20% has always been my standard rate at a sit down restaurant (and I always round up). And on a small bill, I would add an extra dollar or so. But as we started going back to restaurants during COVID, we tipped more, especially to our favorite/regular servers.
I don’t tip on carry out but maybe once in a blue moon, except one pizza place. The place hires a bunch of high school kids who are always nice, polite, and do a really good job, and I like them to see their hard work appreciated.
And I try to tip in cash if I have it.
I never thought to tip UPS or FedEx drivers. (They probably all make more than my spouse!) I used to see a trash pick up guy regularly - I’d offer some bottles of water on a hot day. But it never occurred to me to provide a monetary tip.
As for the electronic “suggestions” on the iPad type systems - it is just the software, not your server. So it does not bother me. And I think for some people, having the math done for them is helpful.
Mentioned this on another thread, but the checkout for Walgreen’s same day free delivery auto filled a $3 driver tip, with options for lower and higher. I normally would not tip delivery, but my deal was so good I changed it to $2.
If you tip indirectly via the employer (online, in an app, or just with a credit card), it would know how much the average tip is so that it may reduce how much it pays its employees if it so chooses.
I don’t think employers reduce their hourly wages based on tips. Why would they? At least not by us, where employers are having a really tough time getting people to work. My kids work Summers in hourly wage jobs and they get tips. Most are via CC but some are also in cash. They got bigger tips during Covid. This Summer is the lowest compared to the last two.
Kids weigh how much they get in tips and often take shifts that make more tips. Employers are actually doing the opposite and paying people in cash with their own tip. Has happened with two different employers. One is a friend of ours and has told us they give their employees little bonuses to keep them happy and from leaving. My kid who is the manager got $50 cash after a shift on Friday and was told it could be kept, or split. Kid split it evenly among 3 people working.
Most local places where kids work are paying $15-20/hour before tips. Only exceptions are restaurants. I think they pay about $3/hour plus tips. But kids won’t work unless the restaurant has enough business.
I have no idea how normal this is, but D works at a hotel. The bell hops gets minimum wage during hours when people check in/out and more when they work overnight. They expect tips to make up for the lack of pay.
I kind of lost sympathy for restaurant owners in my state. If D made minimum wage in tips, they paid her zero. They get free labor. When I see job listings for Hosts at restaurants they list pay, but the put a note saying the pay they are listing is with potential tips.
I wasn’t suggesting most employers do, but some may. I’d like to think tips should be part of incentive or performance-based pay, rather than part of base salary/wage.
Interestingly, while this shouldn’t happen, I think it doesn’t.
I had tipped at a chicken place in naples, FL on the credit card. As I was leaving, I heard them say to another customer - if you tip on the credit card, we don’t get it. Only if you put it in the jar.
As that has to be illegal, I questioned them - essentially having thrown my few dollars away in my mind.
They said the owner raised their wage but uses the CC tips to cover that increase.
While they’re not concerned with the legalities/illegalities of that, I told them - what he pays you is between you and him but when I am offering extra, it’s for you or the team.
We’ve had instances like this in Nashville - so this type of behavior is probably more commonplace than any of us realize. I truly try to pay fast casual tips in cash now or I ask the worker if they do, in fact, get their cc tips ot make sure.
Employers are allowed to take 2-3% of the tip for credit card fees. So when you tip on a credit card, your server isn’t actually getting the entire tip. This isn’t allowed in a few states. It is always better to tip in cash, so the person actually gets all the money.
You should assume that in the hospitality field, that any traditionally tipped job is getting paid less. The employer considers tip as part of their hourly wage. So sit down restaurant, server paid less, Host is paid a higher hourly wage (now with so much take out, they get tips too). The bell hop gets minimum wage plus tips, the front desk gets a higher hourly wage.
I rarely have cash on me. Have been trying to keep some in my wallet but it disappears quickly and I rarely get to the bank/ATM. I can’t even deposit cash into my Credit Union without an appointment!! That’s crazy, IMO.
With tips, I usually put it on the CC except if it’s a few bucks then it’s cash. I’ve never heard of any employer holding back tips to pay for their wage increases. It might happen but they wouldn’t have anyone working for them.
In our area, jobs are plentiful and people are hard to find. Treat them badly and they are gone. I would say that 10-40% of places are trying to hire. Some even post large sign on bonuses out front ( like 20K). Some restaurants could not even open post Covid. They open 2-3 days instead of 5 like they used to.
Same issues here with staffing. I keep wondering where all the teenagers are? Then I think of how they say we will have a big dip college applicants in 2025, so maybe there are less teens to work???
I also never carry cash- so as much as I would like to say you should tip servers in cash, I don’t either. I am tired of being asked for tips at fast food places. Then I think about Starbucks and how when I carried cash, I always put my change in the tip jar. Since most of us have gone cashless, I guess I understand??? I don’t like it though.
Just realizing that becoming cashless is another similarity to The Handmaid’s Tale, where women were able to be subjugated so quickly because all financial transactions were electronic by that point and it was easy to electronically prohibit financial transactions based on gender.
I don’t use/carry much cash either. But for a recent trip where I was frequenting a lot of quick coffee, quick snack type of thing I carried a bunch of $1 bills. It was easy to just drop one or two in a tip jar if the place had one. But also, now that many people don’t carry cash, I think some places are getting rid of the physical tip jar and just using the card reader tip method.
I’ve always been a good tipper when it comes to food and other services (hair, nails, etc). I was on vacation with my ex about 10 years ago and we unfortunately discovered that a bunch of college kids from where we live were there the weekend before and they all stiffed them for tips. I think we tipped them 20 bucks on a $30 bill.
When I was younger I usually did 20% religiously. Ever since Covid I usually tip more. Like, $30 bill, I round to $40 including the tip . $40 bill, goes to $50 with tip. I work with the assumption that someone else probably undertipped and they may have less customers so if I can make them smile it’s worth it.
We started getting food delivered from Wegmans during Covid and I usually tip then 15-20%, depending on the order. If that works out to be a crazy high tip, I change it to pick up and go pick up the order. but… if it’s less than 15 or 20 bucks, I’m all for it. They saved me all the time of having to go to the store and deal with it, and time is money.
There are however things that I’d never think to tip for. My nephew worked at a place this past winter loading Christmas trees to peoples cars for them and he made $$$ on tips. I never would think to tip the guy that helps me with a Christmas tree.
One thing I never really quite get… Tipping for takeout???
My sons worked the Christmas tree seasons at our local garden center for years, hard work but they made a ton in tips, my daughters were cashiers and always jealous. The guys made most of their money on tips carrying purchases to cars during the regular season.
I wonder if that is what is happening with one of my kids’ summer jobs. The kid works as a counter staff in a cafe and their base salary is a 1.50 less than minimum wage. However, they do get tips from a jar and from people using credit cards. But they don’t receive those tips until the following week after they get their paycheck and unlike my older kid, the tips come as a separate check not as cash. Maybe the employer is using the tips to bring counter staff up to minimum wage.
Also, credit-card customers have to tell the counter staff that they want to add a tip so the cashier can add the tip amount to the total, which feels awkward to me compared to throwing money in a jar.