RE: Tipping in the service industry
September 26, 2018 at 6:29 am
(This post was last modified: September 26, 2018 at 6:45 am by Homeless Nutter.)
I hate tipping. Partly because I was born in a communist country, where tipping wasn't common and was mostly seen as
a form of bribery - which incidentally was incredibly popular - or charity, or an obnoxious way capitalist pigs flaunt their wealth in the face of the working man... And partly because I work in hospitality and know, that tipping is a scam, run by employers, in order to minimize costs.
As a chef, I used to not have to rely on tips, because when I started out in the industry, I was paid a flat hourly rate, usually quite a bit higher, than national minimum wage. A lot of the front of house staff were paid way below that minimum and they needed tips to survive. Nowadays - most hospitality workers (in the UK, at least) get a substantial part of their pay in the form of a percentage of "tronc", which is essentially a fund into which all tips and service charge goes. Now, that money is usually not guaranteed and it's often not exactly transparent where all of it goes. Every time I was f*cked over on money by my current employer (and many previous) - it had something to do with "tronc" and the way it was managed.
As a punter - I don't enjoy tipping. It makes me feel uneasy, like I'm bribing someone, or like I'm making a public judgement on their performance. Consequentially - I generally avoid places, where tipping might be expected, unless it's a simple service charge, automatically added to the bill. And as a restaurant worker - I don't really have money to throw around anyway.
a form of bribery - which incidentally was incredibly popular - or charity, or an obnoxious way capitalist pigs flaunt their wealth in the face of the working man... And partly because I work in hospitality and know, that tipping is a scam, run by employers, in order to minimize costs.
As a chef, I used to not have to rely on tips, because when I started out in the industry, I was paid a flat hourly rate, usually quite a bit higher, than national minimum wage. A lot of the front of house staff were paid way below that minimum and they needed tips to survive. Nowadays - most hospitality workers (in the UK, at least) get a substantial part of their pay in the form of a percentage of "tronc", which is essentially a fund into which all tips and service charge goes. Now, that money is usually not guaranteed and it's often not exactly transparent where all of it goes. Every time I was f*cked over on money by my current employer (and many previous) - it had something to do with "tronc" and the way it was managed.
As a punter - I don't enjoy tipping. It makes me feel uneasy, like I'm bribing someone, or like I'm making a public judgement on their performance. Consequentially - I generally avoid places, where tipping might be expected, unless it's a simple service charge, automatically added to the bill. And as a restaurant worker - I don't really have money to throw around anyway.
"The fact that a believer is happier than a skeptic is no more to the point than the fact that a drunken man is happier than a sober one." - George Bernard Shaw
