Here's A Tip: Understanding America's Broken Tipping System and How We Can Fix It

Tipping is an integral part of American culture. But should it be?

As an American, I’ve always felt obligated to tip. And tip well, at that. When my check appears at a restaurant, I feel the mounting pressure to leave an appropriate tip, regardless of how good or bad the service was.

It’s how these people make a living, I find myself thinking.

It's a popular opinion that America’s tipping system is inherently unfair, discriminatory, and outright corrupt. But it wasn’t until I spent a few weeks in UK, where a service charge is often included in the bill, that I began to understand- we’re definitely doing it wrong.

We need to switch the UK system of tipping- here’s why:

Tipping can indirectly affect the kitchen staff and other employees

The tipping system in America gives waitresses the opportunity to rack in an impressive incomes, depending on how well the customers tip. On a lucky night, waitresses may go home with several hundred bucks in their pocket. This is certainly a positive of the American style of tipping. However, because of this, waitresses can often times end up making more than the kitchen staff, such as the chefs, who jobs require much more training, skill, and often a degree. And this disparity may be causing a lack of cooks in the kitchen, as one article suggests.

Discretional Tipping Allows Employers To Pay Their Staff Unfairly

In the United States, it is legal for employers to pay their wait staff only $2.13/hr. No- not even minimum wage. Just 2 dollars and some change. The logic is that tips are supposed to make up for the poor hourly payment. But this model relies on customers to tip well- and that doesn’t always happen. I’ve seen it with my own eyes. I have a friend who would leave only dollar for a tip every time we went out to eat. It didn’t matter how much her bill was.

I truthfully think it is out of ignorance most times. Customers who never worked in the food industry or lived pay check to pay check often cannot understand how poorly wait staff are paid by their employees. And while may be an unhealthy worldview, it is a prime example of why a waiter's livelihood shouldn’t be contingent on customers.

So, there’s ignorant customers that can cause waitresses to go home with an empty wallet. Then there’s slow nights. When there are few tables to wait on, where is the money going to come from?Employers need to step up and pay their wait staff at least minimum wage. Don’t Forget About DiscriminationDiscrimination is huge in the workplace, and dining establishments are no different. It’s also a fact that white waiters and waitresses tipped the best followed by Latinx, Black, and Asian servers.

Allowing tipping to be at the discretion of customers only contributes to the perpetuation of discrimination.

What can we do?

In theory, the answer is pretty simple. First, we can switch to an included service charge, instead of discretionary tipping. In the UK, a service charge of about 12.5% is automatically added to the bill. This way, customers don’t have to awkwardly decide how much to give. It’s already there. With a service charge included, wait staff can feel more assured about making a live-able wage without the worries of slow nights or ignorant and discriminating patrons. It also makes splitting the tip amongst a group much easier. Fortunately, some establishments in the states are already seeing the reward in this method, such as restaurant owner Carmen Sample, who switched her entire business to the service charge model, and hasn’t looked back since. Check out her reasoning behind this model here.

Also in the UK, wait staff are usually paid at least the minimum wage as a base pay. That way, the majority of their income isn’t contingent on tips to begin with. Of course, the UK model isn’t perfect. There is currently no law in place that forces restaurants to give the service charge to the wait staff. However, diners can always leave the service charge in cash on the table- a much better way to assure the server will directly receive the tip.

Clearly, America needs to improve when it comes to tipping culture. Like the UK, wait staff needs to be paid at least minimum wage. Tipping should automatically be included as a service charge and should only be considered a “perk”- not the majority of a servers income. Of course, if you’re one of those people who believe in not tipping or not paying the service charge out of pure egotism- I can’t help you there. Do all of us a favor and keep dining limited to your own kitchen.