Tipping in restaurants, should we or shouldn't we?

Over one year ago came change in law to protect hospitality sector employees which supposed to stop employers from using service charge and tips to top up employees' wages to statutory minimum. But was that legislation effective? In some cases probably yes but I do believe in many law actually has failed. Can it be still change? I hope so and I would like to share my experience believing it can be a motivation for someone (maybe customers/solicitors/government) to act on behalf of hospitality sector employees to make an effective change.
Well, for those who wants to know something more about 'behind the scenes' practice in restaurants I can tell you something about that on my example. In the restaurant where I work on customers' bills appears 12.5% of obligatory service charge. On each bill it is written as well than restaurant have got no profit from the service charge and it is fairly divided between the staff involved in serving you. How it looks in practice? We are getting minimum wage plus 20% of service. Well, it mean than if a customer spend let say ?30 on his dinner and we add a service charge (?30x 12.5% = ?3.75) equals ?33.37 than a waitress gets... How much?
Well from that ?3.75 a 20% is for a supervisor/manager (it's fair because when it's busy they do help us)- ?3.75 - 20% = ?3, from that there is a VAT taken by dividing it by 1.3 (well it's seems to be 23% not 20% VAT, we don't know why is that way) so ?3/1.3 = ?2.30. And now we get a 20% from that ?2.30 which is ?0.46 before tax and NIC. If a service you pay is ?10 waitress get ?1.23. Well, without taking out VAT there is 60% of service going to the restaurant owner. So I think every should decided his/her self is it fair? Don't forget what is written on the bill - restaurant got no profit from a service charge!
As well last week our employer took away about ?100 form one of my colleague wage (she has been working over 50 hours very busy shifts) because he decided she has earn to much that week and he will keep those money for next two month when restaurant will be quite after a Christmas time so his got money for her wage, he is not going to pay from his pocket. When she said than she doesn't agree to that because she has been working hard all week and has to pay bills as well, he said than he is going to bring her a newspaper where is written than service according to the current legislations belongs to the restaurant means he can do with it whatever he wants.
I would like to ask customers just for a one thing. Please don't pay service charge, don't go to restaurant where is service charge or refuse to pay service charge it's the way you can help those things to end. Keep your money in your pocket unless you want to pay something extra to the owner of a restaurant. I do believe there are restaurant where it works fair, like the ones which accepted British Hospitality Association's code of practice urging restaurant to disclose to customers how they deal with service charge and tips. And I would like to thank you to all those honest employers, who keeps things right even they have to compete with those dishonest ones who knowingly mislead their customers.

I pay for service when appropriate. When I feel the service did not merit a a charge, I call over the waiter/waitress and the person in charge and explain what was wrong and why I'm not paying a service charge. It's not always the fault of the waiter if the service is bad, it's often the management who are to blame.

The simple unembellished act of taking my order, collecting it from the kitchen, and placing it on the table does not deserve an extra payment. I expect to see some interest in, and knowledge of what is being served, or at the very least a friendly smile and a greeting.

You are absolutely right that tipping is used to keep the wages of staff down ....but you would be the first person to complain if it was included in the price which lead to waiters having no real insentive to give great service. Buy keeping wages down and assuming people tip it allows the customer to essentially decide what they think their waiter deserves to be paid. I was a waitress for 6 years and on a few occasions, when I was hungover/having a very bad day, I politely refused tips that I knew where given out of duty that I felt I didn't deeserve...And anyone I gave great service to and didn't tip (I'm guessing that you fall into this catagory you tight prick) would be pointed out to the rest of the staff so EVERYONE knew to F**k with their food the next time we had the displeasure of having to serve them. Enjoy your next night out to dinner Dickhead!

I went to an expensive restaurant with a group of people and the food was disgusting but I stupidly ate it and left a tip. I should have left one cent because the service was terrible along with the food once it came.
Rae & Jerry's here in Winnipeg-stay away and buy your own food-avoid avoid this over priced and overrated crappy food restaurant.

When you are sat down in a restaurant, just remember you have accepted to be submitted to a high pressure sales presentation. There ought to be a warning on the door before you go in, and a cooling off period.

Why leave a tip? Do you leave a tip in any other circumstance? It's medieval. You are pretending to be aristocratic/bourgeois when you leave a tip. You're nothing but a snob.

And sorry, forgot to add, never received any extra pay from the service charge at all. Cash tips are free to be pocketed by any waiting staff, the service charge almost never gets to the waiter. At all.

Don't pay it, if the waiter can't impress you enough to get a tip then why pay that 12.5% extra?

'Respect those serving you'
I love this quote. Because I was a waiter. I even made it to restaurant manager. And you know what, it's a job. And it's one of the worst jobs in the world at times, one of the best at others. Now I'm a business owner myself, and my ascent from what one of the comments here called 'Peasantry' is amusing in my memories.

The vast majority of the UK treat the waiting staff really badly.
Want to know what we really do to your food when your really rude? Maybe best not to think about it.

Just remember, you wouldn't treat an acquaintance serving you dinner the way people treated me. And that doesn't make me want to give good service. Good service, or more correctly speaking, a good restaurant experience, is like good intercourse (Filter made me name it that bah), both parties have to be in the mood. If your in a bad mood, you put the other party off.

Tips are the thanks, the acknowledgement, the awareness that yes, your human and we want to help you. That is why pennies aren't tips, they're insulting.
As the joker said in the dark knight, 'Its not about the money, it's about sending a message.'

Anyways, as I said, when your in the restaurant, the waiter is in total control. We always win, really. And I never had anyone who received poo in their food ever notice.

Food for thought

Hi there,

I just wanted to say three points to you

1. The rate of pay in restaurants is notoriously bad. Some waiters don't receive wages, they get paid directly on their tips/ service charge, and you quite literally decide their pay.
2. The staff are motivated to earn that tip. They go the extra mile because they know your paying for good service. if you weren't, then they really need not bother. I've been into awful restaurants with bad bad service (but very good food) and I did not leave a tip. I left tips at restaurants with good service because I was willing to pay more for what I got : I valued it more highly. This is a key point, in any restaurant at any time your free to state that the food/service whatever wasnt worth £X and is only worth £Y to you, and then you can only leave that amount. This isnt Illegal.
3. Next time you even consider giving a tramp your change, think about what he's done to deserve it. Now take that line of thought further, what deserves payment? If you genuinely dont think the service your getting deserves payment then your either eating at bad restaurants or your a really really miserable person ;)

There's a lot of unusual views going on here, it's clear that not many posters have any experience of working the service industry (particularly the higher end, where there is actually an "art" to correct service, attention to detail is absolutely key and many years can be spent studying wine and gaining service experience to obtain these positions).

And as for Wes saying that we all know that restaurant businesses operate with high margins, I'd like to know who you're hoping to include using the royal "we". Maybe you could justify your claim if you want to look at it as an absolute gross margin, where the cost of the food to purchase compared to the cost to it is being sold might seem quite high. If however you consider the overheads and staffing costs involved with getting that food in front of you, they add up pretty quickly. I don't know anyone who's ever opened up a restaurant as a get rich quick scheme, usually it'd be because of a passion for the food and bev industry.

Unless you're involved in the restaurant industry and would like to enlighten us further.

We have all been there. It especially happens in those expensive, but fashionably trendy ethnic restaurants. "Come and eat Cuban, Nepalese, Moroccan whatever" you hear. You go. You get there and the dining experience is dreadful. The waiting staff are all amateurs, the food has been prepared by peasants. It's disgusting trash. It's all grossly overpriced. The "waiter" calls you his mate. He slaps you on the back. He leans on the table to take the order.

And then after all this they are expecting 15% tip.

You've gotta be kiddin'.

60 years ago, my grandmother told me that she used to give dustmen, coalmen, the postman, all these servants a "box" at Christmas: money, a tip for services rendered throughout the year. This was especially practised in middle class areas in town. This custom has all but died out. It was considered to be "corrupt", extortionist in nature. Dustmen would drop garbage on your footpath if you didn't cough up their dues. Postmen would be late with your letters. You might not get your coal put exactly in the right place, and so on.

Isn't it like this in a restaurant? If you don't pay your tip, all kinds of nasty things could happen to you next time you visit that restaurant.

We only tip if the food and service has been exceptional, otherwise waiters will expect a tip every time, regardless of the quality of service.

This ridiculosus myth, the reason why tipping is practiced

"The main reason that tipping is a good system is that it encourages good service by providing a direct reward for good service."

This is one huge lie. It has never been proved.

Tipping exists because resaturant employers do not want to pay their staff proper wages.

Tipping exists because restaurant employers want to make-believe their restaurants are classy establishments, where they employ slave labour. Those restaurant owners want to make you feel, yes you the diners, are a slave-owners too.

You tip the waiters because you like to treat these low-class animals like dirt; you the diners are sadists. Waiters are little more than gladiators waiting their turn to die in the arena.

Michael why are you talking to yourself? I know you're a bit sad and have no friends but come on son this is getting a bit desperate now, bless him x

The reason why we have such contempt for waiting staff in this country does not justify why we have such poor service in general.The general attitude is that the British do not seem to care.It is not the custom to tip in cafes & restaurants in this country unlike the continent where it is the accepted norm.This is greasy spoon Britain,not the continental pavement cafe culture where good food & service,& the resulting tips come as part of the job.
Why should I be expected to tip the waiter/waitress in a lot of these self service establishments,(Nandos ect,) & then still be expected to leave a tip.This is rip off Britain.Give tips accordingly where they are due,not for rubbish food & service.

The main reason that tipping is a good system is that it encourages good service by providing a direct reward for good service. Even the very bottom end restaurants in the USA generally have first rate service, and tipping is standard practice there. If a waiter there is rude, or ignorant of the menu or inattentive to customers then he can't pay his rent. In the UK, he's the norm.

And of course, if they don't want to do the job well they shouldn't do it at all - but the contempt for waiting staff shown in the UK, including some of those commenting below, is why we have such poor service. Respect those serving you. Reward them. If you're too mean spirited - or too mean - to do so, ask yourself why you're visiting a restaurant at all. And then go to Tesco and grab a butty out of the fridge there.

You are absolutely right!! Why do we have to tip a waiter?? Their job is to serve us and get a salary from the owner, just like we all do!!! I work in a bank and I serve the costumers and I dont expect a tip because I dont work for free I do get a salary from my employer or bank. Would anyone like to have a half meal from someone who did not finish their food and says here its for you?? I dont think so.

The Percentage Penalty is one reason to reject the voluntary service charge - get it deleted from your bill. Percentage penalty means the more you spend the more you pay to spend it. Seems crazy. See Arithmetic comment 26 Dec 2010. My example - you usually have a £24 bottle of wine but today's celebration means you choose an £80 of wine. Voluntary service charge [@12.5%] £3 on the £24 one, £10 on the £80 one. Normally shops are delighted when you spend more - they don't penalise you.

The restaurant industry is proud of paying it's wait staff poorly. It will continue to do that as long as customers see it as their duty to help out in this long running wage dispute between employer and wait staff. 96 % of employees get paid the rate for the job with no top up from customers. It's time for the restaurant industry to come into the 21st century. Get the voluntary service charge deleted from you bill. Leave a cash tip if you must, but much lower than 12.5%.

"Waiting is unski11ed labour, just as a supermarket checkout operator is"

Rubbish. Being a waiter in a good restaurant entails being conversant with customer service, items on the menu, how they are prepared, raw materials, and very often having a knowledge of appropriate wines too, unless there is a sommelier.

If your experience of dining out is limited to the Little Chef or the Happy Farmer type restaurants which abound in the UK, then I agree, but dining is rather more than that, to some of us anyway.

Tipping is Via-gra. Tipping impresses the ladies. The bigger the tip the harder the sell. She knows that if you tip hugely you must have many things larger than your bank balance, and faster than your Audi.