Most if not almost all restaurants in the United States still work under a tip system. If you come into an establishment and someone services you, so that you would not have to do the task yourself, it is expected that you would tip. Many people who do not tip well probably lack understanding. So here are three reasons why you should always tip.
1) Servers do not make minimum wage.
Although minimum wage in the United States rages from $7.25 or more an hour in many states, under federal law most waitress and bartenders work for only $2.13 an hour. The reason why servers do not make more hourly is because it is expected for patrons to exercise the practice of tipping and gratuity. Waiters and Waitresses have made $2.13 in the United States since 1991 making this not a new practice.
According to a 2014 Economic Policy Institute report, the amendments made to the Fair Labor Standards Act (FLSA) provided for a 50 percent “tip credit” for employers of tipped workers. Meaning that half of the money tipped workers have earned would count towards half of the regular minimum hourly wage. Many have argued that the United States should do more to pay tipped workers and that it is not "their job." However, when you do not tip your server, it does not send a notification federally to do more to pay these workers. It does not make you an advocate for a cause, you're just a crappy tipper.
2) Bad service is not always the servers fault.
Whereas your waiter or waitress is the face of the establishment you see, you have to remember that your server does not do everything. For example, if a restaurant is full and it takes a little longer on your food than you expected, your server most likely can do nothing other than wait on your food to come from the kitchen. If your complaint is about food timing or taste, it is better to speak with a manager rather than to take it out on your server by not tipping them. In many establishments servers are required to "tip out" meaning a percentage of their tips goes to bartenders for making their drinks and bussers for cleaning their tables. For example, the more drinks you buy at a restaurant means the price of the "tippable sales" for a server increases. When you do not tip for whatever the reason, there is more money that comes from out of a tipped staff's already thin pockets to pay the restaurant and it's staff, making them ultimately paying the bigger price.
3) Remember that if your server was not there, it is more work on your behalf.
When you go to a restaurant or bar, the service that has been provided to you makes for one less task that you had to perform yourself. You walked into an establishment and did not have to do anything. Someone prepared your food, provided you with a drink (and refilled it when needed), make sure that all of your needs were met. That means you did not have to go to a store and buy food, stand and cook it, buy and make drinks, and clean the mess made. Wait staff do not come to work, to be a personal server or slave to you for whatever time you are there, they came to work and to be compensated for such. Just as you go to work and expect for a company to pay you for the work you do, especially when it is exceptional, the same goes for servers. Plus the better you tip, the better your service will be for next time. Servers remember those who tip well and are more likely to do favors for you, just like they remember those who feel like servers should work for free.
So the next time you go out to eat at a restaurant, remember to tip your wait staff and tip them based off the experience they provide you with. Customary practices are usually place tips at 15-25 percent of your bill. If you do not have enough money to provide a tip for your wait staff, it is better not to go out. Why? Because not compensating someone for their job is wrong and there is no way to justify it.
