The bolded part of what you state is incorrect. Here's the actual paragraph pertaining to that point:

So yes, employers may absolutely require tip pooling with the bussers, cooks, hostess, and other employees who normally wouldn't get tipped, as long as the wait staff is paid the federal minimum wage (which is $7.25/hour), before any tipped income is applied. The employer and shift supervisor and shop manager can't receive any of that pool, but all the other non-management employees can, as long as the minimum wage requirement is met pre-tip.

I understand the rule, but the IRS has a special tax rule for tipped employees. They are only required to pay income tax on 8 percent of the gross income of the business as pro-rated by the employer on the W-2. I am not sure how the IRS views this situation, but I think the tipped employees may no longer be eligible for the 8 percent rule. Also, how would the employer report the pooled tip income received by the non-tipped employees, who are not eligible for the 8 percent rule? It sounds like the tipped employees may lose their special status as tipped employees. Very confusing. As a restaurant server, I don't think I would work for an employer who shared my tip income with non-tipped employees.

Tip sharing, from a tax stand point is a nightmare. From a business stand point is a basket of worms. From a personal stand point can create hard feelings and animosity among co-workers. From a customer stand point, it bothers me that my gift to the one person that most impacted my dining experience may be robbed of some, if not all of the gift meant for that individual. Tipping, as practiced, is an onerous and odious way of getting service workers properly compensated for their work.

Simple solution, Uber Eats. Give the waitstaff a break from those who consider them lower class.

Since Uber Eats prices are listed at a higher price, customer happy that no tip is required (even though the price is 15-25% higher than eating in).
Zero tip to Uber not a big deal, (they know where you live):swear:.

I bet most will eat right out of the container instead of plating. Win for all

Question.

Two waitresses and the service is identical.

Do you tip based solely on service? Or if one is really cute and the other is not very attractive, does that impact the tip?

65yo VS 20yo
220lb VS 100lb
Blond VS Ethnic
Med Student VS High School

Many would tip the same for either for excellent service, a job well done…

The balance would leave $2 no matter what.

I would tip solely on service. The calculations I do to determine the tip amount don't consider appearance at all.

Attitude matters more than looks. If I'm trying to decide where in the 18% - 22% range to tip, cute won't change the needle but a bad attitude certainly will.

I wouldn't either. I quit one waitress gig because of it, and Gator's Dockside in Spanish Springs shut down *IN PART* because of it.

*I say in part, because there were a lot of things that led to it being shut down. Post-COVID business never really picked back up and they lost most of their staff. When they rehired, they couldn't be very picky because all the "good" staffers had already moved on to better jobs, or quit entirely to go to school to find an actual career. What was left, was "people who didn't care about customer service and just wanted a paycheck." They were paid poorly, they did a bad job, morale was down the drain, the management was more and more frustrated and took it out on the staff, and the staff were sub-par, and the customer base just really stopped caring about going there at all.

I would add that it is bad enough for an employer to expect customers to pay the wages of tipped employees, but to also expect the tipped employees to pay the wages of the non-tipped employees is absurd.

Depending on the order, $2 might be 20% or better. Just sayin'.

Uhhh? "they know where you live"? So, we are back to customer intimidation/manipulation, even at your home. Oh, 🤬!

Worse then absurd. It should be criminal. It is certainly unethical. Ban tipping and pay an acceptable wage for the job. Ultimately everyone will be better off. Just mho.

Tipping is a personal choice so why do people even ask on here? Silly. If you don't want to tip then don't. It's not that hard a decision.

How would the wages of tipped employees be paid if not by the customers? You don't like tipping? Fine, but how will you react to a 20% price increase? The money has to come from somewhere.

For some, it is a hard decision because of the atmosphere of intimidation that has been created by the restaurant industry. If you are immune to the intimidation, there no problem.

I think most people, including me, would be happy to pay higher prices if tipping was not expected or allowed.

Sorry, no. If you don't want to tip, don't eat at table service restaurants. You don't have to agree with the culture, but it is expected of you to conform.

Restaurants are not the only place where a percentage of the sale goes to the person taking the order.

Most of the time, if you buy a product or service, and there is a person in the loop taking your order, that person is getting paid a percentage. And its not based on how many hours they work, but on how big the bill is. Many many businesses and industries work that way. Everyone in the world is not paid by the hour or on salary.

In other businesses we would call it an incentive or a bonus or a commission and bury the cost in the price of the product or service. But restaurants call it a TIP and customers pay it directly and control the amount

A TIP is viewed as an entirely different thing than a sales commission. But at the end of the day its the same result. The employees is getting a low base and a percentage of the restaurant's revenue associated with their effort.

Its not like tipping a hotel Ballman or a Valet where you tip based on how many bags they carry, or that they brought you your undamaged car promptly. Its instead a percentage of the bill. So it is really a TIP? I would say its just a sales commission in Sheep's clothing. Which is fine.

The other thing about restaurants is that many view waiting tables as a menial position or a job for kids and therefore not deserving of a high rate of pay. The thought is that Server should be paid a "living wage" maybe a few bucks above the minimum and by the hour. The fact that they asked me if a want a cocktail and told me the special doesn't make them a salesperson. To that I would say you control the TIP amount. It is only social pressure that is pushing it higher. You have that power in a restaurant, which you don't in other businesses.

Uber driver has options on delivery to except or reject. So if mileage, area, or difficult delivery, the driver can reject the delivery, and it passes to the next driver.
Eventually if the same address is consistently rejected. No intimidation manipulation just…….NO FOOD FOR YOU….
More than once have picked up an order when the delivery driver walked in and quit. 11 deliveries and total of $7 in tips doesn’t pay for gas.

For many, probably most, it actually is, for those who want buck the tide of current practice. Public is told that tipping makes others think you are nice, so you begin tipping. "The pie and coffee was fine. $2.50? Here's $3. Keep the change". You're a nice guy. Restaurant owner says "Hey, there is money in tips. I bet I could start paying the waitress less and she'll make it up in tips" word gets out and nice people like you want to help, so you tip a little more. Some how word gets out that "it is customary to tip 5%". So nice people tip 5%. But somehow 5% is now chump change. Nice people give 8%. You're nice, so 8% hits the table.
The unknown, but often quoted experts, "they", have let it be known that 20% is the current standard, but nice folks, like you and I always round up or go 25% ... or more.
Unlike a sales commission or bonus, it is built into the deal. The amount is between the sales rep and the manager/owner. The customer never has to write a check to the sales rep to pay a tip.

Yes, I do tip workmen who come in my home. IF they do a good job.
It’s easy enough to give them $20 and tell them to buy themselves dinner.

Just my opinion, but I think you might be part of the problem. The workers are, very likely, getting full hourly pay plus overtime. Even at straight hourly rate trades people generally make good money. A big smile and "Thank You" should be enough.

If the man is self employed, do you tip him?

I was taught that you don't tip owners or management (salaried employees).

The menu prices are higher because the products from the venders are more expensive, not to pay the employees.

So, tipping is unnecessary as all workers receive full pay and are fully compensated for the work they do.
My next tip will be, "have a nice day!"

Wow.

Fact check: Partially True.

Products from vendOrs are certainly higher, but so are labor costs.

Tipping is ridiculous. Pay an hourly rate that is commensurate to the work involved and knock off the tipping cr*p. We seldom go out to a restaurant anymore, food at home is so much better and healthy. We know how it's been handled and since food is for sustenance and nothing more, it works for us. We highly recommend this method for others and maybe restaurants will realign their employment compensation to a reasonable resolution. When a physical therapist works part-time in a restaurant vs fulltime at their degreed education for even better money, something is askew.

After having enough subpar meals being served through the years, we never send food back for the spitters, we just leave it on the plate. Don't bother adjusting our bill for the poor food, we won't be back.

One of the tipping points for our decisions was calling in an order for a 14" pizza for over $20/ from a restaurant. We waited on hold for a couple of minutes to place the order, drove to pick up the pizza, waited in a hallway for the pizza, drove back home with the pizza where we had set up our own utensils, beverages, napkins and plates and cleaning up afterward, disposing of the cardboard box. The real kicker was the tip container on the counter where we paid for the pizza. Really? We're done with them. We can make a much better pizza for half that cost and we don't have to leave the house. Easy peasy.

If we are served at a table we tip, if the food is handed to us in a box or bag we do not.

Imagine what people that bag your groceries get paid, for for me that means you don't have enough skills to make more than $13 an hour and you should be going to college or learning a trade.

Of course if you don't want to earn more you don't have to and by that I mean I see a lot of people semi-retired just getting by and very happy to get $13 an hour.
When I started work back in the '70s I was paid a dollar and five cents an hour

My thoughts exactly. You can't check out of almost any business, without the payment system "expecting" a Tip. Yesterday, it was at Subway.

It's getting worse and more and more people are complaining.

I recently (last week) bought the Domain Name, "NoMoreTipping.com".

Issue organizing isn't my thing, so if anyone has any ideas, I'm open!

Now that tips are no longer taxed, should the “suggested” amount be 10-15%?

Interesting article on tipping.


Tipping Culture in America - Public Sees a Changed Landscape | Pew Research Center

Have been averaging 20% but now not sure what we will do in the future.

20% is easy to figure in my head so I imagine I will stick with that.

Thanks to overtippers and people who tip on things they really don't need to tip on at all, I now get "looks" from cashiers at take-out.
Here's a tip to the customers:

The cashier isn't bringing you a menu.
She's not bringing you water.
She's not asking what you want to order.
She's not setting your plate.
She's not letting you sit.
She's not bringing you your meal to your table.
She's not asking if you're enjoying your meal.
She's not refilling the water glass that she never gave you in the first place.

What she is doing:
Waiting for YOU to come up to HER and tell her what you want.
Taking your money.
Ignoring you until your food is ready.
Handing you the bag.
Thanking you for visiting and inviting you to come again (maybe - some of them don't even do that).

You don't owe a tip for that. You really should avoid tipping for that. These are not considered "tipped employees" and they all make a *minimum* of the state minimum wage, many get more than that.

These are not people who are working here full time with medical benefits expecting to be able to live off what they earn here. Most of them are part time, get no benefits at all except maybe a discount on the food they buy during their shift.

The more tips they get, the more tips they expect, until they get to a point where they expect one, and get upset when they don't get one. Don't tip the chick at the Burger King counter. Seriously - just don't do that. You make it more expensive for everyone else to get the MINIMUM quality customer service that they're getting paid to give us all.

You must be a math whiz.
10% is much easier to calculate.
If the bill is $17.35, just move the decimal point over. If you double that, it makes it much more difficult.

So if there were a law passed that all waiters and waitresses received minimum wage, would you still tip?

How about if they were required to get double the minimum wage?

If that is for a meal and not just pouring beers then $34.70 -> $3.50 -> $3.65 -> either $4.65 or 5.65.

Believe it helps with mental acuity in my old age.