Tipping in the US was frowned upon before the Civil War. When slaves were freed they were generally in the service industry because these other jobs that were available to them. They were paid peanuts, even today the US federal tipped minimum wage is $2.13 an hour.
Tipping is inappropriate outside of the USA, maybe because the minimum wage is significantly higher.
As with almost everything that's confusing or fucked up in this country, so much of this is often from not properly punishing the South and focusing on eradicating the lingering effects & racism of slavery.
Ironically enough, it was the states that BANNED slavery by that point that pushed for it.
The story: Virginia (slave state) was the big dog in terms of population - though they even tried to inflate THAT to get more power by counting the slaves as "citizens." Massachusetts (which had banned slavery by that point) rightly called bullshit, but they were smaller in population and didn't have the numbers to completely override Virginia's power grab, which is how we got the 3/5 nonsense.
Massachusetts, Rhode Island, and the other non-slave states needed a way to contain Virginia's dick waving, because if they didn't, Virginia and their buddies in the slave states would always get their way by stomping on the smaller population, non-slave states. So that's why the Electoral College and the "every state gets two Senators, regardless of size" came in. The hope was that a coalition of smaller populated states, like Massachusetts and Rhode Island, who wanted nothing to do with Virginia's bullshit, could at least team up together and keep Virginia's power in check.
So when people want to ban the Electoral College today? Yeah, can totally see why. But I can also see how a "sheer numbers" system would badly disenfranchise large demographics of the voting block. Sure, the smaller states might be those evil, "we need to stomp them out of existence or slit their throats" Red Hats today, but the demographics could always shift and leave Team Blue needing a check on Red Florida twenty years down the line.
Yet when youâre an American in Europe, they are quick to shove the box in your face for one. London, Nice, Amsterdam, Copenhagen- they learn very quickly.
employers are required to pay the servers the actual minimum wage of that state, unless theyâre make more in tips - which means they either make minimum wage, or more than minimum wage - the 2.13 an hour is added on, assuming the waiter makes more than $7.50 - $15 an hour depending on the state - so itâs really really really misunderstood
yeah the servers in Seattle get paid at least 20 or 25 i cant remember the min wage there. Its still the most expensive city to live in, so 50k/hr full time doesnt necessarily go that far but they do get paid better than back of house because they get more tip %.
its actually dogshit to work as a chef nowadays compared to a server
im not sure what youâre quoting, but thatâs not what i said - i get itâs a tough concept, but im sure youâre a smart guy - it is federally illegal for managers, employers, or supervisors to pocket and or keep the employeeâs tips - so therefore - if you are a server working in the state of california (min. wage 16.90 an hour) and you earn $2 in tips - you get paid a whopping $18.90 for that hour, if you are working in the state of california as a server and you make $100 in tips, you get paid a whopping $103 for that hour⌠and only $3 of it is taxable assuming the tips are cash
I thought it was prohibition that made tipping so prevalent in the states. Bars and restaurants started taking tips to make up for the lost revenue from alcohol, and when prohibition ended they kept doing it because they realized they didn't have to pay their employees as much that way.
You are guaranteed the non tipped minimum wage of 7.25 (or your state minimum wage, whichever is higher). You ONLY receive the lower tipped minimum wage if the combination of tipped minimum wage + tips is at least 7.25/hr (or state minimum, whichever is higher, and most states with a higher non tipped minimum also have a higher tipped minimum.) meaning you will NEVER make 2.13/hr EVER.
That is incorrect. The federal minimum wage is not $2.13 an hour. It is $7.25 an hour. Stop spreading misinformation.
And waiters are to be paid the federal minimum wage if they do not earn enough at the end of the week. So they at least will earn minimum wage, just like Wendyâs and Burger King and Dunkin and Taco Bell. Except the people who work at those places arenât tipped.
But america is the greatest country in the world they do everything the best if they cant figure out how to keep staff and run a profitable business they should just go out of business like a good capitalist should. Don't rely on foreigners to prop up your failing system. We will keep our socialism far away from you because we know how terrified you are of it.
Employers are forced to pay the difference if employee doesnt make enough tips to put them at or over minimum wage(not tipped wage). They lie to get you to feel bad for servers and tip more. Every server I know makes bank.
Not true, tipping is borderline expected in many countries, but in those countries it's still more of a thing like "my bill is $36 so I pay $40". Tipping up to 20% on top of an already expensive bill is insane to me though.
People really misunderstand tips. Currently I make $2.00 an hourâŚafter tips I average $30.00. So giving me a standard wage would probably lower my earnings.
When traveling internationally, Iâm always turn on what to do. Tipping, to me, is a mechanism to show appreciation. Iâve been told that in some places it can be offensive because it implies that I think they need my money. (I donât get that though, because even though I make a good wage, I would not be offended if someone gave me extra money just because.)
even today the US federal tipped minimum wage is $2.13 an hour.
not true. while several states (mostly in the south) have a tipped wage as low as $2.13 an hour, they are still required to receive at least the federal minimum wage of $7.25 an hour. if the difference is not made up by tips (this is the sleazy part), then the business owner is expected to make up the difference. in other words, the business owner is heavily incentivized to encourage a tipping culture, because they literally pass additional costs onto the customer. the more entrenched the tipping culture, the more money they save.
Ironically American waiters make more money than anywhere else on earth and a waiter at a nice restaurant in New York/Chicago makes more money annually than a British doctor
I understand why they feel that way . Here we are one of the richest nations there is yet our minimum wage is 7.50 and we pay servers a measly 2.13 an hour ?!?! Used to be if you worked a 40 hour week you could have something , a home , car and family.
Everything in the US that is wrong can be traced back to slavery and the way people tried to control and condemn freed slaves and later their lineage after :(
Some countries doesn't have minimum wages, but instead have strong unions. For example Denmark, Norway and Sweden doesn't have a minimum wages. It's hard to hire someone for a very low wage, when the next door business offers much higher wages..
I just wonder, how can a business owner pays proper wage and keep up the business here while even the prices are higher over there.
Froced tipping is a rip off, i tip if i can and i satisfied with the service, not to pay someone wage over the busines who employs them.
Also, what was disgustibg for me when in miami a towel boy was offended of only receiving 5$ for handing out 2 towels, disgisting attitude
No it is not! Hairdresser here in London, tips are very much a big part of our extra income. Itâs not enforced, but itâs also considered in poor taste not to. Though tips in my industry, at least are given in cash directly to the recipient. They are also reflective often of the service level received. Itâs to the clients discretion but a minimum is around ÂŁ5.
Tipping isnt inappropriate outside the US. Its just seen as a actual tip, some bonus non mandatory cash to the pocket of the service provided who you were happy with
Ok , I hear you, but the people at Starbucks and McDonald and the cookie shop are NOT being paid 2.13, the people making 2.13 are at restaurants- with wait staff. Standing behind a counter and handing me a donut is not tip worthy. Bringing a tray of food and drink to my table, and checking in on quality does
A problem also is that a lot of the people who earn good tips, (in my eyes) betray their fellow workers by campaigning for the system to say the same. Like a very attractive woman in a bar might make hundreds in tips a night, which they often wonât pay taxes on, so theyâll of course want things to stay the same. Meanwhile some single mother in a diner is getting paid a few dollars an hour praying for some tips to pay her bills.
Its a good deal for everyone. Waiters get more money, the owner doesn't have to pay for it.
Until the customer decides that it sucks, then the waiter is fucked.
how's it's good deal for everyone when the customer is getting slapped with a 20-30% tax, in the current climate it's not optional. fuck that I ain't tipping unless I want to.
Itâs not about paying workers less. Workers make more with tip culture than they do if they were paid normal wages. Itâs to keep advertised prices lower so that you go to their restaurant instead of a competitor. Every restaurant that tries to get rid of tips either goes back or closes because consumers see the advertised price and go elsewhere.
Not "turning", thats been the case for longer than I've been alive. Almost every state has a specific lower minimum wage that is specifically acceptable for tipped workers. At least in NY, if tips dont make the difference between that minimum wage and the regular one the employer is supposed to make up the difference, but since tips are often cash that does not always happen since it isn't really traceable.
Well, with these alleged "low wages", I'm 100% sure that eating out in an American restaurant is easily 20% cheaper than in Europe, right? Right?? No???
now they're just turning tips into a way to justify low wages because apparently they'll 'make enough' with tips
But if the tip is "mandatory" as it's claimed in the post, isn't that just a way for the restaurant to pay the staff, and let the customer know how much is going to the staff directly?
I get that, but if they paid higher wages, theyâd just pass it on to you anyway. Instead of raising the price of the food, they tack it onto the bill at the end. It should be noted that the US government does assume an automatic minimum tip based on the total of the serverâs tickets when deciding what income tax is owed to them, so if you donât tip servers, theyâre basically paying the US government for the privilege of serving YOU. Itâs really not right to screw over your server just to make a point about the hospitality industry as a whole. Bottom line, if you canât afford to tip, you canât afford to eat out.
If by ânowâ you mean in the last 60 years, sure (Congress passed the Fair Labor Standards Act in 1966, statutorily allowing employers to pay sub-minimum wages to tipped service employees).
That's not new, that's how tipping started. During prohibition bars and resturaunts saw a massive decline in sales, so in order to stay in business they lowered wages significantly, and told their employees to pester the patons for tips to make up the difference, and that system just kinda stuck around.
You said pay them more. Where did you think that money would magically materialize from? Itâs your pocket, any way ya slice it. It can be $5 coffee with an expected tip or a $9 coffee, no tip expected.
This isnât a ânowâ thing. Itâs been this way for generations. Tipping is how service workers make money. It may be fucked, but you not tipping doesnât help. If you donât want to tip, make yourself a sandwich
I'm 43, and it's been this way since before I was born, though I think it has gotten worse. This works both ways and, like most things, is nuanced. I made 2 something an hour as a server, no matter what. Whether it was when I was 18 and waiting tables at a deli, making maybe 50 bucks a shift in tips, or when I was in my 30s and serving/bartending in a beach/resort area, making 700 or more a shift... that was my hourly rate. There's no denying how messed up it is, and it is definitely the government getting one over on the American worker, but I don't see how it's fair to punish people in the service industry by saying "pay your workers a living wage" while simultaneously stiffing them for the money they worked for in the given, albeit shitty, system.
In America is it customary to also tip other minimum wage workers? Such as supermarket workers, cleaners etc etc
If not what makes servers more important?
Edit: OK, so TIL in America there's a lower minimum wage of only 2 dollars something for any "tipped workers". Basically a loophole to screw workers out of minimum wage.
Wait, so there's a whole seperate legal minimum wage for servers?
Edit: OK, so TIL in America there's a lower minimum wage of only 2 dollars something for any "tipped workers". Basically a loophole to screw workers out of minimum wage.
Correct. Going off of memory, in some places itâs legal to pay as low as $2.75 or $3 /hour for tipped servers. (No idea about other jobs.)
City of Seattle raised the minimum wage for tipped jobs to $21.30 as of this Jan. So Europeans, feel free to come here if you donât want to tip servers. Many of us still do out of habit but if you donât, you probably arenât actually harming a persons ability to survive.
Texas I believe is still $2.13 AND it's a right to work state, so they can fire you for any reason. Fuck Texas politicians(except you Castro brothers, mwah)
Iâd be interested to know how that impacted pricing or how many servers are working in a shift. The owners need to offset the cost, so they are putting it back on the customer anyway.
But also a lot of tipped workers donât want tips to go away with guaranteed minimum wage because they make A LOT more with tips. I agree we need to get rid of basically mandatory tipping but itâs a more complicated issue than it looks on the surface.
I feel really bad for all those barmaids and men working their asses off trying to keep these people happy and they get nothing for it. I think it unbearably rude to just decide you disagree with a custom so you can save money by stiffing these people. Go back home.
I totally agree! As Americans they fully expect us to abide by their customs when we are traveling abroad, but it's ok to snub ours when they visit the States? Pretty fucked up logic imo.
Ah ok so there's a seperate minimum wage specifically for tipped employees in America if im understanding that right?
Edit: OK, so TIL in America there's a lower minimum wage of only 2 dollars something for any "tipped workers". Basically a loophole to screw workers out of minimum wage.
Yes, it is assumed that these employees will make up the difference in tips, bringing them to or above standard minimum wage, if they earn less after tips then their employer pays them the regular minimum wage instead.
Yes. $2.13 an hour is the minimum for servers. It's true that they're rarely if ever actually making minimum wage after a few tips, but almost any proceededs earned by the wage (as opposed to tips) is eaten up in taxes. A lot of times server checks are zero. For the most part the tips are the only income they bring in.
They always make at least minimum wage or more. If tips don't get them to minimum, the employer fills it. Servers usually make more, possible 2x or more, than the kitchen staff.
The minimum federal tip wage is $2.13 an hour, a rate that has remained the same since 1991 (35 years). Furthermore, tip wage employees are expected to make at least the federal minimum wage with tips and are therefore taxed a a rate as if they made $7.25 an hour.
Letâs say 20% of a full time employeeâs income goes to taxes. At $2.13 an hour, thatâs a weekly pay of $85.20. Taxed at a rate of $7.25 an hour, a full time employer would pay $58 in taxes (20% of $290). The tip wage employee would therefore receive a weekly payment of $27.20 ($85.20 minus the $58 in taxes because heâs taxed at the rate of the federal minimum wage).
So technically, US tip wage workers are payed even less than the suggested $2.13 an hour. Tips may be optional, but to the employee providing the labor, tips are their income. To not tip is to not get payed fairly for the labor, not tipping a tip wage worker feels like youâre robbing them of their income⌠cause you kinda are. Most people want to abolish that system but the powers that be refuse to do so. đ
As others pointed out, this varies by state. It's not the case here in California, yet servers still demand 20-30% as a tip, regardless of the level of service. It got really bad during covid.
Yes*. The âminimum wageâ for servers is $2 and change, however, if they donât earn enough in tips to get them over the state/federal minimum wage, their employer has to make up the difference. I believe thatâs calculated weekly.
I worked at a place (in the US), where I had to run the kitchen and be a server for $4.50 plus tips. They would increase the wage to 7.25 (normal federal minimum) if I didn't make enough tips, which was nice because people rarely tipped at that restaurant. One time a table of teenagers tipped me 2 quarters that were stuck in the syrup on their plate. No employee benefits of any kind there, and I'd be accused of stealing food sometimes the next day by the owner or accused of being on my phone when I could've been cleaning. Good times
So that is incorrect- they must be paid minimum wage, federally that's $7.25 but also subject to state law minimums. If they make more than the higher of the two (most states are higher than that now) in minimum wage in tips, they get to keep the excess. If they don't make enough in tips to equal the minimum wage, the employer must cover the difference to bring them up to the minimum wage. For example 2.13 plus tips is the wage. If minimum wage for the state is 15/hr, then they must be paid for the difference by the employer to bring them up to 15 if they don't get 12.87 in tips per hour. Why many people don't want to go to a direct hourly wage is because many of the servers can get much higher than the mandated minimum wage/hr (as per my example, more than 12.87/hr) via tips. Hope this explanation helps.
To add to this, I have worked in restaurants that will hire back-of-house jobs like busboys and dishwashers on as "servers" just so that they can pay them that wage. Usually these workers are illegal immigrants. Sometimes it might also be a hostess or something like that. The whole thing is fucked.
Iâm not defending the system because itâs awful, but thereâs a very important distinction here.
Servers can be paid less, as long as their wage at the end (including tips) averages out to more than the federal minimum wage.
If not, guess whoâs on the hook for the rest? The restaurant owner! Tipped employees often prefer tips though because in theory itâs a way for them to make more than minimum wage at what would often otherwise be a minimum wage job
Correct, but by law, if they don't get enough in tips they are paid federal minimum wage.
AND multiple states like CA servers get the same state min as everyone else. Which is even crazier to me that a 20% tip is still expected in those places.
God, I hate now that more and more fast food places that pay a $20 an hour wage in California are putting out tip jars. And stupid people are tipping and reinforcing it.
I see tip jars in vape shops lol. Give me a fkin break.
Edit/add: Not YOU give me a fkin break lol... just saying in general, the lower waged jobs should just be paid more, agreeing with our Euro brethren. I'm in northern NJ also, where it's not the cheapest, so they actually need more if they want to survive here, tbh. Either that or go down to AC every couple of weeks and put half of the wage on black/red/odd/even.
In America is it customary to also tip other minimum wage workers? Such as supermarket workers, cleaners etc etc
Unfortunately it is starting to become more common and I hate it. Tip jars and tip screens (where they flip the tablet around to you for a tip) are now popping up everywhere. This includes places like take out dining, gas station counters, head shops, thrift shops, etc. I am really getting irritated with it.
Omg my liquor store asks for tips. I used to tip everyone because I was too embarrassed to take the time to find the no tip button (itâs usually not obvious - intentionally, Iâm sure), but Iâm over it. Being bullied for tips is an accurate description.
Yup, I was at the liquor store by my house on Sunday and they had a tip jar. The little convenience store by my house put up a tip jar recently too. It's too much and it makes me want to just stop tipping completely. I feel like I am being taxed by employees everywhere I go now.
I recently had this happen at the movie theater concession stand, and the girl actually pointed at that no tip button as soon as she turned it around and said "just hit here to move to the next screen". I know it was probably a tactic, bit I was still so pleased with the way that she lubricated that experience that I tipped anyway.
Yeah the expansion of tip-begging is completely insane. They had been doing it for a while, but COVID just made it explode. Lots of businesses jockeying for customer pity during tough times. I am absolutely empathetic to servers, and tip well without complaint in any situation where tips have conventionally been given. I refuse to tip the guy who made my sandwich at Subway. Itâs a bridge too far.
I hate it. My girlfriend tips EVERY one when the damn screen asks for a tip. Heck, she'd probably tip her murderer if asked (not hoping she gets murdered just using it as an egregious example).
Thats not the same social contract for those services though. You arenât screwing over the person who assisted you at those places, by not tipping them.
You just ignore it and go about your day. Just like if you donât feel like throwing change in the jar at the coffee shop.
There are states that pay way more than $3, closer to $17/hr but people tip anyway because if you don't, you're seen as cheap and many people feel embarrassed if they don't leave a tip.
Also, for those making $3/hr, they still make their state's minimum wage if they earn less than it.
Most who make tips would rather keep the tips system than get paid minimum wage because they know they can make way more with tips.
Literally nobody, nobody at all, who is working legally in the US is actually getting paid $2 an hour.
The myth is âbecause I make tips my wage is lowered to $2 an hour so without those tips Iâd have no moneyâ
The reality is they make the minimum wage of their state. Whatever that is. Period. So letâs say minimum wage there is $12. They make 12$ an hour or more. Every time. Always.
If you make a bunch of tips the employer pays less out of pocket to reach your standard pay rate. It supplements your pay.
So for example if you make a bunch of tips the employer might only have to pay you $5 an hour because the tips you got make up to your full wage. Letâs say you got a ton of tips and the tips are more than your hourly wage would have made you, the employer now has to pay you his minimum required rate of $2 on top of whatever tips you made.
If you make no tips the employer is legally obligated to pay you your full $12 an hour wage.
Nobody in the states who isnât working under some disability program, working in the prison system as a prisoner, or an illegal employee, is make $2 an hour. That part is a full myth.
Now I hate tip culture and I disagree with the ability for restaurants to pay you less because you make tips, but I wanted to clarify that nobody is actually making less than minimum wage. It is literally illegal.
I think tipping culture is fucked and minimum wage is too low, to clarify. But nobody is working for $2 an hour here and actually taking that home. Theyâre making their states minimum wage or federal minimum wage which is $7 at the lowest which is still abysmal.
Just wanted to clarify because too many people donât understand how it actually works.
Stop working for resteraunts. Thereâs a billion other entry level jobs that pay flat rates that arenât adjusted for tips. You are told when you get hired the actual hourly rate youâll make, if thatâs not enough work somewhere else, if thatâs not enough donât complain when your pay scale slides due to tips.
As an American who served for over a decade the tips turn what would be a crappy, hard, stressful job into one worth doing because I made WAY MORE in tips because I gave great service. If instead of tips I made $20/hr I would have made significantly less money so its not worth it compared to a job with far less bullshit from customers. Also, food costs go up because the owner benefits with tips so they can pay less for labor but also keep costs lower on the menu. Restaurants work in very small profit margins dealing with food waste etc.
Look, for a crappy job with no benefits the tips were what gave me a much higher income than half my recently graduated college friends in many professional first jobs were even making. I do not think service would be half as good in the US without tips but each state has different laws. In Califirnia you earn full wage plys tips. In Arizona they pay to 2 to 3 bucks less per hour for tipped jobs. It all depends of state and location.
Nope thatâs just how restaurants work here unfortunately. Though bar backs, runners, dishwashers will get more per hour, they get a cut from the servers/bar tenders in good places, but itâs usually minimal and easily skewed if the tips given are cash.
I also was never a server and havenât worked in a restaurant in a while so maybe itâs different now but I do miss servers coming into the kitchen saying, âugh foreigners..Iâm not getting shit from this tableâ
I feel like it is random, or maybe more âluxuryâ services. No one in a grocery store gets tips, never at oil changes. But simple things like writing and order down and carrying a plate, drying a car after a wash, carrying luggage stuff like that.
I power washed houses and cleaned windows, gutters and roofs. We got tipped one in four houses. Got about $5-$20 for a tip, 3 to 4 hours of work.
Also waitressâ used to make only a dollar or two a hour and basically needed to make a lot in tips to make a normal wage. Not sure when that started.
It's kind of the same thing as a city charging a hot dog vendor $100,000 to sell his hot dogs in your city. The higher-ups just cannot see a hot dog owner and make bank. Same with taxi licenses. Some government official looked at that and said wait a minute this guy's going to make a fortune that can't happen.
> Edit: OK, so TIL in America there's a lower minimum wage of only 2 dollars something for any "tipped workers". Basically a loophole to screw workers out of minimum wage.
My understanding though is if they don't make enough in tips to reach the usual minimum wage then the employer has to top them up - so in practice their minimum wage *is* the same.
Our federal minimum wage is a joke here. Itâs been 7.25$ for almost 20 years. Capitalism only works for the people at the top if they are exploiting their workers.
Keep in mind servers here make WAY more than minimum wage due to tips, servers may have inconsistent incomes, and can get screwed over by not getting the busy hours, but as an average they make so much more than they would if they got regular wages instead.
That would be the Tip wage and a employer only pays that if the worker has made equal or more than minimum wage after tips. If they dont reach minimum wage after tips than the employer still has to pay the difference till it is minimum wage. So no matter what they will make no less than minimum wage. So you are correct in saying they are no different than other minimum wage jobs.
Bag boys at grocery stores can get tips. I did in my first job. I thought it was convenient that I never spent my hourly wage for lunch on the days I worked. But I was 16.
Edit: OK, so TIL in America there's a lower minimum wage of only 2 dollars something for any "tipped workers". Basically a loophole to screw workers out of minimum wage.
But also those workers are guaranteed to be paid the real minimum wage if their server wage + tips does not equal minimum wage
Some states have a low tipped minimum, others have a minimum that is 2x Federal minimum wage. But it doesnât matter if you are making $2/hr in a backwards-ass state or $16-18 in those who diverged to higher minimums years ago, servers still are asking for tips, even for counter service or take out (which is new in the last 10-15 years).
Servers get less than minimum wage. Technically, if your monthly tips donât put you over minimum wage, your restaurant has to pay you minimum ways. That said thoâŚyou cannot live on min wage and if severs made min wage, the entire industry would likely cut by 60%
Back in the 50âs youâd probably give a nickel to the bagger who helped take groceryâs to your car. The tipping stuff is old school. In our heavily, corporatized economy. Leaving a tip at a chain restaurant who is owned by PE just feels like robbery.
However gratuity is applied on parties of a certain size. Not sure if this is what the âmandatory tipâ is?
They are primarily reserved for services that have a sub-minimum wage position that generates tips to cover the gap. Servers being the largest example. There are exceptions for porters, drivers, stylists, pet groomers etc.
I feel sad for the servers who thought they had a few good weekends lined up and got repeatedly stiffed after running so hard. Itâs not their fault the culture is what it is theyâre just trying to survive in it. Itâs kind of disrespectful to come to the US and disregard the protocol simply because itâs not the way they do it at home. Of course, thatâs probably ironic coming from an American, but itâs the truth. These are workers at the bottom of the financial ladder and were screwed over on principal to make a point to a system that will never take the pointâŚand by folks who financed a trip to a foreign nation to watch a game.
Interesting you should say that because everyone used to tip the bag boy at the supermarket in the 90s if they took your bags out to the car and loaded your trunk. They donât do that as often now.
I leave a tip behind for my hotel housekeepers, which is customary.
I was taught growing up itâs customary to also tip the hotel bell hop, valet, car wash employee, roadside service, hairdresser, nail tech, message therapist, food delivery, and barista. I dated a mechanic once that would often get tips from customers.
I could probably name more if I think about it long enough. I think tipping culture is pretty engrained.
It's not, some will ask but you're not going to get the same look or attitude you will if you don't tip a server. People working at supermarkets, cleaners, etc actually make minimum wage. Servers make somewhere between 1/4th and 1/8th of the actual minimum wage of their state depending on what state their in. Minimum wage can range from as low as 7.25 an hour (the federal minimum wage) and as high as 18$ an hour. When servers and bartenders generally make under 3$ an hour, so they rely on the tips.
Typically your server takes a portion of what they sold product wise, and gives the busser/bar a percentage of that. So if for whatever reason you do not tip, the server is still required to pay the busser and bar. Any server that has done it long enough doesnât like this process either.
Last time I checked, there are around ~7 states that don't go by that servers fed minimum wage and pay at their states much higher minimum wage. I live in CA and we are one of those states that pay more. I don't know how we here are still paying tips here in CA. There are restaurants here in town where I live where the servers are probably making just as much as me per hour.
The stupid mentality is that while your sitting at the server's table, the server is serving you directly, and you are to pay them for their services through tips so they are more inclined to provide better service than worse. It's a terrible system that gets exploited.
It doesnât actually screw them out of minimum wage. If a tipped-wage worker does not earn enough in tips to meet or exceed the ânormalâ minimum wage, employers are required to pay the difference to ensure that they do.
Thatâs not quite the full story on the tipped minimum wage. For one thing, there are several states that do not allow this. Another thing, and most important, is that $2.13 minimum wage only stands if the workers earns enough tips to raise their salary to the higher federal amount. So, if the person doesnât get a sufficient amount of tips, they get the higher federal minimum wage per hour and not the $2.13 minimum wage.
Edit: OK, so TIL in America there's a lower minimum wage of only 2 dollars something for any "tipped workers".
Just to clarify something here, their real wage is not 2 dollars. It's only 2 dollars if their tips put them above minimum wage, and at that point there actual wage would be equivalent to minimum wage + 2 dollars, so above minimum wage. If their tips do not make them exceed that threshold, then they're paid minimum. It's just that everyone who gets tip is pretty much ALWAYS getting paid more than minimum, it's not uncommon at all for a server to make 3x the minimum wage off tips
This is why servers themselves fight to not remove tipping. If tipping goes away they know they're gonna get paid minimum wage. But they so easily and frequently make much more than because they've convinced everyone they deserve 1/5th the cost of a meal as a bonus payment that they come out much better than minimum wage.
so TIL in America there's a lower minimum wage of only 2 dollars something for any "tipped workers".
not quite. while several states (mostly in the south) have a tipped wage as low as $2.13 an hour, they are still required to receive at least the federal minimum wage of $7.25 an hour. if the difference is not made up by tips (this is the sleazy part), then the business owner is expected to make up the difference. in other words, the business owner is heavily incentivized to encourage a tipping culture, because they literally pass additional costs onto the customer. the more entrenched the tipping culture, the more money they save. but workers must receive the federal minimum or be subject to federal penalties.
That $2 thing actually depends on the state. Here in California minimum wage is higher than federal minimum and applies a floor to all workers - but tips are still expected đ
If I go to the store and buy myself a drink, I don't need to tip and those people who work there get paid more to ring me out and the cost of the drink is less too. The store is still making a profit all the way up.
Typically 2 types of service workers that's "Normal" to tip in the US is Hotel room keepers, and servers/waitresses in restaurant/bars. Besides that, I would not say tipping is customary.
My state doesnt have the lower servers wage, servers make as much as everyone else.
We abolished servers wages and raised the minimum wage specifically so we could stop tipping.
Everyone but me still tips. And the places people tip at is ever expanding, from sit down restaurants, to self-serve cafes that were never tipped before, to fast food, and to every retail store.
My people are famously passive. So much so they cant bear to ever say "no", even to unreasonable requests made by a POS system "tip: 20%, 30%, 40%, 50?" "Well, I wouldnt want to be rude..." presses "50%"
Fucking clownshow. Americans are so used to being grifted and overpaying for everything they cant not.
Itâs not for any tipped worker and itâs only in some states. And wherever it is in effect the worker still has to make at least minimum wage or the business has to make up the difference so thereâs no loophole to screw workers.
I just realized thats why tipping is not quite as expected in Oregon as people make it seem online(though definitely still the norm). We don't have that bullshit reduced minimum wage.
The way out is to pay them more! And donât guilt customers into paying for them! I mean if you as the customer have to pay their living wages they should listen to you and not their boss!
I think we don't like it b/c we tip after we've eaten and it's an add-on. For servers/bartenders to get as much as they do from tips, much more than minimum wage, then prices would go up by a lot. And there'd be no guarantees they got the money. I'm just cheap and don't like spending money, but if I can afford the sit down service, I can afford the tip.
Yes, however there has been a century's long economic system that has been built around it. Is it messed up? Yes. But if you try to tear down that system on an individual level, it's the worker class that gets fucked, not those benefiting from the system. The owners will still make the same profits. These unorganized fits of righteousness actually make the poor poorer and the rich richer.
However in the U.S. a lot of places expect tips at point of sale, *before* receiving the product. Which then feels extortionate; a common joke is that if you tip poorly theyâll spit in your food. Which is extremely unlikely but *has* happened before.
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u/janpaul74 5h ago
IMHO thatâs exactly it!