I have included the entirety of this article because it seems to so simply highlight why pay disparity and 'trickle down' just doesn't work. "I got rid of gratuities at my restaurant, and our service only got better. By Jay Porter":http://www.slate.com/articles/life/culturebox/2013/08/tipless_restaurants_the_linkery_s_owner_explains_why_abolishing_tipping.html?wpsrc=upworthy For more than six years, I ran a restaurant without tips. A couple of years after opening the Linkery restaurant in San Diego, the team and I adopted a policy of adding to each dining-in check a service charge of 18 percent—a little less than our tip average had been. We also refused to accept any payment beyond that service charge. (If someone surreptitiously slipped a twenty or two under a water glass, we donated it to a rotating “charity of the month,” usually selected by a staff member or patron.) We made this change because we wanted to distribute the “tip” revenue to our cooks as well as our servers, making our pay more equitable. Servers and cooks typically made similar base wages—and minimum wage was the same for both jobs—but servers kept all the tips, which could often mean they were taking home three times what the cooks made, or more. In California at that time, it was illegal to distribute any tip money to cooks. (Recent court rulings in the Western U.S. have loosened that restriction somewhat). By replacing tipping with a service charge, we were legally able to redirect about a quarter of that revenue to the kitchen, which reduced the income disparity and helped foster unity on our team. We had considered just incorporating that charge into the cost of each menu item, but we decided that it was easier for consumers to understand our pricing if we kept it analogous to that of a tipped restaurant. In a similar vein, we applied the service charge only to dining-in checks, since tipping is not yet a firmly established social norm for takeout. We used this service charge as a substitute for tipping from 2006 until we closed the restaurant this year to move to San Francisco. When we switched from tipping to a service charge, our food improved, probably because our cooks were being paid more and didn't feel taken for granted. In turn, business improved, and within a couple of months, our server team was making more money than it had under the tipped system. The quality of our service also improved. In my observation, however, that wasn't mainly because the servers were making more money (although that helped, too). Instead, our service improved principally because eliminating tips makes it easier to provide good service. It’s easy to understand why this is. Before I started working in hospitality, I worked in the tech industry, making fancy software for television set-top boxes. I was part of a skilled team in a challenging field, and we were expected to do our best work. Our compensation system followed two basic patterns. First, we negotiated our pay rarely, typically only at the beginning of a project (for freelancers) or once or twice a year (for salaried workers). We weren’t interrupted every hour or so with a trickle of payment that was supposedly based on how well were perceived to have done a recent task. Second, we were compensated by, and we negotiated with, the organization that employed us, not the consumers who benefited from our work. We didn't have to call up the end customers of our products and ask them to pay us for our work. (“Hi, Mr. Jones, I hope you've enjoyed using the auto-record feature on your cable box. You know, it took me like three weeks to write that code and I was wondering if I could get some payment for that.”) These two principles probably apply at your work, too, if you work somewhere other than a restaurant and with your clothes on. They’re a well-established way of compensating people, in part because if you don't have to always think about money, you can focus on doing your job well. Software engineers, marriage counselors, bridge builders, you name the profession—in almost every industry, it's expected you'll be able to do your best work if you're not constantly distracted by compensation issues. Why don't we want that for restaurant servers? I can hear your objection now: How could servers be motivated to do a good job without tips? This is a common question, but it is also a silly question. Servers are motivated to do a good job in the same ways that everyone else is. Servers want to keep their jobs; servers want to get a raise; servers want to be successful and see themselves as professionals and take pride in their work. In any workplace, everyone is required to perform well, and tips have nothing to do with it. The next time you see your doctor, ask her if she wouldn't do better-quality work if she made minimum wage, with the rest of her income from her patients' tips. I suspect the answer will be a version of “no.”

Sorry. Should have at least put spaces between the paragraphs

Of course, you could just pay people properly in the first place. I don’t understand tipping at all. It really is rather demeaning in the powerplay sense.

Having said that, we have tipped for outstanding service at times. But then growing up in Australia tipping is not really a part of the culture.

Riff-in-Thyme said:

Sorry. Should have at least put spaces between the paragraphs

The link works just fine :)

A few comments:

It’s very N America-centric (although to be fair, it does recognise in the final paragraph that in other continents the service charge approach is already common).

But they haven’t abolished tipping, they have made it compulsory and fixed rate, and distributed it to all the staff (it boggles the mind that this is or was illegal in “the land of the free”).

I really wonder if the service has improved. Could this be confirmation bias?

Lots of people in other industries have constant negotiations for income. Almost everyone who is self-employed does. Does this mean that self-employed people do a worse job? I very much doubt it.

In summary, I think that distributing a proportion of income to all staff, in addition to their base wage, is an entirely sensible and fair thing to do, but I also think that the author of the article was stretching his bow a little too far.

The Rev Dodgson said:

Riff-in-Thyme said:

Sorry. Should have at least put spaces between the paragraphs

The link works just fine :)

A few comments:

It’s very N America-centric (although to be fair, it does recognise in the final paragraph that in other continents the service charge approach is already common).

The biggest reason I posted this article is it seems a good(though limited) study of the effect of pay equalization.

Riff-in-Thyme said:

The Rev Dodgson said:

Riff-in-Thyme said:

Sorry. Should have at least put spaces between the paragraphs

The link works just fine :)

A few comments:

It’s very N America-centric (although to be fair, it does recognise in the final paragraph that in other continents the service charge approach is already common).

The biggest reason I posted this article is it seems a good(though limited) study of the effect of pay equalization.

I don’t think it is though.

Mmmm, it makes sense that distributing the tips to the kitchen improved the cooking, which could in turn lead to more tips and more customers. I just wonder how he tested that the service got better.

The Rev Dodgson said:

Riff-in-Thyme said:

The Rev Dodgson said:

The link works just fine :)

A few comments:

It’s very N America-centric (although to be fair, it does recognise in the final paragraph that in other continents the service charge approach is already common).

The biggest reason I posted this article is it seems a good(though limited) study of the effect of pay equalization.

I don’t think it is though.

You don’t think it is a good limited study? How would you provide better statistics for this type of setting?

Riff-in-Thyme said:

The Rev Dodgson said:

Riff-in-Thyme said:

The biggest reason I posted this article is it seems a good(though limited) study of the effect of pay equalization.

I don’t think it is though.

You don’t think it is a good limited study? How would you provide better statistics for this type of setting?

1) Distribute the entire restaurant income equally (on a $/hour worked basis) between all employees, including managers.
2) Have an independent person or group review the quality of food and service before and after the change.
3) Remove “tipping” properly, that is just list the total price for all items, rather than adding a “service charge”.

3) Remove “tipping” properly, that is just list the total price for all items, rather than adding a “service charge”.

—-

There might be taxation considerations.

buffy said:

Of course, you could just pay people properly in the first place. I don’t understand tipping at all. It really is rather demeaning in the powerplay sense.

Having said that, we have tipped for outstanding service at times. But then growing up in Australia tipping is not really a part of the culture.

I find the tipping protocol in different countries quite difficult to understand and quite intimidating at times. In Germany, in some places, a waitress would hover over you while you worked out exactly 15% in loose change for a couple of beers, in a strange currency, and scowl at you if you got it wrong or got confused. And if you asked to put the drinks on your hotel room, that was the end of service. In Denmark, where the booklets said there was no tipping, we were abused by the bellhop at a hotel who got us a taxi, because we didn’t tip him. In America, I simply asked the waitress in one place what to do about tipping. That caused some amusement.

Like buffy, I sometimes leave a tip at a restaurant if the service is outstanding, but I hope that tipping doesn’t spread as a culture.

I expect excellent service for the price on the bill.

if the price on the bill is not high enough to afford me this excellent service, then charge what is required. if that is too much for me, then I will go elsewhere..

it’s really as easy that.

morrie said:

Like buffy, I sometimes leave a tip at a restaurant if the service is outstanding, but I hope that tipping doesn’t spread as a culture.

I think it is a condescendingly pretentious tradition that belongs back in the ages of monarchy.

Riff-in-Thyme said:

morrie said:

Like buffy, I sometimes leave a tip at a restaurant if the service is outstanding, but I hope that tipping doesn’t spread as a culture.

I think it is a condescendingly pretentious tradition that belongs back in the ages of monarchy.

I hope not, as I see the monarchy as a valuable and import way to depoliticize the office of head of state..

Dropbear said:

Riff-in-Thyme said:

morrie said:

Like buffy, I sometimes leave a tip at a restaurant if the service is outstanding, but I hope that tipping doesn’t spread as a culture.

I think it is a condescendingly pretentious tradition that belongs back in the ages of monarchy.

I hope not, as I see the monarchy as a valuable and import way to depoliticize the office of head of state..

It does not reflect directly on any monarchy but on the idea that the wealthy are ‘naturally’ superior.

Dropbear said:

Riff-in-Thyme said:

morrie said:

Like buffy, I sometimes leave a tip at a restaurant if the service is outstanding, but I hope that tipping doesn’t spread as a culture.

I think it is a condescendingly pretentious tradition that belongs back in the ages of monarchy.

I hope not, as I see the monarchy as a valuable and import way to depoliticize the office of head of state..

lulz.. import… aint that the truth ;)

Riff-in-Thyme said:

Dropbear said:

Riff-in-Thyme said:

I think it is a condescendingly pretentious tradition that belongs back in the ages of monarchy.

I hope not, as I see the monarchy as a valuable and import way to depoliticize the office of head of state..

It does not reflect directly on any monarchy but on the idea that the wealthy are ‘naturally’ superior.

Shrug.. the “customer” indirectly pays the salary of all involved in providing the service.. does that make them ‘naturally superior’ or just ‘the customer’

So we’re all agreed?
Tipping is un-Australian.

That’s a relief.

unless it’s cow tipping then that is ok.

ChrispenEvan said:

unless it’s cow tipping then that is ok.

and tipping on the horses.

The Rev Dodgson said:

So we’re all agreed?
Tipping is un-Australian.

That’s a relief.

Rubbish!

I just tipped 9 in this weekends round of footy and won $60 for my effort.

wots this thread about by the way?

:)

The Rev Dodgson said:

So we’re all agreed?
Tipping is un-Australian.

That’s a relief.

I’ll give you a tip-“be good to your mother”

I wrote a story. It’s called, “what my foot did on it’s way to your ass!”

hehe

sibeen said:

The Rev Dodgson said:

So we’re all agreed?
Tipping is un-Australian.

That’s a relief.

Rubbish!

I just tipped 9 in this weekends round of footy and won $60 for my effort.

wots this thread about by the way?

:)

Julia Gillard has created an account and is continuing her class struggle BS

Who decided that an extra cash payment to people for doing what they are paid to do should be called a “tip” anyway?

>>I expect excellent service for the price on the bill.

if the price on the bill is not high enough to afford me this excellent service, then charge what is required. if that is too much for me, then I will go elsewhere..

it’s really as easy that.<<

And there I go again, agreeing with Droppy. I think maybe I should not take Mondays as a non consulting day, it may be affecting my judgement…..

:)

buffy said:

And there I go again, agreeing with Droppy.

Droppy is always right.

Except for those times when he’s wrong of course.

used to be called a gratuity, didn’t it?

The Rev Dodgson said:

Who decided that an extra cash payment to people for doing what they are paid to do should be called a “tip” anyway?

in the states restaurant servers get paid about $2/hr…so the tips are veryveryvery important

used to be called a gratuity, didn’t it?

monopoly rules! ok?

The Rev Dodgson said:

Who decided that an extra cash payment to people for doing what they are paid to do should be called a “tip” anyway?

Those who decided that $3/hr was a sufficient salary, one assumes

Dropbear and Buffy
Sitting in a tree
A-G-R-E-E-I-N-G

Dropbear said:

The Rev Dodgson said:

Who decided that an extra cash payment to people for doing what they are paid to do should be called a “tip” anyway?

Those who decided that $3/hr was a sufficient salary, one assumes

I assume one of the benefits to the employees is that income is moved from official (“taxable”) to cash-in-hand (“non-taxable”).

Carmen_Sandiego said:

Dropbear said:

The Rev Dodgson said:

Who decided that an extra cash payment to people for doing what they are paid to do should be called a “tip” anyway?

Those who decided that $3/hr was a sufficient salary, one assumes

I assume one of the benefits to the employees is that income is moved from official (“taxable”) to cash-in-hand (“non-taxable”).

Nyet. The IRS makes an assumption on how much a person receives on tips and taxes accordingly. If they don’t receive any tips they still pay the tax.

At least that’s how one yank described the situation to me.

is already been noted, but the tax system plays a large role in any reforms in this area.

sibeen said:

Carmen_Sandiego said:

Dropbear said:

Those who decided that $3/hr was a sufficient salary, one assumes

I assume one of the benefits to the employees is that income is moved from official (“taxable”) to cash-in-hand (“non-taxable”).

Nyet. The IRS makes an assumption on how much a person receives on tips and taxes accordingly. If they don’t receive any tips they still pay the tax.

At least that’s how one yank described the situation to me.

kinda… you are meant to report your tips to your employer and they then calculate the amount of tax that is withheld – of course any unreported tips are still considered taxable but I’m thinking the IRS isn’t investing too much time into identifying tax fraud on tips

Carmen_Sandiego said:

Dropbear said:

The Rev Dodgson said:

Who decided that an extra cash payment to people for doing what they are paid to do should be called a “tip” anyway?

Those who decided that $3/hr was a sufficient salary, one assumes

I assume one of the benefits to the employees is that income is moved from official (“taxable”) to cash-in-hand (“non-taxable”).

Not a benefit to the country though, who miss out on taxes..

I see that’s been dealt with

The Rev Dodgson said:

and distributed it to all the staff (it boggles the mind that this is or was illegal in “the land of the free”).

I think in theory, there are supposed to be different pay minima for “tipped” and “untipped” jobs. Untipped jobs like cooks, busboys, cleaners etc are supposed to get a higher base rate to start with, and the tips are just for the waiting staff to make up the difference between their theoretical lower base rate and what the actual minimum wage is.

Also, in theory, if tips don’t make up to the official minimum wage, the employer is supposed to make up the difference. But that pretty much never happens. And there’s all sorts of variations between federal labour laws, state labour laws, local city/council laws…

Angus Prune said:

Also, in theory, if tips don’t make up to the official minimum wage, the employer is supposed to make up the difference. But that pretty much never happens. And there’s all sorts of variations between federal labour laws, state labour laws, local city/council laws…

Legitimizing tipping as a wage method seems criminal in any era but the 20’s