Should we REALLY tip servers for simply doing their jobs?

Question

I don't want to offend any service related people, but if you're already getting paid hourly, why should you receive a tip for simply doing your job? The U.S. is one of a few countries where tipping is EXPECTED. Now, if your entire salary is based on tips or commissions, that's one thing. I'm talking about servers in the U.S. who are already making much more than minimum wage and still expect tips. And most of the time, they expect it, when they don't even merit that much. Example: you go out and eat. Bill comes to $70. Now I'm expected to pay an additional $13-$20 for someone to do what they were hired to do? I don't get paid extra for fixing something, or for simply doing my job. And honestly, for people who say, "oh, the job is very tough and demanding, etc..." I've been a server. I didn't like it, so I quit and got a job better fit for me. I think tipping should be reserved for services rendered above and beyond your normal job scope. Not a reward for mediocrity.

Wow, just after a few minutes, you've all really responded well. Thanks for enlightening me. I thought minimum wage was minimum wage across the board. So you're telling me those 20-somethings at, let's say Cheesecake or some other large national franchise, are only making $4.15 an hour?
When I was serving, I was paid a couple of $$ over minimum wage at every restaurant I worked at.

Answer 1

I am a server for a national company. We only make $3.35 per hour plus tips. I make great money based on the tips collect and the hourly pay covers my HMO insurance monthly. I have a teaching degree but instead I choose to wait tables because I earn more in tips than what I would make teaching.
If the company that I work for would choose to pay us more hourly, great, but as for now I work for tips. If servers were not making good tips for good service, there would be no one to wait on tables because there would be no incentive to be in the restaurant business.

Answer 2

Wow. You really don't understand much about the service industry do you? They make $2.65 an hour PLUS tips. A member of waitstaff is part of the experience of the restaurant you are going to. If they are polite, quick, respectful of general manners at the table, get the order correct 100%, and doing it all while saying please and thank you or is there anything else I can do for you, is excellent service.

It's not easy being in the waiting industry. People are rude, change their minds a dozen times, are extremely picky and it takes a lot to handle 5 tables at once on a busy Friday, especially if there are drink orders. That means not only running from the kitchen but to the bar as well.

A lot of restaurants have tip outs where the waiters have to pay out part of their tips to the busboys, the bartenders and sometimes the kitchen.

If waitstaff made the kind of living hourly that we do in an office, the food would be so expensive you couldn't afford it. Some of these people would work 12 hour shifts, 6 days a week; that's almost a grand a week.

In most situations they will go home with $100 a night. Maybe only work 3 nights a week in some of the larger chains.

Answer 3

Actually in VA and NC the wage is only $2.15/hr and then you take home your tips. Average you get 3-5 tables in your area and in a slower place like Applebee's or some ethnic places you only get those tables seated maybe 3 times each.... so 9 tables in 5 or 6 hours you only get $12-$13 base pay.... if each table leaves you $4 which is NOT the average most of the time you get stifferd or people leave $2 and change to get even dollar amounts you still make only about $8/hour for running back and forth over and over. As a former server to help pay for school I tip about 15% as a standard because if you've ever done it and pulled a double shift (9am-midnight sometimes) you know it's not mind boggling work but it is physically demanding especially when you try to make every table feel like they are the only one there. So I stick with 15% of my bill...if my service is bad (no refills, no silverware, no attentiveness) I leave about 10-12% but NEVER less. If you are great you get 20-25%. If I am more demanding (I ask for a lot of extras or I guzzle my drink and send for refills every 5 minutes I give more if they kept up relatively well. I know that on a $50 or $70 check this can seem like a lot, but generally that high a bill means you are at a nice place or you have a larger party. In which case YOU are paying the server for what they are hired to do, not the establishment because essentially they are working for you, not the establishment. Higher end places require servers with experience in many cases so not just any Joe or Susan can go in there and get the job, so you pay for better service. With large parties more time is involved and more attention is typically required. So yes, you tip more.

Answer 4

As far as the quote from the catering service goes, that is THEIR choice to run their business that way, as they are assuming they will receive more customers for it. Have you priced them in relation to other catering services? I have a sneaky feeling they may have higher prices, but that is just my suspicion, I may be wrong. As for the deal about tipping, do you know the restaurant's policy of how the tips are shared? It could be such a thing that the tips may be shared among all the staff, not just the server, did you ever think of that? A lot of places do that so that all the staff gets a bonus, not just the server. And yes, they should be giving the best service possible no matter if they get a tip or not because it is their job to do so, but there is also a little thing called kindness and appreciation, where you make a person feel like a decent human being since they made you as happy, welcome and comfortable as they possibly could, by returning the gesture by tipping. And frankly, I have to tell you, I have been in the service industry for over 25 years, and waiting on people is absolutely the most thankless job there is, just because of people like you who assume the whole world OWES them a fine time for no good reason. The nicest person you know will all of a sudden turn into a total creep the minute they walk through a restaurant door just because of this attitude, and I still had to wait on them and give them the exact same service that I gave to the person who was nice to me and enjoyed what I did for them. And let me tell you, if you are under the assumption that all I did for those 25 years is dole out polite chit-chat for a living then you really need to take eight hours out of your pitifully sheltered life and do this job to get the real scoop on it. Serve people like yourself and then come back and talk to me. Trust me, you will have a whole new outlook on things.

Answer 5

GREAT QUESTION!!! Most servers do receive a salary BUT .... most servers do not receive minimum wage the standard server wage in Arizona is $3.75 per hour which does not come anywhere near minimum. So YES you should tip servers for simply doing their jobs. Your server is also taxed based on their sales which is coming out of that huge wage they are making. Servers should be tipped at least 10% that just about covers the taxes on the food that you are eating. So if you have any sense of humanity you would tip more than that so they aren't just working to pay taxes on your food this includes TO GO orders at restaurants. Servers work hard so why not tip them and make it worth their while to go in and put up with some of the customers they have to deal with on a daily basis.

Answer 6

Totally Agree! Tips may be given when an extra services are rendered or if the customer just feels like so. This problem should actually be handled by the owner of the establishment. Servers should actually be paid right. Owners can do some evaluations: ratings of servers via customers, and through the evaluations, servers will get their respective merit/rewards. "Mandatory" tips is actually unfair for both the server and the customer. Customer is paying extra for an expected service only and servers are getting paid in a rate of how much the customer ate (i.e. with the same service provided, rates are different because of what the customer has ordered).

Answer 7

We can assume that you have never relied upon waiting tables. Waiting tables (in most high-quality restaurants) is very much a sales job where a person's take home is largly commission. When I waited table 10 years ago, I made only $2.13/hour, so I was dependent on tips, and I was a good waitress, but I burned out quickly (I waited tables for 3 years).

Regarding international tipping, there are contries where tipping is unheard of, but in many European countires the "tip" is included in the form of a cover charge, but again, this is not your momma's table, the people bringin your your dinner, and waititng on you hand and foot, aren't doing it for free.

I don't know why someone would assume that they can go somewhere and be waited on, and then not pay for it. If you don't want to tip, go to a cafeteria. Think of the tip as an extra service, that you need to pay for. Don't be cheap. Remeber you could cook the same food at home for a lot less.

No waiting is not for everyone. That is why those that do it, deserve the tips they get.

Answer 8

You should always tip.... it could be that your waiter or waitress is having a bad start to their day, and your tip could be a little encouragement to them, if it's given in the right way..

Also, some states (not here, though) have "training wage" and "tip credit" whereas the establishment/bar/restaurant only pays the wait staff each some dirt cheap "wage" (under $3 an hour), and then they expect their guests to "tip in" the rest. So in short, what some people may look at as a reward for "good service", sometimes the waiters and others actually depend on that just to live...

Answer 9

I work in Indiana, I love the food service business and enjoy my job. I make $2.18 an hour, then I have to pay taxes on 8% of my sales, my average weekly paycheck for a 40 hour week is less than $10. I'm good at what I do and make good tips, however if I don't make/claim enough in tips to make up to minimum wage then my employer has to pay the difference, if this happens I loose my job!
Not only do I make sure you have everything you want, I also have many side jobs of stocking and cleaning in the back to keep things rolling smoothly. For this I get $2.18 an hour.
I work at a national chain restaurant and unlike most they offer medical insurance and paid vacations, something you rarely find in food service. I was a full time professional for many years, banking and medical insurance being my specialties and when I had children and chose to stay home with them only to find out I needed a few hours a week out of the house and working a friend told me I should try waitressing, its the same thing I do at home for my family only people thank you and pay you for it. Today that is still why I love to wait tables. I meet the most interesting people and enjoy making them smile, it may be the only one they get that day.
I walk all day and lift heavy trays so I don’t need to go to a gym. I have to be at work at five a.m. every day and I don’t sit down again till two or three in the afternoon. I could sit behind a desk and bring in $40,000 a year in the area I’m in, but I can live comfortably knowing that when Christmas is over my income will drop, when you have to get your kids ready for school my income will drop, when gas prices go up, my income will drop. There are so many factors to how people tip and some days are really good and some aren’t worth the drive in, you will get the same service either way, or you should!
Don’t be afraid to ask, when I waited tables in California the servers do make minimum wage there. They don’t in Arkansas. Oh I am also the spouse of a retired Air Force person so I’ve waited tables in several states. Don’t be afraid to ask your server what they make, we’ll tell you! We have to tell the world what we make the IRS pays very close attention to servers!
You are totally right not to tip mediocre service, There are many people out there who should not be waiting tables, its not for them. Not making money at it will clue them in to find another profession, however, do not hold it against the restaurant or other servers there. If you had a bad server and stopped me during your visit I would have made up for it as best I could and I wouldn’t be the one getting your tip. And I would appreciate you not paying them for my work. Next time when I’m your server you will have a better experience. And I hope that your tip will reflect it. You should pay for what you get, and if you get great service you should leave a great tip. When a single person leaves me $5 that’s great, when you and five others come in anything over $15 would be great. I have three to six tables, if I can feed you and get you out in an hour and sit someone else at your table then I can make a good living. If there is no one to sit at my tables or if I get one dollar instead of five that makes a difference. If you are having a meeting and stay at my table for two hours brainstorming then that’s a table I didn’t get, I still come back and refill drinks and take everything off the table after you eat, I don’t abandon you just because you are done eating. A little extra on the tip would be nice then too.
You are right that so many servers are in it for the quick cash, but find the best servers at your favorite spots. Ask for their section and tip them well and you will always enjoy and look forward to dining out. At new places tell your server what you want exactly, be nice and polite but let us know, many of us will bend over backwards to give you what you want and more, you just have to find us.

Answer 10

Yes!! You HAVE to tip. I'm not sure what restaurants you are talking about but every one in my area only pays their servers ~2.65/hour. That's it. And then we have to deal with people with the mindset that this is what we choose to do and there for deserve crappy tips; if we don't like it then get a different job, blah, blah, blah,...that's stupid. I'm raising three kids as well as paying my way through college. I go to work everyday and bust my butt to make people's experience enjoyable, anticipate their needs, be attentive, and get them what they want the way they want it; and to only get 10% or under really chaps my a$$. So YES. It's mandatory; at least 15% and if you are taken care of, then 20% or more.

I get an hourly wage but 2.65 is NOTHING. I certainly couldn't support myself on that let alone three kids and a wife.

Think of it this way; I'm not sure what you do for a living but what if one day you came in to do your job but from some reason (and mind you, you would NOT be able to ask why) your boss becided to give you about 5-7% less money for doing the same job you do every day. Actually he had a few "special" things for you to do as well and was kind of pushy about you getting them done really quickly; even though you were already very busy doing the things that your supervisor had asked you to do right away. How would that make you feel? My guess is overworked, underpaid, unappreciated, hurt, angry, etc.

Think about that next time you go out to eat. Again, I don't know where you go out to eat, but my guess is that the servers don't make as much as you think they do. And if they do, then it's probably because there are a lot of people out there that are just as misinformed as you were.

Answer 11

Minimum wage for tipped professions (server, bartender) in the US is approximately $3 per hour. So, yes, you should tip people for doing their jobs because that is literally how they earn a living. That's pretty common knowledge to Americans. If you don't want to tip, get take out, drive through or cook at home where you will only be expected to pay for the cost of food and not the service that comes with it.