So how do you, folks, feel about the “no tipping and a fixed service charge added to the bill instead” system?
I’m opposed because I have no confidence that any part of that service charge will actually go to the servers. The point of the tipping system, as far as I understand, is to supplement the low wages of the servers. With the fixed service charge, all I know for sure is that I’m supplementing the income of the restorateur when neither the amount nor the quality of food has changed.
Clarissa's Blog 
“I’m opposed because I have no confidence that any part of that service charge will actually go to the servers.”
The same could be said for tips. There have been many high profile restaurants run by celebrity chefs who’ve been caught stealing tips from servers.
This is a bit long but I’ve found it to be the most comprehensive analysis of tipping, restaurant economics, and server-cook relationships that I’ve read. It’s fascinating.
http://jayporter.com/dispatches/observations-from-a-tipless-restaurant-part-1-overview/
Now, let’s say that on a typical shift, a restaurant sells $1000 in food and drink. It would be reasonable that, to make that revenue, a restaurant has 2 cooks who work 8 hours each, a dishwasher who works 8 hours, and two servers who work 6 hours each. We can extrapolate from standard industry models that, of the $1000 in sales, there will be $300 available to cover the 36 hours of labor. It just so happens that this math means that everyone in the house will make $8/hour, which is of course both minimum wage and a poverty wage. But that’s just how the pie divides.
And yet, wait! We’ve forgotten something. There are also 220 extra dollars paid by the guests as tips.
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However, to give the tip money to every worker would be illegal. The law is historically very clear — the $220 in tips belongs to the two servers only, and cannot be distributed to any other employees. So, the two servers make a total of about $26/hour each, while everyone else in the restaurant is stuck at $8/hour.
From the perspective of the business, the cook and dishwasher are just as important to the guests’ experience as the server is. In fact, they may be even more important, particularly if your restaurant’s reputation is based on its food. But, now your cooks are making less than 1/3 of what the servers are making. The cooks’ wage is so low that talented cooks won’t be able to live on it, and they will probably leave the industry. Additionally, no matter what cooks you have, there will be a lot of ill will between the producers of the food, who are well below the poverty line, and the servers, who are making white-collar wages.
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If I thought that part of the service charge would go to cooks and dishwashers, I’d be all for it. Maybe I’m too distrustful but I fear that the workers will see none of that money at all.
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“If I thought that part of the service charge would go to cooks and dishwashers, I’d be all for it. Maybe I’m too distrustful but I fear that the workers will see none of that money at all.”
There is also that. There’s not much transparency in a restaurant, so it’s impossible to tell exactly where that money will go.
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I’m sure that happens at places. But then, restaurants that cheat their cooks and dishwashers, will also cheat their servers. If a restaurant operates unethically, everyone who works there is doomed.
I tip because it’s the right thing to do but I wouldn’t mind a service charge that was distributed more evenly among the workers. As the article mentions, this tipping business can result in parallel economies that do not benefit the customer. You can have situations where a server can make more money in tips while providing shittier service to patrons.
Also funny was the reference to ‘high tipping techniques’ like squatting down to the customer’s level, touching them on the shoulder, drawing smilies on the bill, etc.
I ate at a place recently where the very attractive waitress did all of the above and I distinctly remember being turned off by her touching me. Do you think I’m a fucking mook that can be socially engineered so easily?!
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These techniques can also backfire with people like me who detest being touched, crowded or offered smiley faces.
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Except the servers aren’t always making white-collar wages. It fluctuates daily. Servers also often make below minimum wage and tend to work longer and more unpredictable hours than the other employees. They also tend to have the least job security out of everyone working in a particular restaurant, and they’re the one’s actually working with people (with the exception of places where the cooks will come out to deal with special allergy-free food). If I tip a server, I want that server to get that money based on my interaction with them. If I actually interact with a cook (which is very, very rare — most of the time the manager comes to deal with allergy-free orders), then I might go out of my way to tip that cook. Either way, I make the choice to give something extra to that particular person as a way of thanking them for their service. It shouldn’t be going to anyone else.
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Yes, it’s true that working with people is always very hard and needs to be remunerated well. People are difficult.
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Those are all good points. To clarify, I’m not saying everyone should be paid the same, but the wages could be a little less skewed towards the servers.
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Somewhat related, I have to record my disgust at Europeans who don’t tip in the US. I’ve seen people who’ve been living here for YEARS get away with it by saying ‘sorry, I’m from europe, we don’t tip over there’.
Cheap assholes. If you can’t afford to tip you can’t afford to eat in a sit-down restaurant. Stay home.
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I agree completely! I once had this extremely unpleasant situation with colleagues from Spain who not only didn’t tip (I was happy to tip for them just to end the nasty scene), but started making loud, angry speeches at the waiters about the unfairness of having to tip. This was beyond embarrassing.
College professors they were. One would expect a modicum of awareness on class issues or at least some cultural sensitivity but that didn’t happen.
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Haha, my experience has been with spanish people too. Exactly the same as yours except these weren’t professors but grad students.
At least slink away in shame, as you should. Don’t act so righteous about your stupid choice.
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I had a reversed situation where I left a tip in Spain and the waiter had to run after me for 2 blocks to give it back to me. He thought I forgot the money on the table by mistake.
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“College professors… One would expect a modicum of awareness on class issues or at least some cultural sensitivity ”
From College Professors? Ha Ha Ha!!!!! At least they were from Spain and not Latin America (I once wanted to crawl under a table at lunch when a friend from SAmerica clapped to get the waitress’s attention)
I tried to explain why this wasn’t cool in the US but I’m sure it got categorized as “crazy things gringos believe” though if he stopped I was at least grateful for that.
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“I once wanted to crawl under a table at lunch when a friend from SAmerica clapped to get the waitress’s attention”
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\ It was just like a scene from a Soviet movie about the dissolute and condescending officers of the White Army
Did you have a specific good movie in mind? Which?
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I’ll add I would never give a tip by credit card, that’s always in cash (in Poland, though not much of a tipping culture, it’s okay to directly hand it to the server). Then I have a little more confidence that it will go to them and not management.
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” It was just like a scene from a Soviet movie about the dissolute and condescending officers of the White Army. I was almost expecting the guy to yell “Garçon!””
And then you have cruise lines where waiters are expected to fucking DANCE for their tips. Kill me now.
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I knew there was a reason I detested the idea of a cruise.
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I’m opposed because I have no confidence that any part of that service charge will actually go to the servers. The point of the tipping system, as far as I understand, is to supplement the low wages of the servers. With the fixed service charge, all I know for sure is that I’m supplementing the income of the restorateur when neither the amount nor the quality of food has changed.
Every time you add a percentage to a credit card, you’re taking it on faith that the charge goes to the servers. The point of the tipping system is to offload the wages of the servers directly onto the patrons and to disguise the true cost of food. A ten dollar entree is really 12 dollars if you include the tip, but people don’t register the price of a ten dollar entree with a 20% tip the same as a 12 dollar entree with no tip. People also like feeling superior.
A history lesson The book is interesting.
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My husband always insists on leaving tips in cash, and now I understand why.
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