tips in restaurants - moral question

Faith177

PenguinJim wrote: »

You mean, as long as they're only on minimum wage, right? You just implied that you don't tip supermarket staff as they get slightly more than NMW, and outright said that's why you wouldn't tip an insurance broker. (Although you do tip refuse collection executives who earn up to £45k/year for a 24-hour working week..? I thought I might make it through a post in this thread without using the word "arbitrary"... maybe next time!)

I think that would be the awkward part for me. Asking everybody what their hourly salary is, just so that I only tip those on minimum wage.

Actually you can't tip an Insurance Broker as they aren't allowed to accept tips or gifts from clients as per the FCA

Also supermarket staff are not allowed to take money on the till or have money with them on the shop floor so by tipping them you could lose them their job.

smifffy1989

If the meal/waiting staff were ok then I probably wouldn't leave a tip.

If they made it special or I felt they were really doing their job well and making our night out an occasion then I would do about 10% or round up the bill.

Always tip cash, some chains have a dodgy tip policy whereby the company takes a ridiculous admin fee or in some cases the whole tip!

PenguinJim

Faith177 wrote: »

Actually you can't tip an Insurance Broker as they aren't allowed to accept tips or gifts from clients as per the FCA

Also supermarket staff are not allowed to take money on the till or have money with them on the shop floor so by tipping them you could lose them their job.

Okay, so your tipping has nothing to do with minimum wage at all. You were just bringing it up for some other reason. Gotcha! :beer:

Interesting how it's important not to tip people where the rules are against it, but it's also important to tip in cash to avoid tax. On another forum, I wouldn't be so inquisitive, but with this being MSE, I'd expect people to be able to define (if not defend) why they spend their money. My head is spinning... but I think I've learned enough from this thread to start my own tipping system. Here are my criteria:

The sector or job does not affect whether or not I offer a tip.
I ask the potential beggar if they can accept my charity before I offer it.
I must have seen an employee with a moustache (not necessarily the person I'm tipping - it could be on another employee. It does not have to be on their upper lip).
22.9% is the amount of the tip. This goes up by 3.4% every time I hear staff mention the TV show "24" or Kiefer Sutherland. However, if they mention Season One of 24 specifically, I reduce the tip by 72.12%. (Depending on my mood, mentions of Donald Sutherland may suffice for a tip increase)
Reduction of tip by 95.55% if they look up from the floor and make eye contact.
Tips double if they are wearing a digital watch.
If they are wearing an analogue watch, this causes an Inversion! whereby they now have to tip me.
If they were born in 1968 they do not get a tip.
If they were born in 1978 this causes an Inversion! and they now have to tip me.
If their full name has an "r" and a "t" together, they do not get a tip.
All tips are paid over the course of three monthly instalments.

Watch out, everyone who is beneath me! I'm now a TIPPER!

Flat_Eric

I decided not to tip last night after being caught out with paying for bottled water when we could have had lovely free tap water but then got home today and spotted the 12.5 service charge on my bill anyway! I knew the bill didn't add up but having misread the wine menu (saw the price for 500ml wine not a bottle), I didn't spot the service charge. Will have to pay better attention next time...

Kim_kim

purplerose wrote: »

I used to always tip regardless but my boyfriend is really against tipping and it makes sense - if people are paid at least the minimum wage then we shouldn't need to tip and if we didn't tip, maybe employers would raise the wage? I understand where he's coming from and there are lots of service jobs where we don't tip so why tip one and not the other? In saying all that, I generally do tip around 10% but if I think the meal is poor or if the waiting staff is dour faced the entire time then I don't tend to bother any more. My boyfriend nearly fainted when he heard I tip my hairdresser a fiver haha.

I totally agree with this.
People shouldn't have to rely on tips to make a living wage. Restaurants should price the food to include all charges & pay their staff an appropriate wage from their takings.
Then if staff have a bad run of customers or are off sick or on leave they will still get their normal income.
I was a waitress years ago, I only made a decent wage because of tips, but it shouldn't be like that. I should have had a decent income for my hard work all the time, 52 weeks of the year.

firefly5

There are lots of low paid service jobs, I don't get why waiting staff get tips, but it's not customary to tip anyone else. It annoyed me when I worked in shops, because wages are just as low there.

Nick_C

firefly5 wrote: »

There are lots of low paid service jobs, I don't get why waiting staff get tips, but it's not customary to tip anyone else. It annoyed me when I worked in shops, because wages are just as low there.

Then why didn't you go and work in a restaurant instead?

vuvuzela

firefly5 wrote: »

There are lots of low paid service jobs, I don't get why waiting staff get tips, but it's not customary to tip anyone else. It annoyed me when I worked in shops, because wages are just as low there.

It's not just waiting staff. Barbers / hairdressers get tips. Taxi drivers get tips. Bar staff get tips.

missile

kaushal101 wrote: »

....
In our town, we go to a restaurant quite frequently. There too we don't always leave tips. which I don't like. If our bill is around £20, what should we be leaving behind??

Where can two eat a meal for £20 ?????

daytona0

missile wrote: »

Where can two eat a meal for £20 ?????

A pub meal?

Buy a "2 for 6 pound" meal, along with 2-4 drinks = about 20 quid