Tipping is tacitly obligatory. So much so that servers have been known to go after diners who leave less than the expected 15% of their bill. And this is for a good reason. Federal law basically allows bartenders to be paid below minimum wage, with tips going to make up the difference. This is why servers are paid as little as $2.13 per hour in some areas. Even in New York, starting pay is only $5.00 an hour at restaurants.
However, more and more restaurants are starting to ban tipping. It has become common for some restaurants to include gratuity for groups of six or more. Others now include it for all tables and on their menus. Admittedly, this makes a restaurant seem more expensive than one that has lower prices on the menu but expects to be tipped appropriately. People generally don’t think of a tip as an actual amount to factor into the price of a meal.
Why ban tips?
There are several reasons to eliminate tips. First of all, the amount of tips that people leave varies widely and is greatly affected by things as arbitrary and discriminatory as the physical appearance, gender, race and age of the waiter. Other factors include things beyond the server’s control, such as the quality of the food. Diners tend to think that the amount they leave is up to their personal judgment. However, in reality, leaving a bad tip is equivalent to stealing the waiter’s salary.
It remains fundamentally flawed that some select professions have salaries left to the whims of clients. If a lawyer charges $60 per hour, he is paid $60 per hour no matter how his finished work turns out. If a company charges $60 to mow the lawn, you pay them $60 no matter what. If cleaning your teeth costs $60, you pay $60 without first judging how much whiter your teeth have become.
In the restaurant business, “backs” such as cooks and janitors are paid a set amount for a set number of hours worked. If so, why shouldn’t the “front” of the place (the waiters, the bartenders, even the valet) get the same treatment? Just like any other function in a restaurant (or any other job), the waiter brings the expected quantity and quality of labor, so they should be paid a consistent and reliable amount in return.
First of all, the percentage basis is also fundamentally flawed. Does it take less effort to bring you a $2 plate of fries than a $20 sandwich? And how many of us can mentally calculate 15% of anything?