question for Americans!

[deird1]

Dear helpful flisty people,


A friend of mine will shortly be going to your fine country, and, being an Aussie, has no idea about tipping.

So...
- Who are you supposed to tip?
- When?
- How much are you supposed to tip them?

Any info you could provide would be very useful.


With love, from a confused Aussie

Comments

[eleanorjane]

As I understand it (and I'm an Aussie too, so not an expert), the service economy is set up in the US such that "minimum wage" is nowhere near enough to live on. Tips are pretty much essential, I believe.

Which is lousy, and seems barbaric to me, but that's the way it works for them :/

[immer_am_lesen]

Really? Wow, that sucks. Always feeling beholden to the people you're serving, because they can actually be the difference between you eating/paying the rent that night, and not having enough? Ouch. :-(

Now I know this, I'll definitely tip if I ever go the US again...

[lutamira]

yeah, it is true - there are legal loopholes that make it so that people who earn tips at their jobs don't have to be paid minimum wage. Most servers live entirely off the tips they earn. Tipping in restaurants in the US is absolutely mandatory, even if the service is terrible. You just factor it into the cost of eating out.

[kisekileia]

Sorry, screwed that up. There are places in the U.S. where the minimum wage for tipped employees is $2.13 an hour. I believe tipped employees in the U.S. are also taxed as if their tips get them up to the standard minimum wage, whether they actually made that much in tips or not. It's a really awful system.

[zeborah]

I understand such jobs are often/always(?) taxed on the assumption that they'll earn a certain percentage, too - so even if they don't get a tip, they still have to pay tax on money they didn't get.

[kisekileia]

There are places in the U.S.