Barista Sydney Henjum may not be in a job associated with high wages, but when the Pavement Coffeehouse server dines out she tips the waitstaff at least 20%.
“I understand how important (tipping) is,” Henjum says. “A huge part of my paycheck comes directly from customer tips.”
Not everybody is so generous.
There is a lot of confusion about who, how and when to tip, not to mention the reason why food servers and other service workers expect to receive gratuities.
Enter Ethan Whittet, an English language specialist with Northeastern’s Global Student Success program, who is holding a 30-minute virtual workshop July 18 on when to tip and how much.
“It’s really designed for students who are new to the U.S. or are coming to Northeastern from another country and might be unfamiliar with tipping practices here,” Whittet says.
But he says that with the COVID-19 pandemic officially ended, even people accustomed to U.S. tipping practices are confused about how much to tip.
“There were many restaurants that were really in financial trouble for a while. I think there was a general movement among customers to tip more than they might have in the past. And now that we’re moving out of COVID, people are uncertain about whether they should continue that.”
Whittet says he recommends people receiving sitdown restaurant service to tip a minimum of 20% of the pretax bill—adding more if the service was exceptional.
It’s important that students grabbing a bite to eat realize that their $20 bill will not cover the cost of a $19 entree once a tip is factored in, Whittet says.
“I tell students that the reason we have tipping is different people get different wages,” Whittet says.
The Massachusetts minimum wage for some service industry workers such as restaurant servers is $6.75 an hour compared to $15 an hour for employees in other industries.
“The tip is not just a bonus for exceptional service; it…
Read the full article here
