Most bars are well-oiled machines, running smoothly thanks to experienced employees.
However, large private parties can throw off a workplace’s rhythm. One bartender says she watched it happen herself.
A union question: ‘They have to be included’
Las Vegas bartender Marti (@martiii_soulll) shares a video about a happy hour visit with her husband. Her video has more than 9,000 views.
Marti says she and her husband decided to go back to a restaurant they had visited once before, in large part because of a bartender who had been “absolutely wonderful.” But this time, the lounge was roped off.
“It must’ve been for a buyout for a company, for a convention,” Marti says. “The whole bar was packed … so we go to the back bar … I find two seats.”
Marti says a guest from the buyout came up and asked a bartender for drinks. The bartender told the guest that a server would handle the order. Marti, who says she had only worked in union venues, took it as a sign.
“If there’s a buyout … any employee serves someone from that buyout, they have to be included,” she says, referencing her experience with union rules.
She says she asked whether the restaurant was union. The bartender, who had worked there for 16 years, said no.
Then, the bar began to shrink.
‘They’ve completely taken over the bar top’
“I noticed … these guys in suits, who work for the restaurant, start taking away seats from the bar as people are leaving,” Marti says. “They extend the ropes that are for the buyout to include those two seats. Eventually … they’ve completely taken over the bar top and taken all their seats away from the bar, and now the bartenders have been asked to serve the guests for the buyout.”
Marti says she checked in on the bartenders and asked if they had automatic gratuity, or “autograt.” Unfortunately, it seemed like that wasn’t the case.
“They’re both like, no, we’re just kind of screwed, I guess,” Marti says. “Me and my husband end up giving them some cash to … try and spread around their bar to see if people will tip.”
She wasn’t successful. As she says, “the reality is most people … nowadays don’t have cash on them.”
“We ended up taking good care of them on our tab to try and make up for it,” Marti says. “But obviously that’s not gonna make up for their entire bar being taken over for like an hour.”
Marti concluded her video by saying that management needs “to take care of [their] employees to keep them happy.”
What exactly is a restaurant buyout?
A buyout is generally a private event that literally “buys out” a whole venue. Loyalist explains it as “the rental of an entire venue to one host for a private event.” For example, a restaurant would close itself to the public for an evening, and that night’s revenue would be a figure negotiated up front rather than one dependent upon what walk-ins would spend individually.
But Marti was asking about automatic gratuities—so what are they?
“Autograts” are usually not tips in the legal sense. Webstaurant says that while tips are voluntary, “automatic gratuity is a service charge,” which means “the amount is predetermined and considered a fee, so the customer is legally obligated to pay it.”
“In the past, automatic gratuities often ensured adequate compensation for a server when handling a large party,” Webstaurant writes. “A table of this size could want to split their bill, and as a result, confusion or miscalculation could arise and leave the server improperly tipped.”
Nevada, however, has its own tip rules. The state Labor Commissioner’s FAQ says employers may not take tips. Employers cannot count tips toward minimum wage, which has been $12 an hour since July 1, 2024. The FAQ also states employers may require mandatory tip pools that include employees of different ranks.
@martiii_soulll
Subplot News reached out to Marti via TikTok comment.
