I got a job as a Waffle House server that pays $2.92 an hour and now realize why there's a labor shortage

• Amanda Claypool started working at Waffle House once a week to try and understand the labor shortage.
• Claypool was shocked when she realized Waffle House charged her $3.15 per shift for a "meal credit."

As a new server at Waffle House, I earn $2.92 per hour plus tips. Remarkably, this is above the minimum wage for tipped workers which currently sits at $2.13 an hour. But Waffle House is just a side gig for me. When I'm not at Waffle House I'm a freelance writer and strategy consultant.

During a cross country road trip in 2021 I started noticing a rise in roadside restaurants desperate for workers. It made it seem like no one wants to work anymore, so I became curious about what it's like to work in the food industry right now. I started looking for a part-time job.

After searching for a couple months, Waffle House gave me a chance, and I started working there once a week. The money isn't much, but what's shocked me the most about serving at Waffle House isn't the pay — it's the cost of employment itself.

I spend $12.58 to work at Waffle House — each shift

There's no such thing as a free lunch. Not even at Waffle House. Even though I make $2.92 an hour, I'm docked $3.15 per shift for a "meal credit," regardless of whether or not I eat anything. I basically work an hour for free.

The special non-slip shoes I had to buy before my first shift cost me $28. The 14-mile round trip commute to my restaurant comes to about $9.43 in unrealized commuting expenses each shift. Each week around $3.75 is taken out for taxes. These expenses all add up, overtime.

In some ways, I'm paying for the privilege of working at a restaurant.

I make about $75 in tips, on average, during a seven-hour shift as a server at Waffle House

During my first four training-shifts I made $11 in tips. I knew I wasn't going to make much money during those shifts because I was basically helping my trainer run her section. I practiced taking orders, delivered food, and did most of the dishes.

Aside from the $11 that a couple of customers gave directly to me, I didn't get any other tips. But I was ok with that. After all, this was my trainer's livelihood — not mine — and I earned an hourly rate of $12 during that time.

After I completed my training, I was allowed to tend my own tables and keep 100 percent of my tips. In total I've worked 54 full-time hours, spread out across 8.5 shifts, and I've earned about $343 in cash tips. This includes a couple of pennies I found on the floor.

This is my first time working solely for tips and it's confusing

I've worked in the service industry before, but not solely for tips. In America, servers are legally compensated at an actual poverty wage. The justification is that customers are expected to tip the waitstaff. But that's not always the case. Restaurants are supposed to pitch in with a tip credit to bring servers up to an unofficial minimum wage that varies by state.

My pay stubs have shown several different pay rates, $2.92 or $3.13, and $12. It's confusing. I think the $12 was my training rate. Either way, I was told I'll never make less than $11.50 an hour.

Another thing that surprised me about working at Waffle House is that I'm not always tending to customers. There's other work that has to be done too. I have to sweep the floors. Clean my own dishes. And refill the salt and pepper shakers at my tables. But dirty floors and stacks of dishes don't leave tips.

There's a learning curve to serving at Waffle House and its systems are a bit old fashioned – but I don't mind

Orders are written by hand in a ticket book. When I'm ready to call an order in, I stand on a little square box behind the counter and yell the order to the cook.

There's a code for everything. Orders have to be written a certain way and called out using special phrases. After working many shifts, I was still trying to figure out how to properly call orders. Once that's done, tickets are priced by hand — with a calculator.

When I took the job I thought I'd hate it, but it's really satisfying

To be honest, I've always dreaded the idea of being a server. But it's grown on me. I know the names of regulars and they know mine. I like taking their orders and chatting with them.

Believe it or not, I like doing the dishes too. It's really satisfying to clean stacks of plates and realize I've completed a task. That's something I never had working at a traditional 9-to-5 desk job. Your inbox is always full and meetings seem to go on forever. At those jobs, there was never a sense of completion that I get at Waffle House.

I've realized being an employee is kind of expensive nowadays

After almost nine shifts, Waffle House had paid me about $320 post-taxes. When I added that to my tips it came to a little over $660 — or $12.24 an hour.

But when you factor in the costs of employment — my startup costs, the commute, taxes, and my shift meal – my hourly rate is much lower. The amount of cash I actually have on hand is closer to $9 per hour, not $12.

Low wages is why employers are struggling to find workers

My Waffle House coworkers are some of the hardest working people I've ever met. They've worked there for many years and they love their jobs. But I'm fortunate that Waffle House isn't the source of my livelihood.

I became a server because I was curious. I got tired of listening to people trying to tell me what the labor shortage is all about without experiencing it for themselves. Based on how much I've made in tips, I think some jobs just cost more to show up to than they're actually worth to work.