CHAPTER X. LIVING CONDITIONS OF WAITRESSES EMPLOYED IN HOTELS AND RESTAURANTS IN BOSTON, CHICAGO, MINNEAPOLIS AND ST. PAUL, NEW YORK CITY, PHILADELPHIA, AND ST. LOUIS. An investigation into the conditions of women employed as waitresses in hotels and restaurants was made in Boston, Chicago, Minneapolis and St. Paul, New York, Philadelphia, and St. Louis the cities where wage-earning women employed in stores and factories were studied. All of the large restaurants and hotels employing women. in each city were included in the investigation, as well as a representative number of the small restaurants employing from one to four women. The following table gives a summary of the information secured by submitting a schedule of questions to managers of restaurants and hotels. About 73 per cent of all the hotels and restaurants employing women in the cities named were included in the investigation. These establishments employed 5,660 waitresses. The largest hotels and restaurants employ men as waiters. This is particularly true in Philadelphia and in St. Louis. Boston has an unusually large number of restaurants and hotels employing women. As to the number of waitresses employed and the wages paid there is little doubt that the information is accurate, as the managers in most cases showed no hesitancy in turning over pay rolls for inspection. In the cities, such as New York, Chicago, and St. Louis, where there is no law limiting the hours of labor for women in restaurants the hours given are fairly correct. In Boston, where there is such a law and where an attempt is made to enforce it fairly, the managers are prone to juggle with "off time" and "actual labor" until the hours are apparently within the legal limit. Waitresses are employed to work in shifts, according to the number of meals they serve, and in different cities there are different names applied to these shifts. Sometimes there are shifts known as “fulltime girls" and "half-time girls," or they are known as "all-day girls," "two-meal girls," and the "noon girls." For purposes of tabulation they have been divided into groups of girls who serve three meals, girls who serve two meals, and girls who serve one meal per day. The number of hours of actual labor per week, the rate of pay per week, and the number of meals included with the pay for each set of girls are given in the table. In the average number of hours of actual labor per week the time allowed the girls for eating their meals is deducted as well as any time during the day they may have "off duty," i. e., time during the day in which they may leave the restaurant entirely. The three-meal girls often have from two to three hours "off duty" in the afternoon, when there is little business being done in the restaurant. The girls serving three meals usually begin work at 6, 7, or 8 o'clock in the morning and work until the corresponding hours in the evening. The two-meal girls work from 9, 10, or 11 o'clock in the morning until 7, 8, or 9 o'clock at night, and they seldom have any time “off duty. few cases where girls worked all night they are included with the three-meal girls. In a AVERAGE RATES OF PAY AND HOURS OF LABOR OF WAITRESSES IN HOTELS AND RESTAURANTS INVESTIGATED IN SPECIFIED CITIES. a Not including 35 not reporting as to hours, wages, etc. In each city it will be noted that the duration of labor for the three-meal girls was very much longer than either of the other groups. In some cases the number of girls serving three meals alternate with the number serving two meals; that is, one week one set of girls will serve three meals a day, and the next week the same set will serve only two meals a day and have shorter hours. Consequently the average number of hours, taking into consideration the long week and the short week, is the same for each set of girls. In St. Louis this system is used more extensively than in any of the other cities, and it tends to equalize the general averages in hours and in wages for the three-meal and the two-meal girls. Comparing the rate of pay in all the cities, of the two-meal and the three-meal girls, it is found quite naturally that the rate of pay for the three-meal girls is somewhat higher than that for the two-meal girls, except in St. Louis. There many of the three-meal girls are employed in the very small restaurants of the city, where they stay all day, with perhaps two or three hours off in the afternoon, and receive a very low wage in comparison with what is paid in the large restaurants. The girls serving three meals usually have three meals per day included with their pay, while the girls who serve two meals have but two meals per day included in their earnings. The girls who serve one meal a day are usually the "noon girls," and they work from 3 to 4 hours each day, averaging 21 to 29 hours per week. They go to work at 11 or 12 o'clock and work until 3 or 4 o'clock in the afternoon. They are allowed to eat one meal at the restaurant, but usually they must come early enough to eat it before the hour of going to work. The number of restaurants keeping open six days only is larger than the number keeping open seven days in the week. The girls who work on Sunday, except those who serve only one meal, usually have alternate Sundays or half Sundays off duty. Of the restaurants employing women there are comparatively few that serve liquor to patrons. The waitresses who work in restaurants where liquor is sold are rather looked down upon by other waitresses, and the excuse that the former give for working in such restaurants is that they receive very much larger tips in these places. The expense reported for the stipulated dress was usually incurred for laundry and is regarded as the only additional expense, unless white waists or a special uniform are required. In most cases aprons are the only stipulated dress required. Since the waitresses in a given restaurant have to wear a certain style of apron the laundry expense is heavy. The data regarding this expense are presented in Table V at the end of this volume. Where there is a stipulated dress in addition to the aprons the fact is indicated in a footnote. In many cases where black only was required there was no stipulation as to what sort of a dress it should be, and a black dress is not generally considered more expensive than any other dress. In very few cases were the waitresses required to eat in a separate dining room from that used by patrons. In very few cases also were rest rooms provided. Inadequate toilet facilities were usually reported only in the small restaurants. Comparatively few restaurants keep open at night, and in such as do, men are usually employed as waiters for the night shift. If the waitresses in a restaurant were required to stay after 10 p. m., it was tabulated as keeping open at night, but even then only 156 waitresses, or 2.8 per cent of the total number, 5,660, are so grouped. It was impossible to get sufficiently accurate information concerning the value of tips received by the waitresses to warrant its insertion in the tables. Reports ranged from nothing to $12 a week, and the average for cities ranged from $1 to $10 a week; but the information 49450°-S. Doc. 645, 61-2, vol 5—13 |