Employers are granted legal permission to pay their employees less than minimum wage, with tip compensation accounting for the additional amount. Any well meaning coffee shop will include their bakers, kitchen staff, and busboys in the tip pool as well. This means that the livelihoods of coffeeshop employees relies on a tip pool derived from 1 or 2 dollars on each cup of coffee. Yes, the numbers add up quick, but divided, they disappear.

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