Then they need to charge the customer more for the service to cover the costs, which would work out the same for the customer as they have to pay more when they pay the tip anyway. If a customer accepts to pay a tip so that the staff can earn a decent living, then they should be happy to pay a little extra on the charge for a service where they know that they staff is being treated and paid fairly. I find it unacceptable that staff should be hired and paid such a low wage by their employer, so that they have to rely on tips. There is no excuse IMO for not paying staff at least the minimum wage. IMO, all countries should have a law requiring a minimum legal wage, and then enforce that law.
I think the issue in this thread is that we are all from different counties, with different laws, regulations and working conditions, so we are coming at this from different angles. You are talking about the USA and conditions which exist there, but it isn't the same everywhere. As said previously, where I live, things are different and not quite so clear cut: a minimum legal wage exists, and tips are appreciated by staff, but not manditory or automatically expected as they are in the USA. Eating out is perhaps more expensive where I live, but staff receive a minimum wage by the hour, and it is not required to tip, if one does, about 10% or just some small change. In the USA, that might be frowned upon or seen as an insult, but not here. They get the minimum wage already and are grateful for any extra cash. Businesses go bust if they don't offer good service or hygiene, or if they overprice, or don't attract enough customers, just like any business anywhere in the world. Restaurants with hired staff usually charge more and are of higher quality than family-run businesses, which tend to be cheaper, but more basic.
I get it.
Your ideas are flawless and fair.
I really don't think y'all get it.
You are talking about sit down restaurants where the clientele are served one on one.
It requires a better atmosphere where a merit based system rewards better service, but at the same time allows a customer to reflect dissatisfaction with say a foul and nasty experience at a place where one expects to be treated better due to the prices they are willing to pay for it in the first place.
I have a friend who does not get paid a minimum wage that makes much more from her tips than any restaurant employer could ever afford to pay her, so there in lies the first major flaw in a system where there are no longer tips.
She brings home a yearly average of about $1250 a week based on her service, something her employer might not be able to support during slow business weeks.
She would lose money, plain and simple.
If you have hired a bunch of turds who are running your business into the ground, how do you propose you fix it?
Oh yeah, fire them, or go bankrupt.
Either way, someone loses money in the end.
If you fire someone based on poor performance, isn't that the same as not rewarding them for poor performance by not leaving them a tip for it?
Oh yeah, keep in mind the red tape you have to wade thru to fire an employee.
Don't get it right and the disgruntled former employee takes you to task for it and wins in a system that is generally biased towards the worker and not the employer, your Federal Unemployment Tax Act rate takes a hit when they file for unemployment and get rewarded with it.
The worker doesn't pay that tax,the employer does.
I had a guy that worked for me who was dragging his skates at his job who I had to take into my office several times as a result of his poor performance that put his hands on his hips and told me "You do it your way and I'll do it my way, however long it takes,that's how long it takes, so you can kiss my entire ass"
I fired him on the spot based on insubordination.
He appealed to the unemployment office for his unemployment.
He won.
I lost.
Several times over and in the end.
In the USA with our system of tipping, if you are bad at that job, your are not compensated the same as the rest of the staff,you lose money for not satisfying your customers.
That is the incentive to shine like the brightest star in that type of setting.
If you cannot afford to go to a pricier setting here, you have the option of takeout, where there are required minimum wages paid and there is no need to tip.
You are absolutely correct,we are from different cultures.
