Working for tips: the precarious choice of many young people

Christian is a 21-year-old boy who spends all day in a supermarket at the expense of what customers give him for his service bagging their purchases.

There are those who give him anywhere from RD $ 35 to RD $ 100.

This is how he manages to accumulate up to RD $ 2,000 on a “good” day, but on the “bad” days he only makes from RD $ 200 to RD $ 400.

“I am doing this to not be in the house or wandering idly. One does this out of necessity. I work from eight in the morning until eight at night,” says this young man who would like to have a job with a fixed salary.

As a Christian, there are many young people in the country who work in different areas just for the tip, without receiving any payment or benefit from the company.

The president of the National Confederation of the Trade Union Unit (CNUS), Rafael (Pepe) Abreu, describes this type of employment as precarious because workers do not accumulate rights in the future.

“You have to correct that. The Ministry of Labor has to be more efficient in supervising this type of work,” says the union leader.

Vicious circle

Both Christian and Abreu explain that many companies “hire” in this way for a period of three months and take them out and then call them again.

This is how they keep that “working reserve pool” of young people always working in these conditions.

Abreu insists that the Ministry of Labor must take action in this situation because many people (there are no specific data on the amount) spend years working without accumulating the right to anything.

On the last International Youth Day, the representatives of the National Confederation of Dominican Workers (CNTD) and the CNUS warned that working for tips employment has been increasing with the expansion of trade, tourism, telecommunications, and banking services.

FEATURES

Precarious work

It is a non-standard, low-wage, insecure job that does not offer protection or allow workers to provide for their families.

Lack of responsibility

Precarious work is a means used by employers to transfer risks and responsibilities to workers.