# Random questions about tipping (for Dopers who worked in restaurants) **URL:** \ **Category:** In My Humble Opinion\ **Created:** [December 19, 2018, 7:33pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/random-questions-about-tipping-for-dopers-who-worked-in-restaurants/826384 "2018-12-19T19:33:08Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 20\ **Page:** 2
**Author:** ![RaftPeople](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/r/6f9a4e/32.png) [@RaftPeople](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/RaftPeople)\ **Post date:** [December 20, 2018, 7:52pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/random-questions-about-tipping-for-dopers-who-worked-in-restaurants/826384/21 "2018-12-20T19:52:44Z")
> [@Velocity](#): > > Relevant article: > > [https://www.wsj.com/articles/you-want-20-for-handing-me-a-muffin-the-awkward-etiquette-of-ipad-tipping-1539790018](https://www.wsj.com/articles/you-want-20-for-handing-me-a-muffin-the-awkward-etiquette-of-ipad-tipping-1539790018) I don’t mind tipping in those scenarios. My thinking is as follows: 1 - They are working minimum wage which is usually high-volume work that is not easy. 2 - I appreciate good service in the form of nice interactions, etc. Even if the physical effort was only a few steps, the mental effort to be pleasant when serving 9,000 people per day is something. ---
**Author:** ![MandaJo](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/ac91a4/32.png) [@MandaJo](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/MandaJo)\ **Post date:** [December 20, 2018, 8:01pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/random-questions-about-tipping-for-dopers-who-worked-in-restaurants/826384/22 "2018-12-20T20:01:53Z")
> [@AngelSoft](#): > > I try to tip like 10% on carryout. Mostly cause someone had to take the time to take my order, bag it up and get it to me. I don’t know if this is common though. I think it makes a difference where you are. If somewhere is a nice restaurant with sit-down service, you should tip at least 10% on carry-out. But I agree that the line is more blurry for places that just have counter-service. There’s a restaurant here that not only expects you to bus your table, but has detailed instructions about where to put bowls, plates, trays, and silverware. I sorta feel like at that point asking for a tip is crazy. ---
**Author:** ![AngelSoft](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/angelsoft/32/440_2.png) [@AngelSoft](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/AngelSoft)\ **Post date:** [December 20, 2018, 8:22pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/random-questions-about-tipping-for-dopers-who-worked-in-restaurants/826384/23 "2018-12-20T20:22:19Z")
Actually I just thought of a related question to the OP. Tipping in states where servers get paid the same minimum wage as everyone else. Like here in Oregon, everyone is guaranteed the minimum wage, tipped employee or not. Does that mean the 15-20% rule doesn’t apply? I mean, I don’t mind tipping but at the same time there’s no need to ‘supplement’ a ridiculously low wage here either. ---
**Author:** ![Doug\_K](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/b5ac83/32.png) [@Doug\_K](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Doug_K)\ **Post date:** [December 20, 2018, 11:14pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/random-questions-about-tipping-for-dopers-who-worked-in-restaurants/826384/24 "2018-12-20T23:14:15Z")
> [@AngelSoft](#): > > Actually I just thought of a related question to the OP. Tipping in states where servers get paid the same minimum wage as everyone else. Like here in Oregon, everyone is guaranteed the minimum wage, tipped employee or not. Does that mean the 15-20% rule doesn’t apply? I mean, I don’t mind tipping but at the same time there’s no need to ‘supplement’ a ridiculously low wage here either. This actually brings up a related question that perhaps GESancMan can answer: The fact is that everyone everywhere is SUPPOSED to be guaranteed minimum wage even if they receive no tips. From a plain reading of the law it appears that to pay less than minimum wage the employer has to claim a tip credit - meaning they have to start with minimum wage then subtract tips received. If a server only made, say, .50 an hour worth of tips the employer can only claim a .50/hour tip credit and must pay $6.75/hour. Yet servers claim that if they don’t get enough tips they make less than minimum wage. Are employers routinely fraudulently misreporting tips? ---
**Author:** ![doreen](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/858c86/32.png) [@doreen](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/doreen)\ **Post date:** [December 20, 2018, 11:41pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/random-questions-about-tipping-for-dopers-who-worked-in-restaurants/826384/25 "2018-12-20T23:41:25Z")
> [@Doug\_K](#): > > This actually brings up a related question that perhaps GESancMan can answer: > > The fact is that everyone everywhere is SUPPOSED to be guaranteed minimum wage even if they receive no tips. From a plain reading of the law it appears that to pay less than minimum wage the employer has to claim a tip credit - meaning they have to start with minimum wage then subtract tips received. If a server only made, say, .50 an hour worth of tips the employer can only claim a .50/hour tip credit and must pay $6.75/hour. Yet servers claim that if they don’t get enough tips they make less than minimum wage. Are employers routinely fraudulently misreporting tips? I’m sure some are\* - but I haven’t ever seen a server claim they made less than minimum wage over the course of a pay period. Sure, they’ll say that they got less than minimum for a particular shift- but it’s not a requirement than each individual shift has to result in enough tips to bring you up to minimum. Let’s say you pay $2.13 in cash wages per hour. That means you’re taking a $5.12 per hour tip credit. If a server works 10 hours per week and gets $51.20 in tips, you’re good, even if there were 6 hours with no tips. \*I worked at a Dunkin Donuts back when they had counter service and the owner claimed our tips brought us up to minimum. He even had signed statements from us saying so - printed on the back of our paychecks. Of course, we didn’t get enough in tips to bring us up to minimum. ---
**Author:** ![D\_Anconia](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/67e7ee/32.png) [@D\_Anconia](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/D_Anconia)\ **Post date:** [December 21, 2018, 12:27am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/random-questions-about-tipping-for-dopers-who-worked-in-restaurants/826384/26 "2018-12-21T00:27:08Z")
Federal law (FLSA) requires that tipped employees receive at least the federal minimum wage. > **[Minimum Wages for Tipped Employees](https://www.dol.gov/agencies/whd/state/minimum-wage/tipped)** ---
**Author:** ![Bear\_Nenno](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/bear_nenno/32/3358_2.png) [@Bear\_Nenno](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Bear_Nenno)\ **Post date:** [December 21, 2018, 2:08am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/random-questions-about-tipping-for-dopers-who-worked-in-restaurants/826384/27 "2018-12-21T02:08:13Z")
> [@Velocity](#): > > Incidentally - maybe I’m paranoid - but when a customer is required to decide how much of a tip to give \*before \*the food is even prepared, what’s the management/business logic behind that? Where do you tip before your food is prepared? ---
**Author:** ![Fear\_Itself](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/fear_itself/32/19637_2.png) [@Fear\_Itself](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Fear_Itself)\ **Post date:** [December 21, 2018, 2:24am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/random-questions-about-tipping-for-dopers-who-worked-in-restaurants/826384/28 "2018-12-21T02:24:07Z")
Do tipped servers remember good tippers and treat them differently? ---
**Author:** ![Riemann](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/riemann/32/3133_2.png) [@Riemann](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Riemann)\ **Post date:** [December 21, 2018, 2:44am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/random-questions-about-tipping-for-dopers-who-worked-in-restaurants/826384/29 "2018-12-21T02:44:20Z")
I just visited a “Durango Joe’s” coffee shop. They tried to charge me 20% over the displayed price for a latte because I asked for non-fat milk. Apparently that’s a “premium” milk. Then the routine of turning around the screen and strongly suggesting that I tip them for walking up to a counter and buying something. Hmmm. ---
**Author:** ![doreen](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/858c86/32.png) [@doreen](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/doreen)\ **Post date:** [December 21, 2018, 3:08am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/random-questions-about-tipping-for-dopers-who-worked-in-restaurants/826384/30 "2018-12-21T03:08:47Z")
> [@Bear\_Nenno](#): > > Where do you tip before your food is prepared? I’ve been to more than one place where you order and pay at the counter but the food isn’t prepared until you order it and if you want to pay using a card, the reader asks you about a tip ( just like paying by card at the drugstore causes the reader to ask about cashback). Meaning you’re being asked about a tip before your food is prepared. ---
**Author:** ![dalej42](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/67e7ee/32.png) [@dalej42](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/dalej42)\ **Post date:** [December 21, 2018, 3:20am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/random-questions-about-tipping-for-dopers-who-worked-in-restaurants/826384/31 "2018-12-21T03:20:49Z")
> [@Jackmannii](#): > > There are a number of U.S. chains that furnish tables with credit card machines. > > Maybe they’re marginally useful for deterring fraud, but I find them to be annoying table clutter. As a semi-Luddite, I prefer interacting with machines and pseudo-humans as little as possible. The machines that they bring to the table are clutter? How long do you keep it there? I far prefer than to the old fashioned way where an unknown person has your card out of sight? ---
**Author:** ![dalej42](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/67e7ee/32.png) [@dalej42](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/dalej42)\ **Post date:** [December 21, 2018, 3:26am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/random-questions-about-tipping-for-dopers-who-worked-in-restaurants/826384/32 "2018-12-21T03:26:22Z")
> [@control-z](#): > > What is the best thing to do for carryout food where you order over the phone or Internet and just go to the register to pick it up? > > Receipt still has a tip blank on it, but I don’t feel like carryout deserves a tip (right?) I usually just draw a line through it and the total. Is that a non-dick way to handle it? I agree that it depends on the type of place it is. If it’s a place that does 90% of their business from takeaway or delivery, then I wouldn’t tip. If it’s a place with table service and the order is more than just one item, then I’ll tip some. Some places have the bartender handle it, which is perfect since I’ll often have a drink while waiting ---
**Author:** ![doreen](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/858c86/32.png) [@doreen](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/doreen)\ **Post date:** [December 21, 2018, 4:12am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/random-questions-about-tipping-for-dopers-who-worked-in-restaurants/826384/33 "2018-12-21T04:12:16Z")
> [@dalej42](#): > > The machines that they bring to the table are clutter? How long do you keep it there? I far prefer than to the old fashioned way where an unknown person has your card out of sight? They’re often not brought to the table- they stay there. You can use the machines to order, play games (trivia and such) and pay your bill. Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk ---
**Author:** ![snfaulkner](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/snfaulkner/32/433_2.png) [@snfaulkner](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/snfaulkner)\ **Post date:** [December 21, 2018, 4:22am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/random-questions-about-tipping-for-dopers-who-worked-in-restaurants/826384/34 "2018-12-21T04:22:17Z")
1. very common 2. yes 3)rednecks and baptists. 4)I took the lesser of the two to avoid chargebacks. ---
**Author:** ![snfaulkner](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/snfaulkner/32/433_2.png) [@snfaulkner](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/snfaulkner)\ **Post date:** [December 21, 2018, 4:25am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/random-questions-about-tipping-for-dopers-who-worked-in-restaurants/826384/35 "2018-12-21T04:25:41Z")
> [@D\_Anconia](#): > > Federal law (FLSA) requires that tipped employees receive at least the federal minimum wage. > > [Minimum Wages for Tipped Employees | U.S. Department of Labor](https://www.dol.gov/whd/state/tipped.htm) I can’t view that link right now. But when did that start? Last time I bartended was the end of last century and only made $2.13/hr when the min was like 6 or so. All my paychecks were 0 due to taxes on tips. ---
**Author:** ![Lord\_Feldon](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/lord_feldon/32/341_2.png) [@Lord\_Feldon](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Lord_Feldon)\ **Post date:** [December 21, 2018, 5:12am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/random-questions-about-tipping-for-dopers-who-worked-in-restaurants/826384/36 "2018-12-21T05:12:11Z")
> [@Doug\_K](#): > > Are employers routinely fraudulently misreporting tips? A) Yes. Wage theft is rife in that industry. B) Even if the employer nominally follows the rules, reporting that you didn’t earn enough tips to cover the tip credit in full may very well get you the correct amount of pay, it’ll just be your final paycheck. ---
**Author:** ![Doug\_K](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/b5ac83/32.png) [@Doug\_K](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Doug_K)\ **Post date:** [December 21, 2018, 5:16am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/random-questions-about-tipping-for-dopers-who-worked-in-restaurants/826384/37 "2018-12-21T05:16:43Z")
> [@doreen](#): > > I’m sure some are\* - but I haven’t ever seen a server claim they made less than minimum wage over the course of a pay period. Sure, they’ll say that they got less than minimum for a particular shift- but it’s not a requirement than each individual shift has to result in enough tips to bring you up to minimum. Let’s say you pay $2.13 in cash wages per hour. That means you’re taking a $5.12 per hour tip credit. If a server works 10 hours per week and gets $51.20 in tips, you’re good, even if there were 6 hours with no tips. I’ve seen that claim made in nearly every online discussion about tipping I’ve ever seen anywhere, including this board. That includes claiming that they have to pay taxes on ten percent of all their tickets whether they got tipped or not. Here’s a post from a few years ago. It’s concerning pizza delivery drivers, but it’s an example of someone claiming that they only get $2.13 if there’s no tips: > [@Why do tipped food servers make $2.13/hr?](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-do-tipped-food-servers-make-2-13-hr/650862/8): > > What needs to be addressed is the fact that pizza delivery drivers make less than minimum wage, generally serve one customer at a time, incur the unpaid expenses of additional cost of insurance, double what others pay if they can even get insured properly at all, spend more than twice as much on tires, oil changes, and tons more on car maintenance, and if gasoline goes up in price the amount they get paid for the gasoline stays the same. And half of all customers (or more) do not tip anything at all, and some think the delivery fee (which pays gasoline only) is the driver’s tip. > > I’ve stated this several times before, but here it is again. Food servers in restaurants get tipped more and don’t have those additional expenses, and serve more customers at one time. > > NETA: Well, it needs to be addressed if you folks want pizzas to be delivered to your house in a timely fashion. Otherwise you can keep getting part time teenagers with no work ethic delivering your food slowly because they have no incentive whatsoever to get it to you quickly. More trips per hour but no tips means the driver actually loses money on every run. > [@snfaulkner](#): > > I can’t view that link right now. But when did that start? Last time I bartended was the end of last century and only made $2.13/hr when the min was like 6 or so. All my paychecks were 0 due to taxes on tips. It’s always been that way. But it’s cash wage + tips must be at least minimum wage. I can imagine that if you made enough in tips and properly reported them that withholding would eat up your cash wage. But in that case you’d be better off than if you’d made minimum wage and no tips, at least unless you ended up with not enough withheld to cover your taxes and you got hit with the Underpayment of Estimated Tax penalty. ---
**Author:** ![dalej42](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/67e7ee/32.png) [@dalej42](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/dalej42)\ **Post date:** [December 21, 2018, 6:03am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/random-questions-about-tipping-for-dopers-who-worked-in-restaurants/826384/38 "2018-12-21T06:03:17Z")
> [@doreen](#): > > They’re often not brought to the table- they stay there. You can use the machines to order, play games (trivia and such) and pay your bill. > Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk I’ve seen iPads like that in airport bars and hotel bars, places where you expect a lot of solo travelers and you’re not expecting a lot of human contact with the staff. At restaurants with table service, I haven’t seen one. I’m familiar with the small machines the server brings to the table, they’ve been in use in Europe and Canada for quite a while and I’m starting to see them in the USA, at least Chicago and Washington DC. ---
**Author:** ![D\_Anconia](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/67e7ee/32.png) [@D\_Anconia](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/D_Anconia)\ **Post date:** [December 21, 2018, 6:54am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/random-questions-about-tipping-for-dopers-who-worked-in-restaurants/826384/39 "2018-12-21T06:54:46Z")
> [@snfaulkner](#): > > I can’t view that link right now. But when did that start? Last time I bartended was the end of last century and only made $2.13/hr when the min was like 6 or so. All my paychecks were 0 due to taxes on tips. 1938 ---
**Author:** ![snfaulkner](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/snfaulkner/32/433_2.png) [@snfaulkner](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/snfaulkner)\ **Post date:** [December 21, 2018, 7:03am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/random-questions-about-tipping-for-dopers-who-worked-in-restaurants/826384/40 "2018-12-21T07:03:37Z")
> [@D\_Anconia](#): > > 1938 Then it seems either you, or all of the turn of the century employers I had when I was bartending missed the point. [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/random-questions-about-tipping-for-dopers-who-worked-in-restaurants/826384.md?page=1) [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/random-questions-about-tipping-for-dopers-who-worked-in-restaurants/826384.md?page=3)