I had a conversation with a colleague the other day regarding the art of tipping – or not! My colleague’s view was more on the ‘not’ side of things as he felt it only necessary to pay the cost of the service provided.

It is customary within many professions to receive a tip for providing a good service – some workers are renowned for being paid a low basic wage and therefore rely on the generosity of customers to boost their income. I have to say that I agree with my colleague to some extent, that businesses should not simply adhere to the history of paying their employees the minimum amount possible in the hope that this will spur them on to provide excellent service to make up their pay packet – this will not encourage employee loyalty to the company they work for and will probably be the main cause of high staff turnover. You could also argue that people who take up such positions are aware of their basic salary when they accept the job so should not be surprised when their pay packet is received.

In the world today, we do not have the same level of disposable income as we may have had a few years ago, so on the occasions that we do treat ourselves, our tips for service providers are probably considerably less also. This means that employees who have been used to a certain level of additional income from tips will really be feeling the pinch at the moment.

So who should we be tipping? Restaurant staff, bar tenders, taxi drivers – these are probably the most common but where do you draw the line? Cabin crew provide the same kind of service as restaurant and bar staff but how often do you tip them? Bus drivers provide the same service as taxi drivers but I’ve never seen anyone tip the driver of the 92 before.

And how much should we be tipping? I truly believe that this should be completely at the discretion of the person receiving the service, dependant on the level of service they have received.  Many establishments have taken to automatically adding a service charge to your bill but don’t forget, if you receive poor service, or simply object to having an additional charge added, you can ask to have it removed.

I guess that everyone is different when it comes to the art of tipping. What constitutes as good service for one may not be the same for another but even if your purse will not stretch to a great tip, a heartfelt thank you will go a long way.

Image wwarby