The minimum wage in Florida is currently $8.65 per hour, but for waitresses and other tipped employees, it's a different story. They can be paid as little as $5.63 per hour, as long as their tips bring their total earnings up to the standard minimum wage. That's a pretty big difference, if you ask me - can you imagine living on less than $6 an hour?
But here's the thing: tips can be unpredictable, and some days are definitely better than others. So, even though a waitress might make a decent wage on a busy night, they might still struggle to make ends meet on slower days. It's like trying to predict the weather - you never know what's going to happen next.
Now, you might be wondering how this all works in practice. Let's say a waitress makes $5.63 per hour in wages, but she earns an additional $10 in tips per hour. That brings her total earnings up to $15.63 per hour, which is pretty good. But on a slow day, she might only make $2 in tips per hour, which means her total earnings would be just $7.63 per hour - that's a big difference.
