Reply to Initiative 82 passes (When can I stop tipping)

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[quote=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.[/quote]

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