How did tipping become nearly mandatory in the US?

[Deleted]

Here in the Netherlands it isn't mandatory at all.

If you did a good job you can get it, but..... it's not nearly as much a requirement as in the US and I agree.

I mean if I come to a restaurant I have money for the food, not because somebody wants to take an extra couple of euro's with them home.

And that has nothing to do with being greedy, it has to do with what I come for in that restaurant: the food.



Of course it's the restaurant's faults too in the US, I heard they lower the pay and they expect tipping to make up for it, really pathetic.

[Bakis]

Isn't it simply cos it is already baked into the price that the service provider offer (Holland)?

[Deleted]

You obviously don't know the purpose behind tipping. You don't tip because it's mandatory or not. You tip because you're satisfied with the EXTRA service of the waiter/waitress. ofc u pay for the food, but if a waiter/waitress goes an extra mile for you, for let's say, extra salt, second napkin, different sauce than the one on the menu, together with the speed of delivery, may net the waiter/waitress in question an extra dollar/euro. In the US, the wages of waiting personell are so low, the tipping has become mandatory over the years, to make sure they can make a proper living. In principal, its a reward for EXTRA service.

[Deleted]

You obviously don't know the purpose behind tipping. You don't tip because it's mandatory or not. You tip because you're satisfied with the EXTRA service of the waiter/waitress. ofc u pay for the food, but if a waiter/waitress goes an extra mile for you, for let's say, extra salt, second napkin, different sauce than the one on the menu, together with the speed of delivery, may net the waiter/waitress in question an extra dollar/euro. In the US, the wages of waiting personell are so low, the tipping has become mandatory over the years, to make sure they can make a proper living. In principal, its a reward for EXTRA service.

I'm sorry but that is your JOB as a waitress or waiter. That is what you get payed for to do in the workplace. That is why I said they lower payment and expect tips to make up for it which I find wrong.

And yes, I worked as one too.

[Deleted]

The US usually always tips for extra service. In the rest of the world the extra service isn't so important, we expect a good minimum standard and the rest is meh.

[Martinussen]

Because the owners of the restaurant can get away with paying their adult workers 5$ an hour. No body can live on that, so they rely on tips. In most of europe tips are already in the food price.

I think its pathetic aswell that the workers get payed so little that they pretty much have to get charity from the guests.

[Kelimbror]

Of course it's the restaurant's faults too in the US, I heard they lower the pay and they expect tipping to make up for it, really pathetic.

You already answered your question. The federal minimum wage for tipped employees is $2.13. While technically the restaurant is supposed to 'reimburse' the server if their tips don't equate to the state's minimum wage, 1) They normally don't do that and 2) That wage can still be as low as $7.25.

Waiting tables is often brutally intense work that provides employees with no time for breaks. I'm sure there are some high scale restaurants who do it right, but I guarantee you that 90% of them don't follow any labor laws and appear to immune to prosecution. I guess they get around it saying that you can 'break' whenever you want, but we all know if someone has tables on a busy weekend that they won't stop until after the doors close.

It's a sickening industry that needs to be federally raided, but even the government standards are pathetic. Considering our government can't even renew laws that will prevent us from being plunged into a recession, they aren't going to do anything about the restaurant industry any time soon.

[Asphyxiate9]

A friend of mine who is Australian went to visit some family in the US, he went out one night and didnt tip, he got the death stare from his own family lol.

I honestly dont understand how tipping got to that stage, a tip is a nice gesture, but it shouldn't be necessary to be socially acceptable.

I guess our minimum wage is almost double yours, but at the same time our cost of living is almost double, think of games being $110 each for example.

[Tokas]

You obviously don't know the purpose behind tipping. You don't tip because it's mandatory or not. You tip because you're satisfied with the EXTRA service of the waiter/waitress. ofc u pay for the food, but if a waiter/waitress goes an extra mile for you, for let's say, extra salt, second napkin, different sauce than the one on the menu, together with the speed of delivery, may net the waiter/waitress in question an extra dollar/euro. In the US, the wages of waiting personell are so low, the tipping has become mandatory over the years, to make sure they can make a proper living. In principal, its a reward for EXTRA service.

nonsense, so if I don't want tips (for some reason) and someone asks me salt I can just tell them to fuck off?

[FusedMass]

Its interesting.

Most people make you pay a certain amount for a tip off your bill. When you force your customer to pay a tip. Then its not really a tip more of a surtax. They do this because quite frankly. Many people do not tip the required amount. Instead of raising their prices. They rather you pay for the service rather then the owner. Which is a little odd since they are the ones that hired them.

But you are the ones that are actually paying their salary.

[slime]

I'm sorry but that is your JOB as a waitress or waiter. That is what you get payed for to do in the workplace. That is why I said they lower payment and expect tips to make up for it which I find wrong.

And yes, I worked as one too.

In the USA the waiting staff normally gets paid, I believe, like 1/2 of minimum wage - the rest they need to make up in tips. So, if you don't tip them - your waiter/waitress just earned 1/2 of what someone working at mcdonalds made for the time they spent with you. Now, that could mean nothing - you might have ordered a cup of coffee and sat there for a while - then the waiter/waitress didn't really need to spend time on you - so no tip wouldnt be the end of the world. But, if you come in with a party of 10 - constantly asking for a waiter/waitress for custimizations of your order or whatever then your waiter/waitress spent a lot of time and energy at your table and probably expects a tip at minimum to get their pay up to the minimum wage.

Just re-checked and KittyV has it right.. it's even lower than 1/2 minimum wage -so yea - in the USA you don't tip and someone is going home making less money than a person on welfare. Quite a system we got over here.

[zorkuus]

The US usually always tips for extra service. In the rest of the world the extra service isn't so important, we expect a good minimum standard and the rest is meh.

In the "rest" of the world we don't call this extra service, that's why we don't tip. Everything they do is a part of their job already and are getting paid for it.

[Slavemaker]

The only time I don't tip is if I absolutely do not have the money, so far that has not happened yet and I am grateful for it.

[Deleted]

In the USA the waiting staff normally gets paid, I believe, like 1/2 of minimum wage - the rest they need to make up in tips. So, if you don't tip them - your waiter/waitress just earned 1/2 of what someone working at mcdonalds made for the time they spent with you. Now, that could mean nothing - you might have ordered a cup of coffee and sat there for a while - then the waiter/waitress didn't really need to spend time on you - so no tip wouldnt be the end of the world. But, if you come in with a party of 10 - constantly asking for a waiter/waitress for custimizations of your order or whatever then your waiter/waitress spent a lot of time and energy at your table and probably expects a tip at minimum to get their pay up to the minimum wage.

I know, in that case a tip is deserved.

I am not against extra work being rewarded.

I am against the restaurants cutting pays so that tips will have to make up for it.

It really is sad that they do that.

[Nitrax]

If you were actually tipping for extra service... but the service staff I've met in the US are not any more service minded than the staff in Sweden. In the US my friends (that I were out with) always calculated a 10-15% tip or so, only if the service was abysmal it might have been lower, and we almost got thrown out of a coffe bar when we forgot to provide a tip. On the other hand, in Sweden I *do* tip for extra service, things like providing special care for children, getting some extra off the menu if I'm still hungry, responding politely to my suggestions about the food... basically stuff that makes you feel comfortable as a customer.

The way I see it is that yes, the mandatory tipping in the US is because of minimum wages. But you can't just change that easily, so for me it's OK with the mandatory tip its just a cultural thing.

[-Skye]

I tip if I'm happy with the waiter/waitress. I never feel obligated and if I don't want to I won't. If my waiter is kind and friendly and goes that extra mile, I usually give 30% because finding people like that here in the UK is difficult :L

[Unionoob]

In the USA the waiting staff normally gets paid, I believe, like 1/2 of minimum wage - the rest they need to make up in tips. So, if you don't tip them - your waiter/waitress just earned 1/2 of what someone working at mcdonalds made for the time they spent with you. Now, that could mean nothing - you might have ordered a cup of coffee and sat there for a while - then the waiter/waitress didn't really need to spend time on you - so no tip wouldnt be the end of the world. But, if you come in with a party of 10 - constantly asking for a waiter/waitress for custimizations of your order or whatever then your waiter/waitress spent a lot of time and energy at your table and probably expects a tip at minimum to get their pay up to the minimum wage.

Just re-checked and KittyV has it right.. it's even lower than 1/2 minimum wage -so yea - in the USA you don't tip and someone is going home making less money than a person on welfare. Quite a system we got over here.

well, then that should be fixed with law, where they can't pay less then minimum wage, afterall that is "Minimum wage".

[Aous]

Whats even worse is that our Government allows it.

[Strykie]

Its a vicious cycle because the people that end up in jobs that work off tips arent capable people, through education or sense.
You cant say that someone who has been through collage/uni/other ends up waiting tables or delivering pizzas.

Here in Australia the minimum wage is $16, which covers any and all jobs that dont require further education than year 10.
Ofcouse we have more expenses here too because of a higher quality of living, but overall the middle and lower class in Australia are incredibly more wealth than Americans.

[Deleted]

People being underpaid and their employers putting the burden of making up a reasonable salary for them on to their customers. =/

That and a tradition of showing appreciation for good intimate service with a personal payment made specifically to the person who waited on you.