Tipping point
Sandwiched between two enormous crises; a public health emergency and an economic meltdown the business world is in upheaval - none more so, than the hospitality industry, and, particularly the restaurant industry where several establishments have closed for good.
Those working in hotels, i.e. those who have been able to keep their jobs, particularly restaurant service staff are now compelled, not only to work longer hours, but to also face health risks when surrounded by mask-less diners. In addition, servers are called upon to play the role of cops, policing patrons to produce proof of vaccination in venues that require doing so, and / or those who aren’t social distancing.
In the midst of all these daunting challenges, many complain that their average service charge has drastically declined (less customers now than during pre-Covid times) and of course ‘tips’. I guess, people who wait at tables during these seriously troubling times need to be tipped – for no other reason than for simply being there to serve customers.
Tipping has been around for many years having found its mark in England in the 17th century. A tip is a payment from a customer to a service provider. However, the economic transactions involving tips can differ. Left to one’s discretion, it can vary in amount in significant ways and to the occasion.
In the restaurant industry in certain countries including the US, tipping is the norm – it isn’t something extra, and, is the only way to enable a lowly paid minimum wage employee take home a decent livable pay at the end of the week/month.
Restaurants in countries where tipping is ‘optional’, add a mandatory service charge to the customer’s bill, which then, is distributed to the staff. The common factor here is that service staff receive a low wage supplemented either by tips received from customers or from sharing the service charge levied on the guest bill.
Most diners have no qualms to leave a good tip when the service they receive is beyond reproach. The more controversial issue is not how much to tip when the service is good; rather to tip or not, when it is poor. Many of us leave a tip, even after receiving indifferent service - either because we feel obligated to do so or that it makes us feel uncomfortable when we don’t.
Then, there are those who strongly believe that poor service does not deserve tipping and that any tip should be merited. However, how does one react in situations of poor service delivery where a mandatory service charge is levied on the bill?
COVID-19 shut businesses - many temporarily and others for good. As the hospitality industry slowly gets to its feet, the pandemic has provided the unique opportunity to make the life of the lowly-paid workers in the industry a better one by doing away with the acutely haphazard manner of paying workers.
Replacing the fundamentally unfair practice of hospitality workers being dependent on service charge or tips by paying all employees a decent wage instead is a way forward.
Shafeek Wahab – Editor, Hospitality Sri Lanka, Consultant, Trainer, Ex-Hotelier
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