Many businesses now spread tips evenly between front-of-house and kitchen staff. Photo / Getty Images
Many businesses now spread tips evenly between front-of-house and kitchen staff. Photo / Getty Images
Auckland eatery and bar staff most likely to get extra.
Auckland has proven itself New Zealand's tipping capital - but satisfied diners in Northland and Queenstown dig in their pockets too, new figures show.
While tipping is seen by many Kiwis as a bothersome Americanism, the Hospitality Association of New Zealand (Hanz) is seeing the practice growing slowly in our cafes, bars and restaurants.
And figures from a survey of 6500 staff in the hospitality industry by the Restaurant Association has shown hundreds of tips are being given each week in cafes, bars and restaurants.
Among 573 restaurant staff in Auckland, the weekly average number of tips last year was 53.
In Wellington and Wairarapa, among 244 restaurant staff the average was 36 tips and in Canterbury and Central South Island, 26 tips among 331 staff.
But that didn't mean it wasn't happening elsewhere. In Northland, for example, the average among those who were tipped was comparably high at an average of nearly $40, from 20 tips.
In Queenstown and the Southern Lakes area, the average take from tips was higher still at $41 - but from half as many tips.
But restaurant managers and duty managers made more - $72.50 and $68.30 - from half as many tips, the figures showed.
"Waiters traditionally do receive the largest portion of tips in the business as they are the frontline staff; however, it's not uncommon for businesses to split the tips evenly between the front of house and the kitchen these days," said Restaurants Association of New Zealand chief executive Marisa Bidois.
Hanz chief executive Bruce Robertson said while it would take an "enormous cultural change" to come near tipping practices in the US - where rates of up to 25 per cent are considered customary - the trend had been growing here, particularly over the past decade.
"It drives customer service performance, where staff are getting an additional reward - but I think most New Zealanders would expect staff should be paid for the work they do, and tipping should be a bonus."
With new security measures for credit-card payments, the "prompting" tipping function on modern terminals was commonly used at many places, Ms Bidois said.
"You press 1 if you want to leave a tip and 2 if you don't, so it doesn't necessarily create an awkward situation."
But Consumer New Zealand chief executive Suzanne Chetwin said Kiwis shouldn't feel pressured by the eftpos tipping function. "If you have paid a decent amount for a meal, then you shouldn't expect to be asked to pay a tip when you don't want to."
Good waiters 'memorable'
To Mike Egan, a good waiter is like a memorable character from an otherwise forgettable movie.
"Over the years, there have been times where I couldn't remember the name of the restaurant or what I ate there, only that the waiter or waitress went out of their way to make the evening fantastic."
For such stand-out service, the restaurateur was only too happy to slip them $5 at the end of the night.
Mike Egan. Photo / Mark Mitchell
Mr Egan, co-owner of the Monsoon Poon restaurants in Auckland and Wellington, thought most well-travelled Kiwis would feel the same and believed tipping was on the increase here. But he didn't expect to see New Zealand ever embrace the institutional tipping culture of the United States.
"You don't want it to be ubiquitous like America, where you can have terrible service and just resent paying the tip," he said.
"At the moment it's much more common in Auckland or in inner-city restaurants that are smart and fashionable ... but a waitress in a provincial town that doesn't get a lot of tourists coming through might not get any tips at all."
Diners in his restaurants regularly left tips but they were not "prompted" with a tipping eftpos function.
"People will often tip if they really like the waiter or waitress."
Tipping in NZ
• A Restaurant Association survey of more than 6500 staff reported a nationwide average of 340 tips each week, most in Auckland.
• Global website TripAdvisor says New Zealand has been described as having a "true" merit-based tipping culture, where a tip for exceptional service is not customary or required, but appreciated. It suggested a rate of 10 per cent.
