https://i.redd.it/qs5qodgb8tge1.jpeg
created by Over_Knowledge_1114 on 02/02/2025 at 23:25 UTC
500 upvotes, 76 top-level comments (showing 25)
Can anyone confirm what they actually make? Seems wild that Bruster's can charge $5 for a single scoop of ice cream but can't afford to pay $7.25 for an hour of work.
Comment by shoegazeweedbed at 02/02/2025 at 23:40 UTC
429 upvotes, 0 direct replies
this is what we call "the ruling class pitting us against one another"
Comment by hero_of_crafts at 02/02/2025 at 23:29 UTC
186 upvotes, 5 direct replies
If it’s tipped wages, federal minimum is 2.13/hr plus tips to make it to 7.25
Comment by ProfessorElk at 02/02/2025 at 23:32 UTC
233 upvotes, 2 direct replies
That’s absurd to make them rely on tips when all they are doing is scooping ice cream
Comment by Deliciouszombie at 03/02/2025 at 00:25 UTC
90 upvotes, 0 direct replies
and i bet the owner is all "nobody wants to work anymore"
Comment by ednamode23 at 02/02/2025 at 23:44 UTC
86 upvotes, 1 direct replies
Really disappointing to learn this. We enjoyed the occasional Bruster’s. I knew they took tips but never considered they’d be making under minimum wage.
Comment by Sign-Spiritual at 03/02/2025 at 13:12 UTC
17 upvotes, 0 direct replies
Steve is a hard dude to work for. He truly only cares about his bottom line. I crushed my finger and was promised I’d be reimbursed for the medical bills. He says promising things like “you broke your finger working for me the least I can do is pay for the medical treatment ”. Then, like a simpleton, he associated my face with the threat of financial burden and made life hard for me every time I asked about my reimbursement. I quit bc he wouldn’t honor it and I wasn’t in the headspace to be peaceful much longer. He loves money, and those that make it for him. As soon as he views you as an expense, he makes life miserable til you quit.
Comment by HellzillaQ at 03/02/2025 at 00:14 UTC
76 upvotes, 2 direct replies
If you aren't waiting on me at a table, then I'm just getting what I paid for. Owners just wanting tips for their workers is just patrons subsidizing their staff via tipping when they should just raise their prices and pay them a decent wage for scooping ice cream.
Comment by Educational_Win_914 at 03/02/2025 at 01:16 UTC
10 upvotes, 0 direct replies
I worked for Brusters back in Canton Ga. It was my first job worked there from 15-19. I made $5.75 in the beginning and then I was making $9 when I left. I’m now 36.
Comment by lawrencefishbaurne at 03/02/2025 at 00:09 UTC*
54 upvotes, 2 direct replies
Not the braindeads in the comments 😭 y'all having to tip is really a USA problem. We allow these businesses to put us against each other when they could just... Idk pay people fucking normally? Wild ik, and ik lots of people for some reason think people working certain jobs shouldn't make enough money to live, but this is getting out of hand. "THe jOb iS fOr HiGh ScHoOlErS" let us put our critical thinking hats on for a minute. At every "high school" level job... Do only high schoolers work there? "gO fiNd A DiFfErEnT jOb" a different job that would pay about the same or a different job that won't hire because literally thousands of businesses use AI to read applications and set up interviews. Or they just... Don't hire. If you are still buying the "nO oNe WAnTS tO WoRk AnYmOrE" propaganda, you're part of the problem
Comment by AldermanAl at 03/02/2025 at 00:58 UTC*
28 upvotes, 1 direct replies
Tips should be eliminated. Pay people a living wage. Quit paying employees off the backs of your customers. Eliminate all tipping. Raise the minimum wage.
Comment by MediocreDot3 at 02/02/2025 at 23:29 UTC
75 upvotes, 1 direct replies
That shits pathetic and makes me not want to go at all let alone tip someone for scooping ice cream
Comment by NSFWdw at 03/02/2025 at 06:09 UTC
7 upvotes, 0 direct replies
I bet you anything Bruster’s doesn’t know about that sign.
Comment by Diligent_Present_397 at 03/02/2025 at 01:43 UTC
17 upvotes, 2 direct replies
Definitely worked at Bruster’s.. and we definitely make above minimum wage haha it’s just winter time and whoever is working probably wants some extra cash in their pockets.
Comment by thatfaeskatebitch at 03/02/2025 at 01:51 UTC
16 upvotes, 2 direct replies
The same guy owns artisan cakery, I worked there for a time- we weren’t even allowed to keep cash tips and would have to put them in the register to later be split between the FOH staff and bakers that made quite a bit more than us. The whole system was fucked. Not to mention all the dessert was mid and overpriced.
Comment by SillyAd4988 at 03/02/2025 at 08:05 UTC
12 upvotes, 0 direct replies
i have a friend who works at a brusters in north knoxville and makes $10 an hour before tips and with tips normally goes home with $17-$20 an hour on average
Comment by Scorpio-1991 at 03/02/2025 at 05:05 UTC
14 upvotes, 0 direct replies
Forget minimum wage.
A quick Google search will tell you, a LIVING wage (which is just enough to make it) in Knox county is around $19.00 an hour. Minimum wage at $7.25 isn't even half of that.
If you worked 60 hours a week, at minimum wage, you would only make $435 a week, before taxes. Most apartments want you to prove 3× income. Meaning, you can only afford $580 a month for rent. And that's working your life away.
Where are you supposed to live? You could maybe afford one week at a hotel.
We need to do away with that minimum wage number. Any employer that disagrees should be boycotted. By both customers and employees.
Comment by GoldenEclipse14 at 02/02/2025 at 23:30 UTC
23 upvotes, 2 direct replies
I worked there before and can confirm most employees make less than $10/hr but idk about under minimum wage
Comment by TN_REDDIT at 03/02/2025 at 00:19 UTC
7 upvotes, 0 direct replies
My daughter worked there and she enjoyed it and made pretty decent money for a high schooler.
I think they used the tips to offset the hourly wage?
Comment by TakenToTheRiver at 03/02/2025 at 03:18 UTC
6 upvotes, 0 direct replies
Really sad how America has normalized letting companies get away with tricking the public into subsidizing their labor costs
Comment by EarthyNate at 03/02/2025 at 03:34 UTC
3 upvotes, 0 direct replies
Seems like wise companies with high demand and excessive earnings should: redistribute income back to the employees, or reinvestment to increase supply, or (shocking) lower prices.
The "Undistributed Profits" Revenue Act of 1936 didn't last long, but it had the right idea.
(I doubt profits are being diverted excessively at Bruster's, but many businesses seem quick to raise prices and slow to raise wages. Maybe tips help raise wages with price increases? Hmm.)
Comment by hteb123 at 03/02/2025 at 23:47 UTC
3 upvotes, 1 direct replies
I worked there $5.25 hour and and shitty manager gave me the worst hours so no tips sometimes 🖕brusters
Comment by margoembargo at 03/02/2025 at 00:28 UTC
9 upvotes, 2 direct replies
Having worked in the service industry, I've heard plenty of stories about bosses who don't make up the gap between a server's minimum wage and the federal minimum wage when customers don't tip. Don't assume that every boss does, even when it's the law.
I've seen bosses skim tips, deduct credit card fees from tips, even add managers to the tip pool so servers receive a smaller piece of the pie. Most people who know their rights find a different job, but not everyone can jump jobs quickly, for a variety of reasons.
And people tend to give small business owners the benefit of the doubt unless they're public a-holes about it. It's real easy to cheat your workers in broad daylight. Bosses get away with it all the time.
Comment by SilverFoxthePirate at 02/02/2025 at 23:45 UTC
13 upvotes, 1 direct replies
Ok I’m boycotting brusters until they start paying minimum wage (or more)
Comment by chi-ster at 03/02/2025 at 14:07 UTC
5 upvotes, 1 direct replies
This is the most FB post I’ve seen on here yet. Someone posts a picture with no idea if it’s true. Everybody assumes it’s fact, pitchforks come out, business boycott. People with actual knowledge say it’s not true and it’s too late it’s internet fact now.
Comment by return-the_slab at 03/02/2025 at 05:06 UTC
2 upvotes, 0 direct replies
I worked at brusters in Nashville once about a year or two ago. they started me out at $8 an hour and wouldnt give me any hours, i think trying to get me to quit.
