I really don't understand tipping culture in America. Are you required to tip? Why do restaurants not pay their staff enough to live?
I consider this an abhorrent system, that should not be supported.
I agree it’s abhorrent. But we must support it by tipping. If you don’t tip, you’re not fighting the system you are harming the workers.
My approach is to tip and also advocate/vote for/support businesses that don’t allow tipping and instead just pay a higher wage and they factor that wage into the food price.
This is pretty rare though and even the restaurants that say “we pay our servers a wage so please don’t tip” still allow tipping so that’s not good.
I’m not sure how you break this in the US unless you pass some strict law disallowing tipping. Maybe something where the advertised price is all inclusive and no add-ons are allowed, so it must include tip, taxes, service charge, whatever. I don’t see that passing.
1. get the check
2. shift the decimal point to the left by one digit ( 10% )
3. double the amount from step 2 ( 20% )
4. round down to the nearest whole number ( makes it easier to add )
5. sum, write, sign and leave
Round up to the nearest dollar then add a few bucks or so.
Tipping should be for exceptional service. I tip at my local sub shop because they know me and they know how I like my food made. I’d rather pay more per plate to cover an overall wage, and I think most Americans agree with me.
Not legally required, but in practice your decision to not tip is a decision that the staff should earn under minimum wage. It's just the current status quo. And in some cases you may end up in a confrontation with someone who assumed you knew you should've tipped. (Not tipping in a taxi may lead to uncomfortable situations)
> Why do restaurants not pay their staff enough to live?
Because they can.
Not quite. The law is that for tipped workers the employer has to pay the "tipped minimum wage" ($2.13/hr) but if that plus tips is below the regular minimum wage ($7.25/hr) the employer has to pay the difference.
In effect it is equivalent to the minimum wage being $7.25 an hour for tipped works, same as for everyone else, but the employer gets the first $5.25 of your tips.
Not tipping is saying that you think the staff should earn exactly minimum wage.
I've heard though that in some states they are lax about enforcing this, so employers can get away with not making up the difference.
I think the issue is the federal minimum wage is very low $7-8 or so so that minimum amount is low for waiters and everyone.
If you increase minimum wage, you will also enforce that minimum wage for waitstaff.
Tipping also incentivizes being attractive and bars and restaurants are very interested i n having attractive employees.
* there is a minimum fee which if avoided you will find yourself in hot water over.
They don't have to pay, so they don't. There is a nearly endless supply of folk willing to take the job.
I'm not particularly a fan of tipping culture in the US but I would note that "optional" (but not really) 10% service charges for table service is pretty common in the UK these days as well.