Tipping in restaurants

[fluffy]

A flat fee service charge? For doing what?

For service I guess. It wasn't my idea and there are as many faults with that system as there are with the traditional approach. It operates on the assumption that the server is entitled to a tip regardless of the level of service they deliver, which to me is contrary to the spirit of tipping in general, just as the idea that the employer is entitled to pay substandard wages because it is assumed that the servers are going to make tips and those tips should be regarded as fulfilling part of the employer's obligation to compensate their employees for work performed.

[Glacier]

If you don't support tipping, then don't eat out at restaurants where people make $15/hour+tips. Instead, put those people out of work while supporting more people making $11/hour without tips by eating out at fast food places.

[Corneliousrooster]

If people would stop feeding this stupid custom then people would stop counting on it.

The custom is older than you and works for the MAJORITY of people, so much so that the entire payscale of the serving industry, be it employer or government, have infused it into the system.

Maybe you should quit your custom of eating out if it pains you to comply

[Corneliousrooster]

don't eat out at restaurants where people make $15/hour+tips.

Wow - that makes up about 0.001% of restaurants in this province.

[Glacier]

Whatever. The point is by telling people to eat out at fast-food places if they don't tip is essentially the same as throwing your support behind reducing food service incomes. Makes no sense to me.

[underscore]

Does anyone who agrees with tipping also agree that everyone with a low paying job should be tipped? If not, why not?

Nobody should be tipped unless they actually do something to deserve it ie going above and beyond their job description. I'm not going to tip the mailman every day for doing his job and bringing the mail, why should a server be tipped for doing their job?

[Thinktank]

I hate the stress of trying to decide if a waitres was going above
and beyond normal work - so I just give 10% all the time.

[fluffy]

I accept that for the most part servers are underpaid because employers choose to see tips as a part of their income. I don't agree with it but it is the way things are so I go with it. Other than voicing an opinion when I have the opportunity there is little I can do about it that doesn't penalize the server, which would totally miss the mark. I also don't agree with forced tip pooling, that should be the server's decision, nor do I agree with including the gratuity on the bill, that should be my decision. That being said, I did spend a significant part of my working life in jobs where tips represented a sizable chunk of my income, but not once did I ever feel I was automatically entitled to a tip. And there were situations where a quarter from one customer held more meaning than a twenty dollar bill from another.

[Corneliousrooster]

I'm not going to tip the mailman every day for doing his job and bringing the mail,

And the Gov't won't deem them to make less than the rest of the general public based on your tips. And their employer is not going to ask the mailman to throw a percentage of money based on letters delivered, to be divided amongst the sorters and other support staff that are behind the scenes in helping your mail arrive.

It has also NEVER been customary to tip the mailman everyday (but way to compare apples to oranges)

[underscore]

And the Gov't won't deem them to make less than the rest of the general public based on your tips. And their employer is not going to ask the mailman to throw a percentage of money based on letters delivered, to be divided amongst the sorters and other support staff that are behind the scenes in helping your mail arrive.

It has also NEVER been customary to tip the mailman everyday (but way to compare apples to oranges)

Do servers make less than minimum wage due to tipping in Canada? I know they do in some US states, but thats because the morons down there started tipping too highly. I also support the sharing of tips, as generally the behind the scenes staff do as much if not more to make something work properly than the server/courier/whatever final person there is.

And way to ignore the post I was replying to.

[manmade]

In this country it is customary to tip your server. (Yes, it is a free country and it is not mandatory)


If you don't like the service - don't patronize the establishment......pretty simple stuff here- no need to begrudge the entire serving industries propped up wages that are COUNTING on you following through with the custom, and instead taking it out on everyone that happens to be employed in that livelihood (life is so simple though, if they want higher wages they should all quit and get jobs on the rigs, and restaurants should all convert to buffets so the public no longer has to contribute to this "tipping" fiasco

THIS!!

[Corneliousrooster]

Do servers make less than minimum wage due to tipping in Canada?

In BC, yes - they have a lower min. wage

I also support the sharing of tips, as generally the behind the scenes staff do as much if not more to make something work properly than the server/courier/whatever final person there is.

These people make generally make more than min. wage. The management is exploiting the custom of tipping servers to compensate their support staff so as they do not have to dip into their bottom line to increase staff wages. They merely increase the tip pool percentages accordingly in lieu of a raise.

[underscore]

These people make generally make more than min. wage. The management is exploiting the custom of tipping servers to compensate their support staff so as they do not have to dip into their bottom line to increase staff wages. They merely increase the tip pool percentages accordingly in lieu of a raise.

So by continuing to tip like idiots people are supporting this silly practice and allowing it to go on. The only way to stop allowing crappy management to abuse this setup is to stop buying into it.

[Corneliousrooster]

So by continuing to tip like idiots people are supporting this silly practice and allowing it to go on. The only way to stop allowing crappy management to abuse this setup is to stop buying into it.

So don't tip like an idiot - novel idea

I worked in the restaurant industry over 20 years ago (I was one of the guys behind the scenes that benefited from the tip pool, even though I made a wage over 100% more than the server)and these practices were becoming common. When any wait staff complained about the practice they were "not team players" and were let go. The system itself is now written right into the establishments cash out policies and formulas and will be deducted from money owed at the end of the night - WHETHER YOU TIP OR NOT, your server will be "tipping" the support staff based on the assumption that everyone tips at least 10%. Tip outs are based on shifts sales, not actual tips. The provincial gov't has reworked min. wage law to make it legally possible to pay wait staff less than even the lowest of any other job in the province, again based on the assumption that customers tip their servers.

I don't think any working demographic gets dumped on more than servers by all the joe schmoes out there that have never done the job yet begrudge them their tips. If the service sucks - DON"T TIP - that is totally your perogative and in your power. Stiffing a server because you think the custom is "stupid" or "everyone should get tips then" is begrudging a demographic that never asked to be paid in tips in lieu of a fair wage in the first place.

[fluffy]

I remember something last year or so, where an ex-employee was taking a restaurant to task for pocketing portions of the tip pool for themselves. It was mentioned that as soon as management takes an active part n administrating a tip pool, it becomes legal income both for the restaurant and all the staff involved and is subject to all applicable taxes and deductions.

Personally, if I ever heard that a restaurant's management was pocketing tips intended for staff they'd never see a nickel of my money again and I'd make a point of spreading the story far and wide.