Tipping just got more complicated — or did it?
Under new legislation, employers will no longer be able to use tips and service charges to make up the minimum wage salaries of its workers.
However, employers are not obligated to share the money they earn on service charges added to bills with their employees.
Service staff will be able to supplement wages with tips, but will have to declare them as earnings and pay extra National Insurance.
While restaurants will have to decide how they approach service charges, it will still be up to the customer to decide if they want to tip and how much.
In North America, tipping is a common cultural practice. A customer who doesn’t tip is spurned and most non-unionized service staff rely on tips to make up the bulk of their income. Tipping is seen as an incentive to workers for generating efficient service.
Do you think people will tip in Britain if it is voluntary? Do you think service in restaurants, bars and hotels would improve if tipping were commonplace?
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3 comments so far
Yes tipping should be commonplace in the UK. My feelings on this have changed since graduating. Working in Bars and Restaurants, during and after University has helped me clear debt and overdrafts. Tips help me considerably, and with so many graduates in this industry it is a really helpful add-on to the wage. I don’t understand why Taxi tipping is more commonplace than bars and restaurants?
- Posted by Stephen SidloI was pretty surprised to find out that service charges in England go to the employer and not the staff. As a North American used to tipping, I felt that service charges were being collected under false pretenses.
I also worked in restaurants and bars for many years in Canada and the US and always resented the notion that the only reason I would give good service was to earn tips. Lots of people work in service industry jobs and provide good service without being tipped. How about the incentives of fair wages, decent working conditions and recognition and respect for a job well done.
The North American system is quite ridiculous for staff and customers. It adds unnecessary stress to an evening out and workers never know how much they are going to earn. I am not sure that it really works for employers either. It creates one-on-one relationships and loyalties — people follow bartenders rather than bars.
I could go on
but won’t (whew!).
- Posted by CanuckellaWhen I was a student, many years ago, I worked in a restaurant in Le Touquet, France. If anyone asked “is service included” we had to say yes, but what that actually meant was the waitresses’ wages were priced into the cost of the meal. Many tourists, especially Americans, thought this meant they did not have to leave any tip because it was already covered. Any extra money added onto the bottom of credit card slips went straight to the owner and his wife, who often used to pocket coins from the table too! One regular customer was rumoured to be a Rothschild and very rich. He always had the cheapest thing on the menu and never ever left a tip.
- Posted by Lorna