While it is nearly impossible to estimate exactly how much a server or other employee in the service industry takes home from tips, it can be said that consumers spend over $46 billion on tips in just restaurants and bars. Because this number is so large and affects so many people, there are plenty of arguments for removing the tipping model from most establishments entirely. Ultimately, the act of tipping benefits many while also creating extreme economic consequences for people in the industry. The question boils down to whether employees should pay their workers entirely, as opposed to customers supplementing their income with tips. Wages vary tremendously between front of house and back of house staff. Or at least, that’s how staff sees …show more content…
It seems there is a divide between front of house employees regarding tipping. On one hand, many of them like it because they make decent money and can walk away from a shift with cash in hand. On the other hand, they feel as though the money they make is very inconsistent, with some days being very lucrative and others not so much. Alexandra Gertner, a student at CSU and server at both BJs Brewhouse and the Union Bar & Soda Fountain, believes that servers being tipped out is crucial for self-improvement. She says that it is a way for a server to measure the level of service that they are giving their tables. When asked about tipping out other employees in the restaurant, she had mixed feelings. She said that bartenders and server assistants should be paid minimum wage (not tipped) and a server can tip them out if they’ve “done an exceptional job.” This would be an example of a hybrid model in which some employees receive tips, such as servers, and others are paid based on experience, years with the operation, etc. Her thoughts are emblematic of most other servers interviewed. Figure 2 shows the results of a survey of 25 servers in the restaurant industry. Although these numbers are representative only of servers in Fort Collins and not of the United States population as a whole, it is interesting to see that a strong number of them, 60 percent, would keep the tipping model around if they had the
...cense if the employee cannot up two months’ rent then they won’t be able to get an apartment. Creating the possibly of having to pay for a room by the week. The room might include a hot plate if the employee is lucky. The other issue that employees run into is if they don’t have no money for healthcare then they will go without care or prescription drugs. Employee is given the option to enroll the company health care plan after three months; however application forms are claimed as lost so the employee has to start the paperwork over again. Ehrenreich assess her situation working at a restaurant there is no waiting for a payday. Tips usually cover the cost of meals, gas, and gives her a little to save. However, there are times when the tips are only $20. The average wage that an employee makes is $5.15 an hour plus tip that is shared with busboys and bartenders.
The commonly used practice of tipping has been receiving backlash, nothing new there. Do we really know what a tip truly mean? What effects it has? Brian Palmer explains to his audience that tipping has become a moral obligation rather than what it is perceived to be: gratitude. In Brain Palmer’s “Tipping is an Abomination”, he argues that while tipping has grown into a common habit for many, tipping is a bad habit because no one knows what tipping actually means. Brian Palmer begins shows his credibility with personal inputs and reliable sources, using convincing facts and statistics, all while using some emotional appeal to help his argument.
Also, servers themselves know that certain things affect tips that aren’t usually included in most research on tipping influences. For instance many servers believe that gas prices affect the amount they are tipped or how busy the restaurant is. The thought is that the higher the gas prices the smaller the tip and vise versa. All the theories similar to this are why many servers and others alike believe that tips are too inconsistent of a form of payment to be able to live of...
The restaurants where I worked had owners who were very protective of their staff, treating them like family. I have witnessed instances where a guest has been extremely rude to an employee and they have been asked to leave and not come back. While Polk’s client waited until the waitress was out of earshot, many are not as careful with their words. I have been fortunate enough that the men that I work with refrain from using the degrading language described in the article, at least to my knowledge. I have not been so fortunate with guests at the restaurant. A specific incident I witnessed occurred when, after one of the waitress left a table asking if they needed anything else a male guest said to his companions that he “needs a good fuck from her.” The guest’s friends were all very amused by his comments and a few of them agreed with his comment. This particular guest was a regular at the restaurant and he had a reputation for being rude and creepy. None of the waitresses wanted to wait on him because of the way that he looked at them. This guest was asked by one of the managers, who also overheard the comment that I had heard, to leave and not return to the restaurant. I later found out from the manager that it was not the first time that he had overheard that particular guest making rude comments about members
The idea of tipping has always been normal to myself, as I was a kid and still now I see my parents leaving tips for the waiter/waitress when we go out to eat. It never occurred to me until I got older that it was hard for these workers to get by as their salary depended upon their tips. Once I read Saru Jayaraman’s article on “Why Tipping is Wrong” I was unsure of what I was getting myself into. However, it brought light and told how we should be getting rid of tips and giving the workers a fair and decent salary.
“Kids eat free on Sunday right?!” “Can I substitute this juice for a Bloody Mary?” “Can I taste that first?” “Oh!? I’m sorry we haven’t even looked at the menu yet. We’ll just be a bit . . . (45 minutes later) . . . ok, were ready.” “Yeah, were ready. Let me have . . . uh . . . oh where was it? Here! Wait no. Where did it go? I can’t find it. You know it has the thing with the thing on it . . .” “Can we get some more of your FREE bread!” These quotes, among a plethora of others, are common occurrences with the serving field. Sometimes even the smallest actions can show one’s personality in a big way. With hundreds of people dining out every single day it becomes easier to allocate them into many different classifications based on their personal tipping fashion; classes such as the ‘Percent Tippers’, the ‘Performance Review Tippers’, the ‘I’m a Server Too Tippers’, the ‘Non-Monetary Tippers’, the ‘Special Occasion Tippers’, and the much desired ‘Whale Tippers’.
Although tips can often lead to servers making well over regular minimum wage per hour, overall, tips are very inconsistent and are completely dependent on restaurant customers. Not only does the customer decide how much to tip based on his/her enjoyment of the dining experience, but also servers need busy restaurants in order to make good money.
Let’s be honest, we all have faced the dilemma of what is the right thing to do when it comes down to tipping. Should I tip or not? If yes, how much? Did I tip less or more? Was I better off not tipping at all? This dilemma ends up creating an aloof relationship between a consumer and a service provider. Not only that, but tipping in itself is a wrong approach to show gratitude for the service provided because more often than not, “sense of guilt” comes into play since we are bounded by the social norms for tipping. Tipping should be abolished from the society because tipping doesn’t reflect the quality of service provided, it hinders social relationship, and furthermore it encourages tax evasion.
Tips are generally a small amount of money given to a person as gratitude for a service that has been provided. There are many times throughout our everyday lives in which we are put in a position to leave a gratuity. Whether it be dining at a restaurant, getting your hair cut at the salon, or having a few drinks with friends at a bar. In each case there was a service provided to you, now you have a decision to make, how much of a tip is considered acceptable and should you tip everyone that provides a service to you? There are many guidelines for consumers to follow. With modern technology there are convenient tip calculators available as features on most new cellular phones. When deciding on the tip amount the service is one of the major determining factors along with whether or not you plan on visiting the establishment again , and how the tip will play a role in your further dealings with said business. Michael Lewis explores a few interesting reasons why tipping is getting out of hand in a recent essay. I strongly agree with many points and examples he provides.
“Restaurants in the United States pay servers less than minimum wage, as low as two dollars and change per hour”(United States). For restaurant employees or any employee whose income is based on tips alone, living on a low salary and whatever tips they manage to earn a night creates an unstable income. That might be okay for a teenager trying to earn some extra cash during the summer, but what about single parents who have to afford day-care services and food on the table? In addition, in some restaurants, employers do not provide benefits such as health insurance. “In fact, servers are nearly three times as likely as other workers to experience poverty”, according to a March 2014 report from the National Economic Council and the United States Department of Labor
If a person was to ask the average student what their learning style was, they would likely ponder because most students would not know what their learning style is. This is the case for Jeremy, a college student who discovered that the learning styles were broken down into three categories: Auditory, Visual, and Tactile. According to Educationplannner.org (2011), an auditory learner retains knowledge more efficiently by listening, Visual is learning through reading and writing, and tactile is learning by physical touching. Through a learning styles assessment from Educatoinplanner.edu (2011), Jeremy found that he is: twenty percent tactile, thirty-five percent auditory, and forty-five percent visual. Three other learning styles assessments
The average customers in a restaurant fall under the “Stick-to-the-fifteen-percent, tippers.” They have the attitude of “I’m just here for the food.” These average customers can be heard saying, “Looks good, I just need ketchup.” and “When you get a chance, may I please have a refill?” The “Stick-to-the-fifteen- percent tippers” have a more serious, laid-back face and stay quiet. These customers are average maintenance and average tippers. The only time they leave more than a fifteen- percent tip is when they need to round to the nearest dollar. Their server is mellow and polite because he is thankful for the expected tip. A server walks away from the table cool, calm and collected with no need to complain.
Lack of motivation: locals get paid on hourly basis and get a raise each year without a review, they are not concerned about the extra money such as tips.
When entering a restaurant, I usually expect to leave full, satisfied, and wanting to come back again. I believe that many people expect the same thing. The way people react to service can be very different from person to person. Depending on the way the customers are feeling, or the way that the server is feeling can be a big factor for the way service comes across. Service is an important part of everyone’s lives because majority of the jobs that people preform are service related. Poor service is an unfortunate part of life that everyone comes across. The way that I react to the poor service I receive is important and can change in the blink of an eye. Whether I react in an outspoken way, by getting loud and voicing my opinion. Or if I react in a quiet or apologetic way, it can affect my server, and the people around me, and myself.
As a waitress, I worked there part-time. My basic salary was $10 a day plus tips. Tips were paid daily and basic salary was paid every half a month. I get about $40 for tips everyday for 12 hours working from 1:00pm to 1:00am and I have to stand all day except 15 minutes’ sitting down for dinner. I got less tips than others because I’m new here. Still, that’s not a satisfying salary.