Making sense of the US tipping rules

Should tipping be part of NZ culture? PICTURE / GETTY IMAGES

It is quite interesting to see that the Deputy Prime Minister Paula Bennett says that Kiwis need to say thank you with their wallets!
Good service, a good meal - and it's all a good incentive? The musician playing as you dine, the teller at the local store, the officer directing traffic, the TAB operator handing you your investment ticket?
Hmm - interesting!

In Europe you frequently find the 'gratuity' included on the bill and probably up to 18 per cent of the total, especially when you have a large group dining, and this is also now the general custom across both Canada and the USA, while for an individual or a small group the tip is usually up to those folk.

A recent article in a Lancaster, Pennsylvania, newspaper looked at tipping from the point of view as to too much or too little, and when and to whom.
The average Pennsylvania server on minimum wage makes only $2.83 per hour before tips - that is two dollars and eighty-three cents - and around $7 an hour with tips. How many New Zealand servers are on that wage?

You are not made of money and you have to pay attention to what you are tipping your server for good or bad.
Generally the rule of thumb has been 15 per cent of the bill - less for poor service and possibly more for good service.

The servers in most establishments have to pay off a percentage of their tips to both the kitchen and to the bartender so crummy service from your server does not necessarily reflect on either the kitchen or the bartender.

A 10 per cent tip generally shows displeasure with the server but for an inadequate meal the recourse is through the server or the manager.

Tipping at the bar is sometimes difficult to figure out for in a very busy bar you are sometimes dealing with multiple bartenders and you want to make sure that the money gets into the right hands. If you're in a regular bar where you feel perfectly at home in your skinny jeans or a mini skirt, a dollar per drink is pretty standard. However, if you're in a swankier establishment the tip expected would be higher. On public holidays the person working has given up that holiday and a decent tip is encouraged but of course in New Zealand that has already been taken care of by the government with its 15 per cent added cost.

But tipping does NOT guarantee better service in North America as the expectation is that you will tip regardless of service, thus removing in many cases the top service that you would tip for. It has therefore become a double-edged sword.

The word mandatory does not enter into the conversation at any point - you are told that a gratuity will be applied for a large group before you order - and it is up to you as to whether you will accept that or move elsewhere. Mandatory is just another word for 'government' interference where it is not needed. Unfortunately the imposition of government in every day life has led to political correctness and it is easy to see that that would happen with tipping in New Zealand.

Tipping is an individual choice and not a requirement.

However, always pop a dollar into the piano player's tip jar!