“Tipping culture is out of control”: I was asked to tip 15% for a charitable donation. When will this madness of gratuitousness end?

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By Quentin Fotrell

“It is no longer a free charge, it has become another tax”

Dear Quentino,

We are two Americans concerned about tips.

Our tipping culture is out of control. It has become mandatory and imposed on us. He lost his case. It is no longer a free charge, it has become another tax. Consumers are forced to help merchants pay workers after paying merchants for the service. I once tried to donate money online and was asked for a minimum of 15% tip. When it will end?

Restaurant owners and the government have overtaken the public with this perception that you are a low-class citizen for not tipping or leaving tips below 20%. First of all, low-class people are restaurant owners who underpay waiters and waitresses. The government is a low-class citizen for making it legal for restaurant owners not to pay the minimum wage.

If you feel that the restaurant owner is responsible for paying good wages to their employees, you shouldn’t feel guilty. I tip if the service is good but if the service isn’t good, I don’t tip well or don’t tip at all. Don’t you think restaurant prices are high enough to pay waiters and waitresses so they don’t depend on their customers for a salary?

When will this madness of gratuitousness end?

Feeling cheated

Dear Tipper,

Don’t let digital tipping deter you from tipping waiters.

We feel guilty about tipping from touchscreens at the grocery store, pharmacy, ice cream parlor, coffee shop, and, yes, even general stores. The digital tipping avalanche has taken a toll on customers who feel accustomed and pressured to tip when they are already frequenting a store. Perhaps it’s due to higher prices and higher rents, and we’re not always sure that tips go to the workers.

Unfortunately, it seems to be the service workers who are paying the price, who are on their feet all day and night, and who are among the workers who have suffered the most during the pandemic, losing their jobs and putting their health at risk. Feel intimidated by asking for a 25% tip for an $8 soft serve, but comparing that to the wait staff is a false equivalency.

Tipping varies depending on where you eat. People tip an average of 17% in San Francisco and 18% in Seattle, up to 20% in Cleveland, which is among the highest tips in the nation. That’s according to nearly 80,000 non-cash tips collected by Toast, a point-of-sale and management systems company. People tipped an average of 14% for home delivery or takeout.

Digital tips aside, you may be annoyed with the government for allowing some states to underpay their waitstaff, and you may have a bone to pick – no pun intended – with restaurants for not paying their waitstaff what you consider a living wage. , but I don’t believe this is a reason to punish service personnel by not tipping or tipping poorly (the definitions of which vary).

The median annual salary for waiters in the United States last year was $32,020, according to the Bureau of Labor Statistics. It works out at $15.87 per hour. However, 10% of waiters were paid $8.77 per hour in 2022, while 25% were paid $10.49 per hour. In some states, including New York, restaurants can pay less than the minimum wage if tips make a difference.

You know who is probably least happy about it, even more so than customers who believe 20% is too much to leave? The waiters themselves. They work weekends, evenings and weekends and have to respond to the whims of their customers every minute of their shift. Dealing with the public can be difficult at the best of times. Are you dealing with a hungry audience? Let’s assume it’s worse.

Relying on tips puts customers in a position of power, and they know it. Waiters have to jump when they say jump, and smile and be polite, and carry plates of hot food and drink, and move at a rapid pace so as not to upset their customers, or get them to claim they are lazy and give bad service. In other words, do anything that gives the customer an excuse to tip less.

“Overall, 71% of female restaurant workers have been sexually harassed at least once during their time in the restaurant industry,” according to this report by One Fair Wage, a nonprofit aiming to end the practice of underwage wages. at a minimum in the catering sector. Female restaurant workers are most frequently sexually harassed by customers, but also by restaurant managers and owners.

“Tipped workers who receive less than the minimum wage — this occurs in 4 out of 5 states — experience sexual harassment at a far higher rate than their non-tipped counterparts,” the report concludes. “Tipped workers were significantly more likely to have been sexually harassed than their non-tipped counterparts: over three-quarters versus over half (76% versus 52%).”

If you’re upset about how the restaurant industry is structured, petition your local representative, ask the manager of the restaurants you frequent if tips are distributed to waiters (and ask the waiters the same question). If you’re asked to tip digitally in a supermarket, it’s okay to decline if it makes you uncomfortable, but restaurant workers shouldn’t bear the brunt of it.

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– Quentin Fotrell

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05-24-23 2219ET

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