What? Do You Want a Tip Too?

When I turned 15 I got my first job as a bus-person (using the politically correct term) which turned into a waitressing job on my 16th birthday. I went from minimum wage ($5.15 at the time) to getting paid the "lucrative" rate of $2.13 an hour plus tips.

Sigh. That magical little addition to a ridiculously low wage that basically permits business owners to put the burden on his/her customers to pay the employees. "Plus Tips". How many times have you been at a restaurant where you have gotten really horrible service and yet still, for some unknown reason still left a tip (even if that tip was less than 10% of your bill)? Or what about a delivery that was insanely late, the food was less than pleasant, cold, or overcooked because of those "oven bags" that still got a decent tip because he was driving his own car using his own gas? If you have ever been in the business you have probably witnessed (and possibly been a contributer) the bitch fest that takes place when a less than perfect tip comes in, even if the person knows they were less than a perfect service provider.

Why do those less-than-average servers who are consistently unpleasant manage to keep their job position? It is because you pay for them. As long as managers are getting cheap labor and you continue to furnish the wages, those shitty service providers will get to keep a job. Sure, you would hope that customers would complain enough to get those individuals fired, but alas that rarely happens. One, not enough people usually complain and two, those horrible people are the only ones who stay at crappy paid jobs. If you got rid of all the bad service in the world then restaurants would have to close from lack of employees.

And what about the good employees who can barely maintain a decent pay because of stingy purse strings, especially during times when big tips are a luxury that not everyone can afford? Why punish them and let their employers off scot-free? Now I know that current laws state that employers much furnish additional pay up to minimum wage, but the responsibility is still on the customers who feel obligated to tip. You should never have to feel obligated to tip.

Some restaurants have decided to even go so far to "protect" their servers by enforcing a required tip that adds 18% to your bill. That is even more ridiculous because now all the crappy servers do not have to work hard for you because they are guaranteed 15, 18, or even 20 percent. And the employers are protecting themselves from having to pay those additional wages.

Another crappy institution with tipping is that of collective tips. Some restaurants must pool their tips and then the money is divided amongst all the servers on that shift. If that isn't the biggest crap pot of a policy in place to protect the employer I do not know what is. Now the good servers are required to pay for the crappy servers. He who works 100 busy customers with excellent service will relinquish the tips to the guy who served two glasses of wine and called it a day. In this case the customer is now not in control of their tips. If I tip nicely it is because the service was excellent and the server is deserving (remember I've been there, done that so I sympathize with those who manage to put a smile on everyday), not because I feel like playing the part of the wage provider for the whole damn restaurant.

What can we do? I suggest taking notes from catering departments (like the one I work at now). We have a no tipping policy. Technically, we are not permitted to accept tips because these are private parties we service. That doesn't mean we do not occasionally receive tips, but only when we go way above and beyond what the customers expect. Those tips are hard earned and come from the quality of service, not the guilt of the customer to pay my living. Because we are a high-class service provider our wages are higher than minimum wage, but that is how wages should be determine.

The higher the prices on the menu, the higher the wages the staff should be paid. It should always be above minimum wage and this should be clearly noted on the menu AND bill. The customer should be well informed that this is a non-required tipping establishment. To me, that would pull me into a restaurant because they show that they care for their customers and their service staff. The stress is taken off the customer to worry about proper tipping rates and I bet servers would still get decent tips (if they deserve them) because the customer was satisfied, not pressured.

Think about it...