# Time to do away with tipped wage practices? **URL:** \ **Category:** In My Humble Opinion\ **Created:** [May 20, 2020, 10:57pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/time-to-do-away-with-tipped-wage-practices/854211 "2020-05-20T22:57:24Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 6\ **Page:** 5
**Author:** ![UltraVires](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/u/ecccb3/32.png) [@UltraVires](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/UltraVires)\ **Post date:** [May 25, 2020, 12:19pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/time-to-do-away-with-tipped-wage-practices/854211/81 "2020-05-25T12:19:33Z")
> [@D\_Anconia](#): > > Why is it up to the employer, or the customers, to provide for their survival? What you said is harsh, but correct. But it illustrates the sordid nature of the tipping culture: You, the customer, must ensure that this poor waitress does not starve to death. Nobody worries about that any other time. If you buy tomatoes from a farmer’s market, nobody is asking you to think of the poor farmer and if he’s making ends meet this year. You pay the listed price and walk out. If you buy wiper blades at Autozone, nobody is guilting you into thinking that you should toss in a couple extra bucks to make sure the cashier can pay the water bill this month. You pay the price and walk out. It is just unusual and inconsistent to say that in this one particular context you as a customer have a complete obligation to ensure by voluntary donation that the server (and not the hostess, or the line cook, or the pot washer) has enough money. ---
**Author:** ![doreen](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/858c86/32.png) [@doreen](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/doreen)\ **Post date:** [May 25, 2020, 1:20pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/time-to-do-away-with-tipped-wage-practices/854211/82 "2020-05-25T13:20:22Z")
> [@UltraVires](#): > > 1. > 2. Many states do require a full minimum wage to be paid prior to tips, and I haven’t seen any change in practice because of that. It’s only about 5 or 6 states that don’t allow a tip credit at all. There are more states require a direct wage higher than the $2.13 allowed by Federal law - for example, in most of NYS, food service workers must be paid a cash wage of $7.85 with a tip credit of up to $3.95 to get to the minimum wage of $11.80. Part of the reason you don’t see any changes in practice is because people don’t _know_ about the differences - maybe someone might know that their own state or city mandates a higher minimum than $2.13 , but they probably aren’t going to research everywhere they travel to, and find out that Washington requires servers to be paid the full minimum wage by employers and NYC requires a direct wage of $12.50 so they a smaller tip is needed to bring those servers above minimum wage than is needed in Alabama, which only requires direct wages of $2.13. Another part of the reason is because even if I _do_ know that a server in Washington must be paid $13.50 per hour before tips and would be inclined to tip less, the chances are good that other people won’t know and I don’t want to look cheap. Which is why I think eliminating the tip credit on the Federal level is the only thing that _might_ work - different rules for different states and cities is just going to result in people having a default setting and tipping the same in Washington, NYC and Alabama. And I say _might_ because there are a surprising number of people who seem to justify poor treatment of servers based on the practice of tipping and would continue to tip 20% just so they don’t feel guilty running the server ragged. ---
**Author:** ![puzzlegal](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/puzzlegal/32/3827_2.png) [@puzzlegal](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/puzzlegal)\ **Post date:** [May 25, 2020, 2:40pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/time-to-do-away-with-tipped-wage-practices/854211/83 "2020-05-25T14:40:50Z")
> [@UltraVires](#): > > What you said is harsh, but correct. But it illustrates the sordid nature of the tipping culture: You, the customer, must ensure that this poor waitress does not starve to death. > > Nobody worries about that any other time. If you buy tomatoes from a farmer’s market, nobody is asking you to think of the poor farmer and if he’s making ends meet this year. You pay the listed price and walk out. > > If you buy wiper blades at Autozone, nobody is guilting you into thinking that you should toss in a couple extra bucks to make sure the cashier can pay the water bill this month. You pay the price and walk out. > > It is just unusual and inconsistent to say that in this one particular context you as a customer have a complete obligation to ensure by voluntary donation that the server (and not the hostess, or the line cook, or the pot washer) has enough money. Yes, yes, yes. I don’t want the guilt, nor the cognitive load, of having to think about whether I’m paying enough. Just tell me the price up front. I hate tipping SO much. ---
**Author:** ![Monty](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/monty/32/47_2.png) [@Monty](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Monty)\ **Post date:** [May 26, 2020, 1:57am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/time-to-do-away-with-tipped-wage-practices/854211/84 "2020-05-26T01:57:32Z")
I despise tipping. Along with the personal issue (How much do I tip? Is 10% considered good, bad, an insult? Did the person really go above and beyond?), I feel it’s an easy and cheap out for the employer to get away with not following their obligations to the employees. I have also traveled around the world, spending quite some time in lands where tipping is not expected, even living in one land where a tip is not accepted. The service was always what I expected from an employee: polite, professional, quick, and competent. The US needs to abandon the practice. ---
**Author:** ![Monty](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/monty/32/47_2.png) [@Monty](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Monty)\ **Post date:** [May 26, 2020, 2:05am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/time-to-do-away-with-tipped-wage-practices/854211/85 "2020-05-26T02:05:39Z")
I despise tipping. Along with the personal issue (How much do I tip? Is 10% considered good, bad, an insult? Did the person really go above and beyond?), I feel it’s an easy and cheap out for the employer to get away with not following their obligations to the employees. I have also traveled around the world, spending quite some time in lands where tipping is not expected, even living in one land where a tip is not accepted. The service was always what I expected from an employee: polite, professional, quick, and competent. The US needs to abandon the practice. ---
**Author:** ![Urbanredneck](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/u/ea5d25/32.png) [@Urbanredneck](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Urbanredneck)\ **Post date:** [May 26, 2020, 3:13am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/time-to-do-away-with-tipped-wage-practices/854211/86 "2020-05-26T03:13:07Z")
More than that. Another reason to get rid of tipping, consider the racial part. The thought of a server would not want to serve black customers because they feel they dont tip very much. It’s a taboo subject but its a fact that restaurant servers often dont want to serve black customers in because they supposedly do not tip well. Consider this article “[Whats Behind the Racial Differences in Tipping](https://www.washingtonpost.com/posteverything/wp/2015/01/21/whats-behind-racial-differences-in-restaurant-tipping/)” which had a poll that found 34% of servers (even black servers) say black customers dont tip well or at all. The article also shows actual studies that prove blacks tip less than whites with various reasons. Also [Racial Differences in Restaurant Tipping](https://www.tandfonline.com/doi/abs/10.1080/02642060902764343). And “[The Racist History of Tipping](https://www.politico.com/magazine/story/2019/07/17/william-barber-tipping-racist-past-227361)” which traces the racist history of tipping back to the black Pullman train servers. Granted, servers, given enough time, can size up a patron pretty quick and tell who will tip the best and want to serve that customer over others. Getting rid of tipping altogether would stop this. [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/time-to-do-away-with-tipped-wage-practices/854211.md?page=4)