When are you supposed to tip (in America)?

[Morrus]

Wow you Americans have a lot of money to spend in tips. It makes me want to be a waiter
Here in Italy we don't have such "strict" rules and the tip is totally optional, but it's even as something very polite even if strictly associated to the quality of service. For us it's unconceivable to give a 10% tip for a bad service, as I read.

Interesting

A lot of their waiters work only for tips, or for a very, very low wage plus tips. As I understand it (and someone can correct me if I'm wrong) waiting staff are exempt from minimum wage laws, so they're below minimum.

As for having a lot to spend in tips - in my experience the food is really cheap there. Maybe in part because wait staff aren't being paid!

 

[Crothian]

Wow you Americans have a lot of money to spend in tips. It makes me want to be a waiter

They get tipped well because they get paid badly. It different state by state but in Ohio it is less then $4 an hour.

 

[Homicidal_Squirrel]

They get tipped well because they get paid badly. It different state by state but in Ohio it is less then $4 an hour.

Yup, and there is also a federal minimum wage for tipped workers with is somewhere between $2 and $3/ hour. It's pretty sucktastic. I generally tip %20, unless I get bad service. Bad service gets no tip, but it has to be noticeably bad for me to not tip. Last time that happened, the waitress didn't bring my GF's food, and gave it instead to some other table. We waited for a while and I asked her where it was. She went back to the kitchen, and it seems she forgot about it within 5 seconds. She then tried to put my GF's unserved order on the bill, which got her and her manager a few choice words.

 

[Janx]

Wow you Americans have a lot of money to spend in tips. It makes me want to be a waiter
Here in Italy we don't have such "strict" rules and the tip is totally optional, but it's even as something very polite even if strictly associated to the quality of service. For us it's unconceivable to give a 10% tip for a bad service, as I read.

Interesting

It's probably a different economy. Prices are different, wages are different. Tipping doesn't enter the picture until you get to a $10/plate restaurant. Less than that is usually a pay before food, no tip restaurant (mcDonalds is $3-$7 for a meal).

At $10, we're talking about a $2 tip. Chump change. the real problem for waiters at those low-end places is the crappy base pay ($2.50/hour in Texas at some places) for $2 tips. Chilis, IHOP, TGIFridays are examples of US restaurants in this cost/pay scale.

A waiter needs to be working at a $100/plate restaurant to make real money for $20 tips per plate.

Here in the US, by my made up cost of living estimate, a person needs to be making about $15/hour which is about $30,000/year to be living very very modestly (aka affording rent in a cheap place that's not great but not super terrible). Things vary by city vs. rural but the rate is close enough.

thus, the problem for a waiter making $2.50 an hour directly, plus meager $2 tips per customer. On a busy day, they'll get to that $15/hour level, but it's not reliable, and a common problem is people don't tip or do less than 20%.

 

[WayneLigon]

A lot of their waiters work only for tips, or for a very, very low wage plus tips. As I understand it (and someone can correct me if I'm wrong) waiting staff are exempt from minimum wage laws, so they're below minimum.

It depends on a few things but in general that is true. When I was working food service, we were paid half the state minimum wage at the time, and because it was over-the-counter service we didn't get tipped. There have been some interesting articles recently with restaurants that do not allow tipping and who instead pay a larger wage. Sections five and six of that series are pretty amazing.

 

[JamesonCourage]

A lot of their waiters work only for tips, or for a very, very low wage plus tips. As I understand it (and someone can correct me if I'm wrong) waiting staff are exempt from minimum wage laws, so they're below minimum.

That's the case in many states, as far as I know. Federal minimum wage for such workers is $2.13/hour (I think). In comparison, in California, the minimum wage is $9/hour, and is going up to $10/hour in January of 2016.

However, some states require restaurants to pay the full state minimum wage to waiters as well (like California; I'd voice my opinion of this, but I don't want to drive things towards the political end of the discussion). So, you make a full wage (not that it's a living wage) plus you get tips. However, you're legally supposed to report such earnings, making it taxable, and then the taxes come out of your paychecks (giving you very small paychecks if you're tipped well).

At any rate, as someone who has worked two tipped-based jobs in my time, I will say that you can make a decent living (even in pizza delivery), but that it's nothing great. I definitely got by on my own (with roommates) while putting some money in the bank while working part time and going to school, but that wouldn't be the case for many people (people who wanted their own place; people with kids or a spouse to support; people with a lot of miscellaneous expenses, such as medical problems, child support, etc.).

I found this online with a quick search, but I don't feel like doing more research at the moment (back to revising my novel!):

What is the minimum wage for workers who receive tips?

The Fair Labor Standards Act (FLSA) requires payment of at least the federal minimum wage to covered, nonexempt employees. An employer of a tipped employee is only required to pay $2.13 an hour in direct wages if that amount plus the tips received equals at least the federal minimum wage, the employee retains all tips and the employee customarily and regularly receives more than $30 a month in tips. If an employee's tips combined with the employer's direct wages of at least $2.13 an hour do not equal the federal minimum hourly wage, the employer must make up the difference.


Some states have minimum wage laws specific to tipped employees. When an employee is subject to both the federal and state wage laws, the employee is entitled to the provisions which provides the greater benefits.

 

[Mishihari Lord]

Only a few of these are something you commonly encounter. 15% for waiters, yes. I do 20% because I try to be a nice guy, but 20% isn't a standard. And I definitely do vary it if I'm displeased or impressed with the service, anywhere from $0 to several times the bill. Haircut for a guy is commonly $10. A couple bucks per bag for anyone who helps you at the airport. And there are some set standards for cruise ships. That's pretty much all I ever see.

There are some regional variations too. In Los Angeles the guys helping with Christmas trees expected to be tipped. In Ann Arbor there were almost shocked one I offered one. (They were happy enough to take it though)

 

[Jhaelen]

Wow you Americans have a lot of money to spend in tips. It makes me want to be a waiter

The US are pretty much unique in that regard:
"Employers often pay these employees lower wages in anticipation that the service employees will receive tip income to raise their compensation to market levels. Many of these employees also may be part-time employees and not receive any employer-paid benefits such as health insurance, which they consequently must pay for personally. So customers may not be paying more for the service that they are receiving than if the cost of the services were built into prices as they are in many other countries."

You just gotta love the US...

 

[Pandamonium87]

Many Italian waiters don't have a contract at all and they are paid really really bad, they have "health insurance", but that's for everybody because we are all big bad evil socialists p).
Anyway, I was just curious I understand it's something written in your DNA as americans and I respect that, I think it's very kind

 

[Janx]

Many Italian waiters don't have a contract at all and they are paid really really bad, they have "health insurance", but that's for everybody because we are all big bad evil socialists p).
Anyway, I was just curious I understand it's something written in your DNA as americans and I respect that, I think it's very kind

Thanks.