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<blockquote data-quote="pemerton" data-source="post: 8357340" data-attributes="member: 42582">Somewhat orthogonal - but in Australia tipping norms were always a bit unstable, and with a general shift from cash to credit card payment (especially in the pandemic) tipping seems to have largely died out, at least at the casual cafes/restaurants I eat at. There was a brief period, probably 5 (?) years ago, when the credit card machine would give an option to add a tip, but I don't see that very often these days.We also had a big scandal a couple of years ago where one of our biggest celebrity chefs was caught out underpaying staff. I don't know if wage theft is a concept in US law or public discourse, but it's become a big thing in both respects here. (And well beyond the hospitality sector - multiple universities, for instance, have had to pay sessional teachers and markers who were underpaid for the work they did.)I don't want to say everything is rosy here - it's not - but I think the basic approach of a robust minimum wage enforced by regulatory action is one that I favour over individual consumer choices at the point of purchase (eg tipping). Of course it's also natural to prefer what you're used to, so maybe I'm just expressing my cultural biases!</blockquote>

[QUOTE="pemerton, post: 8357340, member: 42582"] Somewhat orthogonal - but in Australia tipping norms were always a bit unstable, and with a general shift from cash to credit card payment (especially in the pandemic) tipping seems to have largely died out, at least at the casual cafes/restaurants I eat at. There was a brief period, probably 5 (?) years ago, when the credit card machine would give an option to add a tip, but I don't see that very often these days. We also had a big scandal a couple of years ago where one of our biggest celebrity chefs was caught out underpaying staff. I don't know if [I]wage theft [/I]is a concept in US law or public discourse, but it's become a big thing in both respects here. (And well beyond the hospitality sector - multiple universities, for instance, have had to pay sessional teachers and markers who were underpaid for the work they did.) I don't want to say everything is rosy here - it's not - but I think the basic approach of a robust minimum wage enforced by regulatory action is one that I favour over individual consumer choices at the point of purchase (eg tipping). Of course it's also natural to prefer what you're used to, so maybe I'm just expressing my cultural biases! [/QUOTE]

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