Gratuity

[Easy180]

But we were told above that if you have automatic tipping, that means there is no incentive for giving good service. This must be the exception to the rule.

I know of an incentive...Called staying employed

[anthonyokc]

If the server gives bad service, then yes, speak to the management and they WILL remove the gratuity. Plain and simple. The main reason for the auto tip is to protect the server from the IRS. Servers are subject (as is the restaurant) to audits from the IRS. Sometimes when there is a larger party, and only one person paying the tab, they sometimes get "stickershock" from not realizing how much it would cost to wine and dine lets, say 15 people. There are many times when that one person got in over his head with such a large tab, that they end up punishing the server with a low tip. The IRS does have the ability to look at the amount of sales for a server anf believe me, they want to see the server claiming x amount of dollars in grats compared to their sales. So one of the main reasons for the auto tip is to protect the server from having to get taxed on nothing. And yes, I already know thats crappy, but thats the way it is. Servers have no way of changing tax laws, they are just required to make the IRS happy in that particular area. This is also out of the restaurants control as well.

[Easy180]

Exactly! Like every single other job in the world. I have to smile and be uber kind to customers every day. Imagine how nice I'd be if I got tipped!

And the fact that most folks take pride in doing their job well...Restaurant business isn't unique

[Anonymous.]

I know nobody who uses the term "stiffed" for anything other than no tip. I assure you, I know more waiters than you do.

I get what you're trying to intimate with your story, but the idea that a $20 tip on $100 inexplicably feels far less bearable than a $125 ticket with no tip is just crazy.

Perhaps it depends on the establishment or area. I, too, was under the impression that being 'stiffed' meant zero tip. But I was surprised when I found out about several servers claiming they were "stiffed" when they were actually just "shorted" for a better term. I think stiffed should be reserved for zero tippers, I find it hard to understand since it is all subjective at that point.

And yes, I mostly threw that PS line in that post to help clarify for that specific incident.

[Teo9969]

So let's quit beating around the bush here. For wage-based system advocates, I'd like to see the following questions answered:

What should a server's wage be? And what, if any, benefits should be included?

What should their job entail?

What should bartender, host, and bus staff be paid, if those positions should even still exist?

What is an acceptable rise in menu prices to implement the new system?

[anthonyokc]

Even though I used to be a server back in the day...I do agree with severely reducing a tip for intentionally rude or sub-par service. The issue here is people who walk into a full service restaurant knowing full-well that they are about to be served by someone who works for those gratuities to put food on the table and pay their bills, and then try to find reasons to not pay for the service provided even if the service was good.

[Richard at Remax]

Im sure some of you have seen some of the ridiculous receipts out of las vegas that have added gratuity built in like this http://www.buzzfeed.com/percival/190...nightclub-1v0u

granted if you are going to spend that much at a bar money is no issue, but should you have to pay $30,000 tip? seems way overboard and there should be a cap. I want that server job if they get it all. but I would assume something like that amount gets split up.

I also like how there is a blank line at the bottom just in case you wanted to add more

[Plutonic Panda]

1. I hate when waiters or former watiers get mad at people for not tipping enough. How much you're paid is between you and your employer. Gratuity is just that; gratuitous. It's something extra and it's not a right.

2. If your wait staff is being chronically stiffed on tips to the point that you have to add gratuity to the check automatically, then perhaps the problem is that your wait staff sucks and that's why they're not getting tips.

3. I'm with Pete on tip creep. A percentage tip takes care of inflation. If a burger cost more today than it did in 2000, then 15% of a more costly burger is going to be more.

4. Also, I'm tired of EVERYONE wanting a tip. You see tip jars on counters in so many establishments these days. At the cleaners, coffee place, sandwich place etc. These places get paid a wage. That's your job. Don't expect a tip for doing what you were hired to do.

5. I've read a few articles about restaurants that have decided to pay their wait staff a normal wage and do away with tips. It's not a gratuity added on or a percentage added to the ticket; it's a wage. And the result has been better service because the wait staff isn't worried about getting paid or getting stiffed and it takes the odd and sometimes uncomfortable dynamic out of the customer/waiter relationship. That puts the onus on the employer. Hence if a waiter sucks, they get fired, not a 3 cent tip. If you're afraid that it will raise the cost of the food too much, then there's still Taco Bell et. al. That sounds like the way to go to me.

+1

[kevinpate]

FWIW, I've tipped far more than the order total more than once, and encourage others to consider the same.

An example would be some inexpensive nacho orders and soda, when we sat and sat and sat and grazed more than once in the process of catching up with old friends. I knew well we had the table for two, if not three, typical rotations for a table. To tip on the tab alone in my opinion would be to mistreat a server, and I find most to be cordial and fun folk. Not my style to whiz on a stranger's shoes, and definitely not on the shoes of someone who is likely to carry my food and drink in the future.

[bradh]

FWIW, I've tipped far more than the order total more than once, and encourage others to consider the same.

An example would be some inexpensive nacho orders and soda, when we sat and sat and sat and grazed more than once in the process of catching up with old friends. I knew well we had the table for two, if not three, typical rotations for a table. To tip on the tab alone in my opinion would be to mistreat a server, and I find most to be cordial and fun folk. Not my style to whiz on a stranger's shoes, and definitely not on the shoes of someone who is likely to carry my food and drink in the future.

That's good bull, and similar to what another poster said about happy hours. If I go somewhere and take up a table with a buddy and just have some cheap swill for 3 hours to catch a game, I take care of that server appropriately. There have even been times where I'll try to let the server know our intentions up front, and sometimes they appreciate that, so that they can take care of other tables with food, as long as they kept an eye on our beers.

[soonerguru]

Boo-Hoo. Then don't work at Luby's! (that's just my sarcasm venting)

I worked at plenty of places as a waiter that had terrible tipping customers........ guess what? When I realized it wasn't my attitude or skills that were hurting my income - but, in fact, either the restaurant and/or its customers - I got a job doing the same thing for more money somewhere else.

There are plenty of days and shifts as a waiter or bartender that don't pay enough to make it worth the effort - but you either suck it up, because its part of the job, or you move on. You think a Tuesday night bartending at the former 5th Seasons Inn at Broadway Ext and 63rd made me anything? Nope. But the weekend 'free bar' for guests made it so worth putting up with the other crap the rest of the week.

If the only flag you've got to fly is the, "those damn pesky penny pinching Christians on Sundays from noon to three" then you don't have my sympathy on this issue.

How about instead of bitching about the people who actually ensure you have a job (your customers) you re-evaluate if the 'problem' really is a problem and how you and the restaurant can overcome it without annoying, inconveniencing or otherwise causing your customers to become 'former customers.'

WTF are you talking about? I averaged about 21% in tips. i wasn't bitching about tips. I haven't been a waiter in years. I was explaining that the culture we live in dictates that you tip between 15 and 20% for good to excellent service. If the service sucks, don't tip. Are you confusing my posts with someone else?

It is true that the worst tips are on Sunday after church gets out, as anyone who works in the restaurant industry will attest.

[MustangGT]

Yep…that sure is all they did to make sure you could eat dinner without any work but going to the restaurant and sitting down.

Those two events are not even close to being comparable to somebody who knows from which they speak.

[RadicalModerate]

Why are people stuck on tipping based on percentage of meal cost?

I order a steak at a nice restaraunt (for example, West) and it costs me $40.
My friend next to me orders a chicken salad and it costs $15.

The server spent the exact same time and energy providing both of us for the night. But the customer who ordered a more expensive item is punished by societal norms?

I have heard many times servers say something along the lines of "I got stiffed on a $100 tab tonight"... Were they really expecting $20+ because they brought a nice bottle of wine for two people? Then on the other end of this scale, the server could have been running sodas back and forth to a table all night for the same two people who only ordered said soda and an appetizer. Now these soda people have a $20 tab.

Anytime I have brought this up to people (usually friends that are servers and ranting after work or something) they are dumbfounded.

PS for anyone unfamiliar with what "stiffing" is to a server, it most certainly does not mean they got 0.00 on the tip line. It means they did not get the percentage they expected based on total bill.

I would say I was dumbfounded, but I've never been a waiter or waitress.
All I can say is: That is the most unexpectedly brilliant way of viewing "the issue" that I've ever read.

[BBatesokc]

WTF are you talking about? I averaged about 21% in tips. i wasn't bitching about tips. I haven't been a waiter in years. I was explaining that the culture we live in dictates that you tip between 15 and 20% for good to excellent service. If the service sucks, don't tip. Are you confusing my posts with someone else?

It is true that the worst tips are on Sunday after church gets out, as anyone who works in the restaurant industry will attest.

No confusion here.... Actually you were 'bitching about tips' - specifically Sunday Crowd tips and more broadly, "The larger the party, the crappier the tip."

It is true that the worst tips are on Sunday after church gets out, as anyone who works in the restaurant industry will attest.

Maybe, maybe not - regardless, we're talking about 1-4 hours of an entire work week. You said yourself you averaged 21% in tips.

I don't have a horse in this race other than to banter back and forth on the subject based on my perspective.

[Of Sound Mind]

FWIW, I've tipped far more than the order total more than once, and encourage others to consider the same.

An example would be some inexpensive nacho orders and soda, when we sat and sat and sat and grazed more than once in the process of catching up with old friends. I knew well we had the table for two, if not three, typical rotations for a table. To tip on the tab alone in my opinion would be to mistreat a server, and I find most to be cordial and fun folk. Not my style to whiz on a stranger's shoes, and definitely not on the shoes of someone who is likely to carry my food and drink in the future.

Ditto. I've done the same thing many times for the very same reasons.

[Jeepnokc]

We just booked our office Christmas party yesterday and when we were looking at places, all of them had mandatory 20% tip added except one place which was 22% (McNellies) and Dave and Busters which was 18%. My standard is 20% so I don't mind unless we get one waiter for our party of 25.

[Shake2005]

If you would like the kind of service you get when servers aren't tipped and make something like minimum wage you are always welcome to go to McDonalds.

So many cheap people in the world, seriously, if you can't afford the tip, don't eat at full service restaurants. Personally I prefer the tip system, I was a waiter and bartender years ago in my college years and it was excellent training for the real work world in how to talk to and treat people.

Also, don't forget that very often the tip you give to the waiter is also partly going to the bartender, the hostess and the bus boy. There are lots of people making sure you are taken care of when you eat out. Don't be a cheap ass, take care of them right back.

[Jersey Boss]

Dayna Morales, Waitress And Marine, Denied Tip Because Of Her 'Gay Lifestyle'

And it wasn't even a Sunday. Seems like a good argument on why minimum wage as a "floor" should be standard.

[Dubya61]

Dayna Morales, Waitress And Marine, Denied Tip Because Of Her 'Gay Lifestyle'

And it wasn't even a Sunday. Seems like a good argument on why minimum wage as a "floor" should be standard.

What? Because someone misses out on a ~$20 tip, we should reform the minimum wage for servers?
It's entirely possible to make a killing on the right nights waiting tables. You certainly don't get rich doing it, and sometimes don't even get by, but I don't think it's part of our culture that wait staff is the pinnacle job in anybody's career progression.
You need to come up with a better argument.
BTW, what makes you think it didn't happen on a Sunday?

[Jersey Boss]

No, we should reform the minimum wage for servers because it is the right thing to do. While it may not be an occupation that is a pinnacle job, it is one of the most popular of occupations by females w/o a post H.S. education. A significant number of these women have children, and not only do they not get minimum wage, they rarely get any benefits either. No sick time, no vacation time, no insurance. Nor does this not take into account the harassment these workers receive from the public (such as exhibited) or sexual harassment of another nature. While it can be tut tut'd away and be told "go somewhere else" these workers in many cases do not have the luxury of being out of work looking for something else. I guess they could ask their parents for a loan to start a business, but how viable is that?

I can tell it did not happen on a Sunday by the date on the receipt, but I guess Wed. night is the second most popular time for the cheap crowd to be out.

[Dubya61]

No, we should reform the minimum wage for servers because it is the right thing to do. While it may not be an occupation that is a pinnacle job, it is one of the most popular of occupations by females w/o a post H.S. education. A significant number of these women have children, and not only do they not get minimum wage, they rarely get any benefits either. No sick time, no vacation time, no insurance. Nor does this not take into account the harassment these workers receive from the public (such as exhibited) or sexual harassment of another nature. While it can be tut tut'd away and be told "go somewhere else" these workers in many cases do not have the luxury of being out of work looking for something else. I guess they could ask their parents for a loan to start a business, but how viable is that?

I can tell it did not happen on a Sunday by the date on the receipt, but I guess Wed. night is the second most popular time for the cheap crowd to be out.

Well, based on my experiences waiting tables, the tips more than made up for what could have been minimum wage. Further, I loved the idea that I only had to report a certain percentage of the bill as my wage. I contend that if you change the minimum wage for servers, you will kill tipping, and the unintended consequence of making employers pay them more will result in less money taken home. I would never exchange my tip take home for a fully taxed minimum wage. Does the job suck? Yeah, at times. That's why they call it work, eh?

Where did you see the date on the receipt? Are you assuming it happened yesterday? 11/13? If so, that made it to the news astonishingly quick.

[Jersey Boss]

The date is listed below the "Total" amount line. 11/13 @ 19:19. In your experience as a server, did you have to share your tips with any other employees such as bartenders or bussers? If so, do you know whether or not these positions were paid min,. wage or better?

[Shake2005]

In your experience as a server, did you have to share your tips with any other employees such as bartenders or bussers? If so, do you know whether or not these positions were paid min,. wage or better?

In my experience yes, both bussers and hostesses both made minimum wage with tips on top of that. My high school aged daughter was a hostess earlier this year at an upscale seafood place and she was paid minimum by the store but made well over minimum wage with tips.

Bartenders are in another category. They usually make quite a bit more than minimum wage and then also get tip share and their own direct tips. Good bartenders can make a lot of money. But then the skill set to tend bar is well above that of wait staff and good bartenders are where make restaurants overall make their money. When I was bartending at a brewpub 20 years ago I think I was making $9-10 an hour in wages, and I think minimum wage back then was maybe $5 an hour. On top of that I made anywhere from $50-$75 during the week in tips and $100-$200 on weekend nights, sometimes more. I also was a part time manager and made far less when I was working as a manager. I was making around 40k a year working part time 20 years ago. I took a pay cut to take my first corporate job but by then I had a wife and baby on the way and needed the benefits and wanted regular hours. Two years later I was making far more than I was bartending, but it was hard at first.

[Jersey Boss]

Thanks Shake. Very informative and illustrates why I feel servers should be getting at least the same minimum wage that others in the food business enjoy. i did not realize that the hostess/host also got a cut of the servers tips. The skill set/ pressure for that can't be as great as that as the servers. I imagine when there are layoffs due to restaurants closing or downturns in the economy, the servers also get significantly less in U/E insurance benefits as those are based on wages.

[BoulderSooner]

Dayna Morales, Waitress And Marine, Denied Tip Because Of Her 'Gay Lifestyle'

And it wasn't even a Sunday. Seems like a good argument on why minimum wage as a "floor" should be standard.

As has been said in this thread servers by law make at the minimum Min wage Most male quite a bit more Non make under