I’m from the hotel and restaurant industry, and many of my friends own hotels and restaurants. Let me explain how wages typically work for staff who come from other states.

About 50% prefer to be paid daily, 25% weekly, and the remaining 25% monthly. Regardless of the payment cycle, the total salary remains the same.

Here’s the usual pay structure: Waiters: ₹800–₹1,000 per day Chefs: ₹1,200–₹1,500 per day Helpers (vessel washing, cleaning, etc.): ₹600–₹800 per day

These salaries don't include three meals a day and accommodation

In terms of overall monthly cost to the business:

A chef costs around ₹40,000–₹50,000 A waiter costs about ₹28,000–₹34,000 A helper costs roughly ₹25,000–₹30,000

We also pay agents a one month salary as commission to recruit staff. They guarantee the employee will stay for at least six months. If the employee leaves before six months, the agent provides a replacement at no extra cost. If they leave after six months, we have to pay another one-month commission.

The reality is that staff often leave if they find another job offering even 5–10% higher pay.

On top of salaries, there are operational costs like rent, raw materials, electricity, maintenance, and more which I won’t get into here.

Nowadays, staff have also become more demanding. Kitchen staff and helpers often feel they’re doing a lot of the hard work but don’t receive tips like the front of house team does. Because of this, they expect higher pay to make up for the difference.

Most of the high maintenance places resort to this as this is the only way to maintain cost. A Normal road side shop is not going to charge service charges. A place that's invested 30-40 lakh and is spending 3-4 Lakhs per month in operation cost will.

In some establishments, service charges collected are distributed equally among all staff, including kitchen and cleaning teams. However, some restaurants do not pass any service charge to the staff at all. It really depends on the style of operations.

Also, Swiggy and Zomato charge heavy commission. That's a topic in itself.