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posted by [identity profile] mkillingworth.livejournal.com at 01:25pm on 31/08/2008
So, what *is* considered an appropriate tip in this country? In the States it's 15-20 percent, dependent on time of day, quality of service, etc. I know I probably over tip, but that's largely because no one ever told me what the tipping conventions here actually are. Himself is no guide, because he's a Yorkshireman. So, what do others do?
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posted by [identity profile] bugshaw.livejournal.com at 01:44pm on 31/08/2008
The only people who I think really expect a tip in the UK are food servers, and that's 10%. Tipping taxi drivers and hairdressers is reasonably common, and maybe some bars/coffee bars. I usually tip food delivery people too, maybe £1-1.50.

Whether tipping is/should be necessary or whether food/service prices should include everything the server needs for a living wage, is another question :-(
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posted by [identity profile] mkillingworth.livejournal.com at 01:53pm on 31/08/2008
When I was young and worked as a waitress in the States, it was legal to pay wait staff well below minimum wage, with the assumption that the balance was made up in tips. I don't know if that is still the case or not. I used to make really good tips, but I don't think that the system is particularly fair. The only up side of it from a customer standpoint, is that you can reasonably expect a fairly good level of service, because you get to decide how much the server gets paid. The down side if you are a server is that many people think of tips as optional, especially tourists from another country where tipping is not the norm.
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posted by [identity profile] bugshaw.livejournal.com at 02:03pm on 31/08/2008
Amusing information about tips and gratuities and whether PAYE/privately declared income tax or NI contributions are due on them:
http://www.hmrc.gov.uk/helpsheets/E24.pdf

The crappest thing is that waitstaff can be employed at a rate below national minimum wage, and shared tips can then be used to bring it up to minimum. (If there aren't enough tips, the employer has to make up the difference)
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posted by [identity profile] bellinghman.livejournal.com at 05:31pm on 31/08/2008
I was chatting to a smartly-turned-out barman in a hotel in Charlotte a couple of years back, and was absolutely horrified to hear that he actually only got minimum wage, and relied on tips to make him a decent living.

I think it's a cultural thing. In this country, the preference is for the price to be paid to be shown up front. So we usually show prices inc taxes, too.

(One of the things I liked about Japan is the horror there if you attempt to tip.)

I
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posted by [identity profile] mkillingworth.livejournal.com at 06:09pm on 31/08/2008
If he was getting minimum wage he was doing well. Most bar and wait staff don't even get minimum wage in the States.
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