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The truth about tipping
December 6, 2005 | George

Posted on 12/06/2005 12:33:26 PM PST by George14

It has recently been publicized that a 20 percent tip is now appropriate because servers are usually only guaranteed $2.13 an hour and the tips have to be split. Let me explain something. It is the customer's sole right to determine whether a tip is given, the amount and who will be the recipient of his tip. Such rights are not only guaranteed by our constitution they are clearly explained in the Code of Federal Regulations. Customers may tip any amount they choose. Instead of a higher tip being appropriate, what is now actually appropriate is for the public to start questioning why they are being expected to tip more.

While it has been widely publicized that tip splitting and lowered wages are both creating a need for higher tip percentages, what is not being publicized is an explanation of what these business practices actually are and why they create a need for the public to tip more. You see in both cases, such practices equate to employers being allowed to take part the tips away from the employee to whom the customer has presented a tip. You see, tip splitting is the business practice whereby employers take part of the tipped employee's tips and give them to workers whom the customer had every right and ability to tip but didn't. The $2.13 an hour business practice which has been publicized is actually called a tip credit. The tip credit also allows businesses to take or credit part of their employee's tips for themselves. In both cases the public's tips are being taken by businesses owners. The problem is not that customers should be tipping more the problem is that business owners should not be utilizing their employee's tips for the business's interests.

The truth is, business owners are using the customer's tips which undeniably and indisputably are not intended for the business owner for the business's own interests. Such business practices are being allowed by our government even though such business practices are an illegal dominion over the customer's property. To put it simply, businesses are being allowed to steal the money customers present as tips. Now, the public is being expected to tip more because the workers are not receiving the financial benefits of the tips they have been presented.

What is needed is not a higher tip percentage but some educating of the public of what is actually happening to their tip. Businesses have lobbied our federal government and I believe have probably even paid off many of our judges so they can steal the financial benefits of the tips our public is tipping workers in the service industry. The stories you read on how the public is being expected to tip more are actually stories about how our country is allowing businesses owners an ability to blatantly steal from their workers. If the real issue was resolved there would be no issue.

Employers should be prohibited from using their employee's tips to establish a lower minimum wage for their tipped workers. Customers are not tipping so the business can lower it's payroll expenses and thus benefit itself to the customer's tip. Customers are not tipping so the business owner can decide who should share in their tip. Both these business practices are fraud on the public for they are clearly the misappropriations of the public's property. Because our public has sat back and done nothing as business owners misappropriate the public's tips to their own interests, there now exists an undue pressure on the public to tip more to make up for such criminal acts.

The reason I believe our public has sat back and done nothing as business owners reap the financial benefits of the tips presented to their workers is because the media has also been paid off to avoid informing the public of what is actually happening to their tip when the courts ignore the constitutional rights of the customer and when our federal government so blatantly misappropriates the public's tips. The courts have ruled that employers may share the customer's tip among employees whom the customer had every right to tip but didn't. The federal government has allowed businesses to benefit themselves to the customer's tip through the tip credit without the consent of the customer. Such acts by our federal government and courts are not only unconstitutional but criminal. The media is covering up such crimes by intentionally avoiding the issue and keeping the truth from the public.

The tipped employees of this nation need some help from the public on these issues. The truth of what is happening to the customer's tip is being withheld from the public so that employers can continue to steal our tips while the public is left to foot the bill.


TOPICS: Business/Economy; Crime/Corruption; Your Opinion/Questions
KEYWORDS: angrywaitersyndrome; bibletracts; conspiracy; crackpot; deeduhdee; looneytoon; mdm; mrpink; reservoirdogs; tipcredit; tipouts; tipping; tippooling; tips; tipsplitting
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To: billorites

Love the site, I see Pierce Brosnan has made a couple of apperances. Bill=630.00 Tip=8.00, what a cheap limey Ahole.


41 posted on 12/06/2005 12:52:23 PM PST by HEY4QDEMS (Iraqis thank our troops more often than Democrats.)
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To: toddlintown

Not sure what you mean. In Germany, for instance, you round out your bill to the next Mark (euro). It might be mere pennies. "Stimtt so!"

That's "stimmt so," and I'll admit, sometime ago. 10% now? The times, they are a' changing.


42 posted on 12/06/2005 12:52:36 PM PST by toddlintown (Lennon takes six bullets to the chest, Yoko is standing right next to him and not one f'ing bullet?)
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To: saveliberty
A similar thing happened to me. I was going on a trip and I left my plane tickets home. I took a cab from Jersey City to Central NJ because I reasoned it was the fastest way. I told the cabbie to step on it and there would be an extra tip in it for him. He made it to my car in unbelievable time and I gave the guy a $50 tip. He then said "America is a great country!" in some sort of arab accent...
43 posted on 12/06/2005 12:53:20 PM PST by frogjerk (LIBERALISM - Being miserable for no good reason)
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To: ClearCase_guy
Most European nations I've been to include the gratuity ("Service Charge") into the bill itself, and the custom is generally just to round up to the next round denomination. In Japan tipping is simply not done...you pay the bill and if a service charge is levied it's on the bill as well.

Tip splitting or sharing can work well if done properly at the right establishment. First, since a cook's work is partly responsible for the enjoyment of a meal the practice of a waitperson tipping out the kitchen staff makes sense to me, and it's usually just a small percentage (they make a higher base wage generally).

My local hangout is a small place with normally one cook and maximum two wait staff/bartenders in the evening. A couple of months ago the staff turned over fairly rapidly and the owner saw an opportunity. All servers at the bar or on the floor can and do serve everyone and tips are divided evenly. It's a small place and if two staff are on but everyone (us regulars) are all gathered around the bar one server got burned while the other cleaned up. The owner went out of her way to hire staff that get along really well and anyone who isn't a team player doesn't make it past the probation period. Service has gone to great levels and on average everyone is earning more at the end of the night consistantly.

Think...can you imagine a large establishment where customers at the end of the lunch period are all queing up to tip the bartender, the waitperson, the cook, etc? It would be chaos.

44 posted on 12/06/2005 12:53:21 PM PST by mitchbert (Facts Are Stubborn Things .)
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To: manwiththehands

It's probably more effective to leave a miniscule tip on the card slip (i.e. on record) and the real tip in cash.


45 posted on 12/06/2005 12:53:36 PM PST by steve-b (A desire not to butt into other people's business is eighty percent of all human wisdom)
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To: George14
The courts have ruled that employers may share the customer's tip among employees whom the customer had every right to tip but didn't.

What the heck does that really mean anyway?

I became disappointed to learn that the tips for dealers at casinos were all pooled and split up among all the dealers. That's too bad, because a tip in those cases are definately rewards for good play, sometimes for the luck of winning, but usually for the fun the dealer added to the game.

I didn't realize waitstaff were also pooling tips at some restaurants... I wonder how widespread that is. I have a feeling the neighborhood bar I go to, this is not the case. They certainly make a point to close out all open tabs before they go off shift, so a new tab is started under the new waitress. I'm a very good tipper at my regular hangouts where they know my name.

46 posted on 12/06/2005 12:53:58 PM PST by HairOfTheDog (Join the Hobbit Hole Troop Support - http://freeper.the-hobbit-hole.net/ 1,000 knives and counting!)
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To: dollar_dog

Tip pooling is despicable

Your right, it unjustly lets employees who don't work as hard or properly do their jobs, benefit on an equal basis.
I usually tip a little less in these cases.


47 posted on 12/06/2005 12:54:52 PM PST by wolfcreek
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To: toddlintown

It is a different place now.


48 posted on 12/06/2005 12:55:11 PM PST by saveliberty (The feed? Senator Ted thought it was part of the Big Dig. It's in the Esther Williams Tunnel now)
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To: Woman on Caroline Street
LOL...I left out some of the more colorful lines...

BTW, great handle. Was in KW for Thanksgiving, and had breakfast at Pepe's (on Caroline Street). Always reminds me of that song.

49 posted on 12/06/2005 12:55:20 PM PST by ContemptofCourt
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To: BlueStateDepression
If I think my booth is very clean and I want to tip the busboy I will. If I want to tip the cooks I will. To me, those services are part the bill I pay for the meal. A curteous waitress that never lets my drink glass go empty is worth a tip.

This is an artificial construct. You consider a table cleaned, and cleaned in a swift manner so you don't have to wait to be "part of the bill," yet you don't consider bringing the food to the table and keeping your whistle wet "part of the bill"? Is there some rational reason for that?

If busboys, hostesses and waitresses, along with cooks, all together make your experience a good one, why does it bother you if they all share in your gratuity? How can you logically single out the waitress?

SD

50 posted on 12/06/2005 12:57:01 PM PST by SoothingDave
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To: frogjerk

LOL! Great story!


51 posted on 12/06/2005 12:57:16 PM PST by saveliberty (The feed? Senator Ted thought it was part of the Big Dig. It's in the Esther Williams Tunnel now)
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To: mitchbert

They do include the gratuity. They now look for an additional tip.


52 posted on 12/06/2005 12:57:58 PM PST by saveliberty (The feed? Senator Ted thought it was part of the Big Dig. It's in the Esther Williams Tunnel now)
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To: George14

I tip 15% exclusively unless bad service prompts me to go down. I figure this is overly generous to what they deserve because almost all restaurants are staffed by college-age girls and they just have their boyfriends take them out (and spend their hard-earned cash tipping some other waitress which she wont spend when she's going out).

I tip generously when I'm out on the town, because that's part of the whole entertainment value, throwing money around likes its no object. Going to a restaurant is not entertainment, its a service. I order burger, you bring me burger, now get out of my face while i eat. I dont understand why people believe they deserve such lavish incomes for services people in other equivalent fields make mininum wage.


53 posted on 12/06/2005 12:58:53 PM PST by chudogg (www.chudogg.blogspot.com)
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To: steve-b; frogjerk

I had a waitress that ignored us for 30 minutes. We were about to leave and then she came by to apologize. But rather than continuing to follow up, she ignored us for another 30 minutes.

I left a tip - one penny. I wanted her to see that I did not forget. I felt it was a more effective statement than leaving nothing.


54 posted on 12/06/2005 1:00:00 PM PST by saveliberty (The feed? Senator Ted thought it was part of the Big Dig. It's in the Esther Williams Tunnel now)
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To: George14

I still don't understand why there is a tip cup at Dunkin' Donuts. They walk over to the rack, put the donut in the bag, and ring it up at the register. Why does that require a tip?


55 posted on 12/06/2005 1:00:29 PM PST by Born Conservative (Chronic Positivity: http://www.livejournal.com/users/jsher/)
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To: tfecw
Whiel I can't speak for the rest of Europe, tipping isn't customary in Germany.

Don't you round up the next Euro?

56 posted on 12/06/2005 1:00:46 PM PST by FreedomCalls (It's the "Statue of Liberty," not the "Statue of Security.")
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To: George14

ok.. lets see if we can educate this author- at least as it applies in MI. for starters, minimum wage for servers is $2.65. servers are required to report 8% of their sales as tips.. most make more. now, as far as basing their hourly wage on what they make in tips.. its actually very nice the way they do it. if, between your hourly wage and your tips, you don't average $5.15 for the pay period, the employer is required to make it up to you.
in most cases, tip pooling is bad, but some makes sense. tipping bussers and bartenders is common practice, even required in most restaurants/ bars. the reason? the same as why you tip your server. its a gratuity to insure prompt, correct and pleasant service. because as a bartender, who do you think is gonna come first? the stupid waitress that doesn't tip me, or the paying customer at the end of the bar? similar for bussing. whose table is gonna get cleaned first? the waitress who tips the busser or the one who thinks he's lowlife scum that's beneath her?


57 posted on 12/06/2005 1:01:03 PM PST by absolootezer0 ("My God, why have you forsaken us.. no wait, its the liberals that have forsaken you... my bad")
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To: wolfcreek
Your right, it unjustly lets employees who don't work as hard or properly do their jobs, benefit on an equal basis.

Very fair point, and why it's harder to do (and I think not advisable) in a larger establishment. My local pub is the first place I've seen attempt it to this degree but it only works because the owner insists everyone share the workload and everyone gets along. The staff are all happy with the situation and they work more like a team. It is a well run place, mind you with very hands on owners (that don't take tip money themselves when they're working).

58 posted on 12/06/2005 1:01:58 PM PST by mitchbert (Facts Are Stubborn Things .)
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To: wolfcreek
Tip pooling is despicable Your right, it unjustly lets employees who don't work as hard or properly do their jobs, benefit on an equal basis. I usually tip a little less in these cases.

You think people working on a team, with cash bonuses on the line, are going to put up with one of the team members slacking off? You think a person knowing that better service puts more money in his pocket is going to do a better or worse job? These aren't union workers getting paid scale to sit on their butts. This is pure capitalism. Results are rewarded instantly.

SD

59 posted on 12/06/2005 1:02:25 PM PST by SoothingDave
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To: HEY4QDEMS

Pierce Brosnan???

You know Sean Connery was the only REAL James Bond anyway.


60 posted on 12/06/2005 1:02:40 PM PST by Vaquero ("An armed society is a polite society" R. A. Heinlein)
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