Do you still have to Tip when you make just as much as the waitress/waiter?

Question

The way I see it, they are already being paid to do their job. Why should I pay tip, especially when it is so hard for me to make that money?

Answer 1

if you only get paid $2 an hour and no tips at your job, then go ahead and skip on the tip

because of screwed up employment regulations, employers are only required to pay waitstaff about half of minimum wage, because they are allowed to accept tips. so your waiter or waitress NEEDS your tip in order to make any sort of living

it's not fair, i know. it's kind of screwed up to charge customers for food AND rely on them to pay the staff's salaries as well, but that's the way it is. but its not the waitstaff's fault, so if your service is good, you should help them get paid for it

Answer 2

Yeah, they are being paid already, but not much. When I waitressed (just a few years ago) we were paid only 3 or 4 dollars/hour. The point was "you're working for your tips".

Two other points:
1. How do you know how much they make?
2. If it's hard for you to come up with the money to eat out and tip appropriately, then don't eat out. Maybe you should be spending your money on something more important. Going out to dinner is a privelege, not a right of every American. It's a luxury, not a necessity, so you shouldn't do it unless you can afford it.

Answer 3

Waitress' and waiters get paid less than half the minimum wage, that is because they do get tips and they rely on them to get by. If you can't afford the tip, then you can't afford to eat out. Sometimes I don't have that much, but I leave something, even a dollar is a good offering if there are only 2 of you. I am on a fixed income, and I always pay at least $2, but I am not buying that expensive of a meal either.

Answer 4

You are just hoping someone will say that you don't have to tip so you will feel better about it. Yes you have to tip. I live in Germany and here the tip is already added into the bill. I don't have a choice. I can leave a bit more if its great service but I don't have to. In the US the waiter is only making what $3. an hour or so? Then they work for thier tips for the rest of it. I find that you get better service in the States where the waiter is working harder for that tip. Here you have to call them over to you if you want anything. So I think you should learn to tip the 15% or so for good service and more for great service. If you are a waiter you should understand this.

Answer 5

I am not sure of the current minimum wage for a server, but in the 1980 when I waited tables it wads $2.01/hr then raised to $2.30 when the minimum wage was increased. Maybe you should just eat at McDs and fast food establishments or buffets wher you can get your own food. Trust me the waiter deserves every penny of the gratuity considering how rude people can be. As for following any standard of 15%, I don't. I ahve paid more when I thought the service warrants and likewise less when I felt it necessary. A waiter shouldn't just expect the tip, but work for it. Another point, many restaurants have a tip sharing program for bartenders, bus boys and hostesses in which the waiter has to pay at least 3% of his/her total sales for the shift. In that situation the waiter would be paying to serve you if you leave nothing. So, if the service is really bad leave at least 3%. If you don't think you should show gratitude (thus the word, gratuity) for the benefit of sitting and being served, maybe you should eat at fast food restaurants or buffets where you have to get it yourself.

Answer 6

If you can't afford to tip, stay home and make your own meals untill you can. I don't know how it works where you live but in Ontario waiters and bartenders get paid .90 cents LESS than minimum wage because of the tips. Not only that but your waiter has to tip out to other staff at the restaurant. So... if your bill is $20 I have to tip up to 3 or 4 % to the bussboy and kitchen. If you don't tip, not only do I make less than min. wage but I owe the restaurant money from my own pocket. Ouch!!!

P.S. If you got bad service leave 3-4% tip because then they know that you DO know how it works and that they didn't deserve anything. It gets the message across. If you leave nothing they will think you just don't tip on good OR bad service.

Answer 7

It's called Gratuity!!
IN the California you tip 15-20%.

It doesn't matter how much you make, they are taxed on 8% of your check's total bill as income if you tip or not.
YOU REALLY SHOULD TIP THE MIN. 8%

The more you give, the more you get back.
it's the way the world works.
Open your heart, and mind, and look around you!

with your attitude towards money --- change your attitude, to it's easy for me to make money!

Love what you do, do what you love and money falls into your lap and you will be gracious and giving.

Tipping is a expected custom in the USA

the only time I don't leave a tip,
Is for bad, bad service and I am never going back there again.

I tip lavishly for the places I frequent, and am known on a first name basis, and get wonderful service.

Answer 8

Unless you are in a restaurant where gratuity is added to the bill, you never HAVE to tip. But I agree with everyone else here, if you get decent -- or better -- service you SHOULD tip. And the standard as I understand it is 18%. Twenty percent is easy math, so that's what we usually leave. For a $30 dinner, that's $6.

If your budget is so tight that you can't afford an extra couple dollars added to your meal then stay home, go to a fast food restaurant or eat at a buffet place where tipping is not expected.

Answer 9

Do you realize that the base pay of waiters and waitresses is much less than minimum wage? The government allows this because they assume that servers are going to make tip money. If you don't tip, and you sit at the table for an hour, your server has just made a grand total of $3.85 an hour.

If you don't have money to tip, you don't have money to eat out. Keep your cheap, broke *** at home and cook.

Answer 10

Eat at home. If someone is waiting on you, tip them. It's U.S. custom. Wait staff typically earn a very small amount of money per hour. Labor laws do not require that they be paid minimum wage. It is assumed and understood that they will be tipped by the customers they serve. They depend on our tips to make up the difference.