked there longer than I have and already gain more trust. Although Neng Yang and Lee Yang are sisters and shared the same last name with Rose Yang, they aren't related to Rose and never were acquainted to the owner of Bangkok Thai before working there. I wonder if they all even know what they're really doing since service lacks communication and professional skills.
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