It's also hard to change a system that people are used to.
To be honest, unless I'm leaving cash, I have my doubts about whether the tip actually makes it to the server.
I would be shocked to hear of any restaurants that do that. A warning sign would be the owner running the register.
And for one data point: the restaurant I worked at would convert all tips on credit cards to cash that the servers could take home that day at end of business.
It's not just a tax matter; if the audit uncovers fraud, they refer the case to the DOL and the DOJ.
In the former category people are primarily doing carryout from places built around carryout in that there aren't servers waiting tables and bagging up orders. In the latter category people tend to more frequently do carryout from actual restaurants and in those cases they really are interacting with an otherwise typical server.
I realize it's completely arbitrary, but so is tipping culture in general.
Culture is path-dependent.
The existence of such a class of (low end) restaurants without tipping proves that it is possible to get rid of tipping altogether at low-end restaurants. Which is exactly what I said.
> it doesn't say anything about the ease or difficulty of getting rid of it where it has been a convention.
This is besides the point. I didn't say anything about the ease or difficulty of getting rid of tipping.
No, it proves that there is a class of low-end restaurants (and "fast food" is not coextensive with "low end" restaurants, its a subset of them) where there is no tipping to get rid of, not that it is possible to get rid of tipping in any of the places where it exists.
His first complaint with this particular approach has been that when he's gotten a good tip as a server, he has to share it (i.e. the customer gave "him" a large tip because of "his" service). The other is that when he's been a good cook or good cleaner, but there's a bad server, he's penalized because the server is given bad tips.
Ironically, we've never directly discussed whether he would prefer tips or a more traditional wage. Based on the conversations we have had, he would definitely like the ability to earn more while working in the industry (he loves cooking and he loves serving). He's hit pay ceilings in multiple restaurants, which has been a huge problem. It's such a big problem that he's transitioning to work in nurseries, because he can make more money with much less effort, and he hopes to save enough to open his own farm-to-table restaurant with some friends.
I think "one does not tip at a fast food restaurant" is a culturally-accepted rule that trumps "one tips one's server at a restaurant".
I suspect that, as well as the bills being smaller, the average tip percentage is smaller than at full-service restaurants.