Initiative 82 passes (When can I stop tipping)

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:So what day does it go into effect? When can I stop tipping. I love that we are becoming more European. Yay DC!

The law doesn't take effect until 2027, so if you stop tipping before then, you're just being cheap.

It phases in. So you are not being cheap to at the very least reduce your tipped amount. However, I fully expect restaurant owners to begin tacking on service fees for everything for a full tipped amount anyway.

So if you see a service fee, don’t tip. Pretty simple.

[Anonymous]

I voted for I-82 even though I think it's poorly designed and the phase in is going to be a mess for restaurants, servers, and customers. I really struggled with that part and for a time was going to vote against it for that reason, but ultimately I decided I had to vote for it. The reason why is that the math wasn't making sense.

Say my meal costs $50. In a world with tipped wages and no service charges, I would tip $10 (20%) automatically. If my service or meal was particularly good, I might add some more. So going into my meal, I can look at the menu and know that my meal will cost $60, maybe as much as $70 if they surprise me with unusually good service or food.

But a lot of places have a 20% service charge. Almost all restaurants try to say this gets passed onto workers, but it means something different at every single restaurant. For some restaurants, it means they pay their employees above minimum wage. For others, they just pay the tipped wage but "tip out" workers form the service charge. Others use the service charge to pay for benefits but give tipped wage workers no additional money. I have no faith in restaurant owners -- some are good and some suck. I do not want to have a conversation with my server at every single restaurant about how they are being paid -- eating out is supposed to be relaxing and fun!

I find myself either spending way more than I thought I was going to (essentially 40% above menu prices, allocated to service charge and tip) because it's unclear whether the staff will be adequately compensated, or I don't tip on top of the service charge and walk away guilty because I'm not sure if I just stiffed my server or not. It makes no sense.

I want restaurants to figure out how much to pay their staff and then build those charges into the cost of their food/service so that I can look at the menu and figure out if I can afford to eat there. I want to go to a restaurant or bar and enjoy the experience and not have to negotiate my server's salary with them on the fly.

I-82's phased implementation is dumb and is going to create issues. But this was a foreseeable problem and the restaurant industry (and workers!) have had years since the passage and repeal of I-77 to come up with another plan. Instead, they've made the situation WORSE via service charges that are inconsistent across the industry. I'm sorry, but if you are a restaurant owner or a tipped worker and you are unhappy about I-82, I'm just going to remind you that you work in the hospitality industry and these bills are a big flashing sign from your customer base that they want cost transparency and to no longer be responsible for deciding how much you workers make. Figure it out.

[Anonymous]

Prices will go up for food in restaurants. So you technically will still be tipping.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:Prices will go up for food in restaurants. So you technically will still be tipping.

That is not how "technically" works.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:Prices will go up for food in restaurants. So you technically will still be tipping.

No, you technically won't be tipping. The base price will go up and servers will have more predictable wages. The final bill you pay may be more or less than it is now, depending on a zillion factors, but you won't be tipping.
Do you consider the cost of a hammer in home depot to include tipping because they use that money to pay the employees?

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

So we will move to this model from NYT article and now have less lower skilled jobs available. We will get worse service too.

"You scout your own table. place your own order, You fetch and fill your own water glass. And if you’d like another glass of wine, you go back to the counter.

Runners will bring your order to the table, but there are no servers to wait on you here, or at the two other San Francisco locations that Souvla has added — or, increasingly, at other popular restaurants that have opened in the last two years: RT Rotisserie, which is roasting cauliflower a few blocks away; Barzotto, a bistro serving hand-rolled pasta in the Mission district; and Media Noche, a Cuban sandwich spot with eye-catching custom tilework."

What an odd complaint. There are a zillion restaurants like that already. That's not a bad thing - Lots of people go to those restaurants. There will continue to be all sorts of restaurants to meet all sorts of customer demands - including plenty of high-end, high-service restaurants (where the employees will surely be paid far more than minimum wage)

[Anonymous]

If you go into a restaurant today and tip $0, that server will still make minimum wage because the restaurant will need to bridge the gap. My DD is a server and on days she doesn’t make minimum from her tips, the restaurant has to ensure she makes the minimum.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:If you go into a restaurant today and tip $0, that server will still make minimum wage because the restaurant will need to bridge the gap. My DD is a server and on days she doesn’t make minimum from her tips, the restaurant has to ensure she makes the minimum.

This is the law but a consistent issue has been the some restaurants are shady and don't make up the difference, or require workers to petition for the difference. This was one of the purposes of I-82, to eliminate this dynamic and make it harder for shady restaurants to exploit workers who are afraid to speak up when they don't get paid minimum wage.

The restaurant industry (and other businesses that rely on tipped workers) is pretty notorious for having bad actors. Lots of restaurants are responsible employers but lots are not. The industry does not self-police so we need more regulation to prevent worker abuse.

[Anonymous]

There will be ZERO incentive to give get service-you though surly slow service was bad now? Just wait. Huge mistake.

[Anonymous]

^^to give 'good' service.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:There will be ZERO incentive to give get service-you though surly slow service was bad now? Just wait. Huge mistake.

There's no incentive now. People tip automatically in practice.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:There will be ZERO incentive to give get service-you though surly slow service was bad now? Just wait. Huge mistake.

Lots of businesses manage to provide service without tipping.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:There will be ZERO incentive to give get service-you though surly slow service was bad now? Just wait. Huge mistake.

Lots of businesses manage to provide service without tipping.

I'm talking about waiters at restaurants.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:There will be ZERO incentive to give get service-you though surly slow service was bad now? Just wait. Huge mistake.

Lots of businesses manage to provide service without tipping.

I'm talking about waiters at restaurants.

Let me let you in on a little secret. In other countries, waiters aren't tipped. Instead, they are paid an hourly wage or even a salary by the restaurant. In exchange for that pay, they are expected to provide good service to the customers. If they don't they lose their job. Here's the crazy part: it actually works better than the system we have in this country.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

So we will move to this model from NYT article and now have less lower skilled jobs available. We will get worse service too.

"You scout your own table. place your own order, You fetch and fill your own water glass. And if you’d like another glass of wine, you go back to the counter.

Runners will bring your order to the table, but there are no servers to wait on you here, or at the two other San Francisco locations that Souvla has added — or, increasingly, at other popular restaurants that have opened in the last two years: RT Rotisserie, which is roasting cauliflower a few blocks away; Barzotto, a bistro serving hand-rolled pasta in the Mission district; and Media Noche, a Cuban sandwich spot with eye-catching custom tilework."

A majority of the experiences I've had eating out lately have been pretty similar already and I am still requested to tip at the end. Once you make minimum wage or above for a food service job, do you really think you deserve to get tipped more on top of that just because?