Tipping as a Tool for Gendered Exploitation in Restaurants: An Analysis on the Impacts of the Employment Standards Act for Women Serving in Ontario

Contemporary Canadian labour markets are marked by increasingly precarious and unstable working conditions, predominantly found in the secondary labour market (Thomas, 2009). Research indicates that women have been, and continue to be overrepresented in part-time and low-waged workplaces in this market (Vosko, 2006). Contributing to trends in the gendered segmentation of labour is legislation that acts to facilitate differential standards of employment for women. This thesis investigates the Ontario Employment Standards Act (ESA), with respect to its influence on waitresses in Ontario. Interviewing women occupying serving positions about tipping procedures and workplace standards, I argue that gaps in the ESA around protections over tips facilitate industry-wide standards in restaurants that systemically subordinate and exploit women workers in the food and alcohol service sector.