Compulsory Service Charge - what is the UK Law?

takman

unholyangel wrote: »

I leave a tip at restaurants because I know most restaurant staff work long hours for NMW and many of them are students. I know from experience that being on your feet all day/night can be exhausting and despite some people being generous....a lot of people don't tip at all or will only round it up. I know that they usually don't get sick pay and have to be completely clear of any symptoms for 24 hours before they're allowed to return to work. I also know that restaurants operate on narrow profit margins, wages are usually the biggest overhead of a business and that the industry has a lot of competition (hence why usually NMW, as they strive to attract customers over their competitors). Up until relatively recently, they could actually use tips to make up the staffs wages.

And yes, I also tip my mechanic & auto electrician, hairdresser etc if they provide good service. Not necessarily always money though - sometimes a bottle of malt whiskey or a hamper or a voucher of some sort.

Just because someone is doing their job, doesn't mean they don't deserve appreciation for it - especially when doing it well in a friendly & pleasant manner.

Being a waiter/watress is an easy job to get into which requires little skill and minimal training so that's why alot of students do it. So that's why it's a low paid job, but that doesn't mean that customers should have to make up their wages in tips.

If a member of staff is doing a good job and is impressing the customers (which makes them more likely to return) they should be rewarded by their employer who will benefit from the repeat business.

My employer has rules against accepting gifts/money from customers and anything worth more than something like a pen has to be politely rejected (or declared to the company and indirectly donated to charity). My employer will reward any deserving employee themselves. That's the way all employers should operate.

A good example of people who also work long hours on minimum wage are care workers. So It's strange how people feel that you should reward someone who does a good job of bringing them food but not reward the person who is making sure elderly relatives have a safe and comfortable home.

ThumbRemote

steampowered wrote: »

On a £300 bill, £37 is a 12.5% service charge.

That is equivalent to a £3.75 tip on a bill of £30. Doesn't sound so much now does it?

This is the problem. People tend to look at the total amount rather than the percentage. Most people tip 10-15% when dining in a small group. Yet they tip much less in larger groups.

This is why waiters feel stiffed when they have to serve larger tables, and why many restaurants apply a service charge to larger groups.

Which just goes to show how utterly ridiculous tipping is.

Do the pizza require fewer plates carrying if the bill is less? Does charging £6 a pint make it more effort to get right?

Or is it just some arbitrary amount with no basis in reality?

LilElvis

LABMAN wrote: »

unholyangel, malt whiskey....really?!

Good quality grain malt isn't the sole preserve of the Highlands. And no, I don't put ice in mine.

Sicard

unholyangel wrote: »

I leave a tip at restaurants because I know most restaurant staff work long hours for NMW and many of them are students. I know from experience that being on your feet all day/night can be exhausting and despite some people being generous....a lot of people don't tip at all or will only round it up. I know that they usually don't get sick pay and have to be completely clear of any symptoms for 24 hours before they're allowed to return to work. I also know that restaurants operate on narrow profit margins, wages are usually the biggest overhead of a business and that the industry has a lot of competition (hence why usually NMW, as they strive to attract customers over their competitors). Up until relatively recently, they could actually use tips to make up the staffs wages.

And yes, I also tip my mechanic & auto electrician, hairdresser etc if they provide good service. Not necessarily always money though - sometimes a bottle of malt whiskey or a hamper or a voucher of some sort.

Just because someone is doing their job, doesn't mean they don't deserve appreciation for it - especially when doing it well in a friendly & pleasant manner.

Well, I don't know which restaurants you're talking about but the ones run by the likes of Ramsay, Blumenthal, Oliver, Wareing, Hartnett, Galetti, Pierre White, Novelli, Blanc just to mention a few seem to be doing okay. In fact my late sister-in-law and her OH ran a restaurant on Godstone Green and were racking it in and ended up owning three cottages there worth millions. They paid their staff well BTW and didn't impose a silly compulsory service charge.

reason2

i am with others on this..

if a taxi driver charges 8 quid for a trip, and i receive the trip, why am i paying extra for him doing the bare minimum of expectations.

same at restaurants, people take the job knowing the wage and requirements, if they bring the food to my table and take it away when i am done, that is what salary is for.

yet, if i go to KFC, i dont see anyone tipping the servers there, or tesco checkout workers, or lollipop ladies.

its a bizarre concept to me. If one of my projects finishes on time and to plan, none of my coleagues or employers tips me.

Annielou

Going back a couple of posts, I am now happy to pay the compulsory 10% (which will likely be around £40 at a guess), but one little point still nags at me - what is the incentive then for the waiting staff to do a particularly good job (and/or be extra attentive) if they know they are getting that tip come what may, whatever they do or don't do?

DoaM

How do you know the waiting staff (or any other staff for that matter) get any share of a compulsory service charge?

Annielou

Think I will do what unholyangel suggested and ask the waiting staff where the compulsory 10% goes. if they say it gets split equally then fine I will tag it onto the card payment, if it doesn't then I will take it off the bill total and leave it in cash with them. sorted!

martinsurrey

Annielou wrote: »

Think I will do what unholyangel suggested and ask the waiting staff where the compulsory 10% goes. if they say it gets split equally then fine I will tag it onto the card payment, if it doesn't then I will take it off the bill total and leave it in cash with them. sorted!

which will achieve nothing, the BILL includes the COMPULSORY tip, that amount has to go through the till, leaving it in cash just means the server has to go to the till and put the cash you left in, with the card receipt, to make up the total...

LABMAN

LilElvis wrote: »

Good quality grain malt isn't the sole preserve of the Highlands. And no, I don't put ice in mine.

Given where unholyangel lives I'd expect his gratuities to be more usually malt whisky...and I drink far too much of it myself!