How Much to Tip?
How much to tip in restaurants? That’s a question with as many answers as there are people.
Frequently, it is things over which servers have no control — prices, time to prepare the order, how good the food is — which determine the tip.
I used to tip 15 percent for reasonable service, 20 percent for special. Somehow that has crept up to 20 percent most of the time.
Servers complain that they are paid well below minimum wage and must depend on tips, which is true. Some customers think restaurant owners should pay better.
Peter Kilgore, CEO of the National Restaurant Association, wrote to the Wall Street Journal recently that most tipped employers get a lot more than the minimum wage when their tips are included.
He said a national association survey showed the average hourly wage ranged from $17.10 for entry-level servers to $22.20 for more experienced.
He also said these jobs can lead to promotions, management and “ownership opportunities.”
What’s your attitude on tipping?
posted by Joe Zelnik @ 2:18 PM
1 Comments
1 Comments:
Having worked in the restaurant industry, I know how hard some servers work (and how others cause nothing but headaches for customers and management) and how little they are paid, or at least were where I worked. Salary was minimum wage for a tipped employee, which was about $2 lower (per hour) than the national minimum wage.
So believe me when I tell you that most servers didn't care about their paychecks, which were miniscule compared to their tip count. Most made more (tips) in one day than they made in a two-week salary check.
What I found ironic was the restaurant owner's boast that he had paid so many college tuitions, since he had employed hundreds of college students over the years. In reality, his customers paid the tuition, while what he paid his employees could barely keep them in cigaretts and pocket change.
In tipping, I use 10% for sub-standard service, 15% for decent service, and 20% for excellent service.
As far as tipping at takeout joints (witness the increasing number of 'tip-jars at counters), what for? So the employer can lower his help's salary? Do they get minimum wage for a tipped employee? I find the notion of the tip-jar to be insulting.
The most reasonable solution would be for tipping to go the way of the do-do, and for the employer to pay his help a fair wage. This would increase the price of the meal, but most people don't figure in the tip when looking at menu prices, but they certainly should, because it's all coming out of their pocket anyway.
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