To think the US tipping culture is completely alien to British people

[Butterflyfluff]

Inspired by a thread about spending money in NYC but it’s what puts me off going to US or Caribbean again.

It seems everything has to be tipped

• All food servers
• Toilet attendants
• Room cleaning each day
• Every drink service, even in an all inclusive hotel
• Meal, even in a buffet where you serve yourself
• Basically anything where someone else is doing something for you

Why is this so ‘expected’?

Someone was asking about wages in Australia for hospitality (non tipping culture).

The rates of pay are covered by awards. Minimum wage is currently equivalent to 13.88 USD per hour, so everyone will get at least that. The more skilled the role is, the higher the award rate ie a cook versus a dishwasher. However a quick google shows me many waiter jobs offering "above award" rates of 16 to 20 USD. So yes, considerably more than the 2.13 USD that they might get in the US.

On top of that basic hourly rate, waiters are paid

• an additional 10% superannuation
• overtime and penalty rates for evening,weekend, public holiday etc

These are all detailed in the award and compulsory. Workers know exactly how much they will be paid and are not dependent on the generosity of the customer or the employer. The awards are negotiated with the relevant unions for each industry.

As everyone is, waiters are also entitled to

• free healthcare
• 18 weeks paid parental leave
• paid long service leave of 8.6 weeks after 10 years continuous service

I don't know if the minimum wage is enough, but if it isn't, the answer is not to prop up the wages of one particular role in one industry (restaurant waiters) while doing nothing for all other low paid workers, eg in fast food, retail, cleaning, building etc. The answer is for the unions to work together to raise the minimum wage so that all low paid workers are protected.

Incidentally, can anyone explain why are fast food workers not tipped in the US?

Thanks for that @SenecaFallsRedux
Yes hospitality are short staffed at moment here too in Scotland

I hate tipping, especially in countries I'm not familiar with.

We had a trip abroad (not US) and did a 4/5 day tour - at considerable cost. Somewhere in the small print that we read when we were there, it said that it would be nice, but not obligatory, to tip staff, and the suggested amount was $10 per guest per day per member of staff. So let's see, 40 for 4 of us, each day, so about 160, there would be maybe a cook, a waitress, a cleaner, so let's say around $480 minimum. So hmm, not obligatory but if you're going to do it then pay about $500!! Offensive not to tip? Offensive to tip less? Who knows? We didn't have that much cash on us anyway so gave a much smaller tip.