Opinion: generosity of customers is letting Scrooge bosses off the hook

It shouldn’t be up to customers to counter underpaying bosses.

Are you a generous tipper? If you come from Glasgow, apparently you’re more likely to be.

Research from currency firm Caxton FX earlier this year looked at how frequently Brits tip while on holiday for things like waiting staff and housekeeping, and broke the results down on a regional basis.

So people from Glasgow, Sheffield and Liverpool take the top spots, while Bristol, Nottingham and Birmingham are areas with the least generous.

My own approach to tipping ‒ and I believe it’s generally how we approach it in the UK ‒ is that a tip is earned, not expected. 

So if I go to a restaurant, and the waiting staff do a good job, of course I’ll give them a tip.

My youngest gets a bit nervous at the barber’s, but the guys in there are always so good at putting him at ease that they always get a bit on top too.

It’s an additional reward for a job well done, a way for me to personally thank them for going the extra mile.

But I’ve just spent two weeks in the US, where things obviously work quite differently…

EVERYTHING deserves a tip

I knew going in that there was a different level of expectations when it comes to tipping stateside, but actually experiencing it was something else.

We'd managed to get a dining plan for the holiday, which meant that the food was paid for in every restaurant we ate in for the fortnight.

The tip wasn’t included though, so we would still be brought over a bill, which explained exactly how much an 18% tip or a 20% tip would come to.

In some of these places, the staff more than earned their tip, but in others we were clearly being rushed out so that they could shepherd in the next family.

And while the tip was only voluntary, the fact that you had to sign and return the bill ‒ with the tip ‒ made me feel guilt-tripped into handing over the cash.

It reached its nadir at the bar by the swimming pool, where I got a couple of drinks. A $5 tip for pouring out a beer and glass of Coke stuck in the craw.

And the thing is, I know that Brits have a bad reputation overseas for tipping.

So I’d grin and bear it, pay more than the minimum, and be on my way, with the nagging feeling in the back of my brain that there is something wrong with the culture of tipping, not just at its extreme in the US but also back home.

Tips for some, not for others

Many of us tip because we know that the recipients aren’t exactly rolling in cash ‒ that was drilled into me as a child by my dad, who has always struck me as particularly generous when it comes to this sort of thing. 

And that’s true, but when you look at the figures, there is a real case of haves and have nots when it comes to who we are likely to tip, and who we won’t.

Figures from the Office of National Statistics last month highlighted the highest and lowest paying jobs in the UK, with bar staff, waiting staff, hairdressers and the like all in the latter category. 

But there are plenty of other jobs down there, where the staff aren’t accustomed to getting handed a fiver here and there for doing a good job.

Lowest, for example, are those working as launderers, dry cleaners and pressers, while nursery nurses and teaching assistants are also in the lowest ten paid.

My wife was a teacher for a decade, so I know that teaching assistants do pretty well in terms of chocolate at Christmas time, but they certainly don’t get money in an envelope from grateful parents.

If we tip to help out those who are being poorly paid but who do a good job, then frankly we should be tipping across the board.

Picking up the slack of underpaying bosses

The problem really comes down to employers not paying their staff a sufficient wage. 

I would be more than happy paying a bit more for my food at the restaurant or whatever, in the knowledge that the staff were being paid properly and there was no need for a tip, and I’m pretty confident I’m not alone. 

It shouldn’t be down to the generosity of customers as to whether staff receive a decent income or not. That should really be the responsibility of those in charge. 

The way things work now, employers are able to fob that off to customers, while enjoying the benefits of not paying their staff more directly, from lower National Insurance Contributions to avoiding having to contribute towards a workplace pension.

That needs to end.

As things stand, because customers do the right thing, we let these tight bosses get away with underpaying their staff, and that simply cannot be right. 

Do you agree with me? Are we letting bosses off the hook by tipping? Or is it a good way to ensure people in some sectors who do their job well get paid more? Share your thoughts in the comments section below.