Tipping In The Restaurant Industry

Servers’ Problems Throughout the restaurant industry and within many individual restaurants, tipping varies from each server and each table; every table starts over as a blank slate. Sometimes, consumers forget that some servers only make a small amount from their paychecks, and majority of their money comes from tips. There are many customers who stiff their servers or do not tip at all. Restaurants in various places have stopped having their servers tipped and raised their pay. Some Americans believe that tipping should not exist at all and servers should be paid minimum wage, and while this might sound like an effective solution it could lead to overall lower take-home pay for servers. Other Americans still firmly believe that tipping should continue to exist because it is a sign of accomplishment for the servers. Although I concede that some firmly believe that tipping should not exist, I still insist that tipping is a reward for servers who work hard for their money.

By having customers calculate out the tip or guess on what to give their servers it leaves the customers frantic on whether they left enough or even too much. Brian Palmer from the Slate Group contends, “The tip credit has turned the gratuity into a moral obligation, and we ought to cut it from our statute books with a steak knife” (Palmer 2). Tipping used to be seen as paying gratuity but now many Americans feel obligated to tip their servers because of how underpaid the servers are. Berekeley Lovelace Jr. from CNBC reported that “People now see 15 percent as a floor rather than a ceiling when it comes to tipping” (Lovelace 2). Consumers have stated that they feel like the increase in what is seen to be a proper amount of gratuity has skyrocketed and that some wish tipping was not around anymore and servers were paid a living minimum