'It's ridiculous': Why some Canadian youth feel ready to tap out of tipping culture
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Less than minimum wage? That’s not a thing in Canada is it?
Fortunately not. But even in Canada, minimum wage is abysmal.
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It’s an American thing, I was horrified when a newcomer said they thought it was expected here.
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Less than minimum wage? That’s not a thing in Canada is it?
There is a “server wage” that is less than the minimum wage if you are not a server. Similar to the “youth wage” that is less than the minimum wage for an adult doing the same job.
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Good. The only way this is going to change is if customers stop coming to places that demand a tip when an employee looks up from their phone.
Leaving a tip for decent table service is a given, but the absurdity of being asked to tip if someone literally does nothing more than presses a button on a register is a great way to lose customers permanently. We used to be regulars of a couple of small fast food places that started with this bullshit. Haven’t been back since.
Leaving a tip for decent table service outside of North America isn’t a given though. On a global scale this is a regional cultural peculiarity.
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I can’t make sense out of this at all. How can you be paid a server wage when you’re not a server? How is the minimum wage a minimum if it can get lower? Am I just being pedantic?
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In most of the world, you pay what you see on the shelf.
In Japan, we don’t have tip, but we do have “table charge” which is kind of bullshit. At least the service is generally 100x better than in Canada.
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I can’t make sense out of this at all. How can you be paid a server wage when you’re not a server? How is the minimum wage a minimum if it can get lower? Am I just being pedantic?
It’s not if you aren’t a server, I was making a direct comparison between the minimum wage for servers and the minimum wage for non-servers.
There are many exemptions from the federal minimum wage in Canada, the ones I raised are just 2 of them. Temporary foreign workers and agricultural workers are also exempt, for example.
You could always look it up if you want to know more, it’s public information.
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Oooh I was totally misreading it. Sorry. I get it now!
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But it seems like server wages were abolished.
That previous standard practice was abolished in 2022, Canada-wide. Now, all servers make at least the provincial minimum wage.
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In Japan, we don’t have tip, but we do have “table charge” which is kind of bullshit. At least the service is generally 100x better than in Canada.
I have never had a restaurant ask for a table charge in Japan. I’ve stayed in Tokyo and Osaka a fair bit (months) and have visited Nagano, Nagoya, Kyoto and some smaller cities in between.
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But it seems like server wages were abolished.
That previous standard practice was abolished in 2022, Canada-wide. Now, all servers make at least the provincial minimum wage.
I keep telling this to people who think server wages are a thing.
What do you think @gonzo-rand19@moist.catsweat.com ?
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I keep telling this to people who think server wages are a thing.
What do you think @gonzo-rand19@moist.catsweat.com ?
Also, even when server wages were a thing pre 2022, they were within a dollar of minimum wage Canada wide. It wasn’t the $2/h Americans have, it was $16 instead of $17.
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I’ve tapped out of tipping culture for multiple reasons.
- I don’t tip at fast food joints because all you did was the bare minimum. Tipping is supposed to be rewarding for extra service. All you did was take my order and ask if I wanted fries with that.
- Prices are going up, so more of the amount I would have expected to pay is going to the base meal. For regular food, I try to tip so the final price is around $15 or $20. I don’t want to pay $30 for a burger and fries
- I’ve seen what tipping culture looks like when it gets out of hand. Go to the Hotel Zone in Mexico, and you’ll see what I mean. Nothing is genuine, everything is about milking the tourists. I was pretty disappointed by the end of the trip. Would not recommend.
- The base % is going up to try and milk customers, so I’m putting in the effort to counter that bullshit by picking no tip.
- Sometimes the tip doesn’t even go to the workers; Sometimes it goes to the owner. How can I tell?
Edit: I should add that there are times when I do tip, and it’s when good service beyond base expectations was provided. Like if I asked for recommendations and it wasn’t just the most expensive item on the menu, they were pretty prompt about taking my order, and/or it’s busy / during holiday season
Tipping is supposed to be rewarding for extra service.
Let me stop you right there. Tipping is supposed to be helping business owners to underpay their employees. It is nice to think that it should be for “extra service” (wtf is that even supposed to mean?) but all you do with tipping is get that servers salary up to an amount that helps them survive another day, financially. Which is what the job should do on its own.
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I have never had a restaurant ask for a table charge in Japan. I’ve stayed in Tokyo and Osaka a fair bit (months) and have visited Nagano, Nagoya, Kyoto and some smaller cities in between.
Not sure why I got downvoted, but I’ve been living here for 15 years and it definitely exists. Most of the time, you don’t even notice it because they just charge you with out telling. You might see it in the corner of the menu. Google テーブルチャージ or お通し代.
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It is when you know they’re being paid less than minimum wage because they’re a server. Want to actually make a difference? Lobby for better labor laws. Otherwise, you’re just punching someone who’s already down and blaming them for it.
In the US, if the server doesn’t meet minimum wage using tips the balance comes from the business to ensure the serve has been paid minimum wage. Actual minimum wage, not server minimum wage. All tipping does is subsidize a restaurants labor costs.
Not tipping will definitely lower the income of a server since a lot make over min wage off tips. Labor laws need to change for servers so they aren’t in an exploitable position and have to rely on tips to live and deal with power tripping customers who think servers are their slaves b/c “they’re paying their wage”
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Not in Ontario any more.
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IMO if a company can’t afford to pay a decent wage they need to rework their business plan or get lost.
Apparently not, the way that we see it online, is to shame their customers and calling them cheap pieces of shit.
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The absolute worst is self checkouts that have the audacity to ask for a tip. What fucking service?
Absolutely, as well as anybody that asks me for a tip BEFORE providing me with my food/service.
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I don’t do tips and I don’t do points. I just want to pay a dollar for something worth a dollar. I think those days are long gone though.
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I’ve been in Europe for a week each month this summer for work. I usually just eat in via groceries, but if it’s a café for a coffee in the morning or a dinner out with colleagues the prices are reasonable and tipping is a few €/£ for the entire group, if at all. No card tap payment is handed back to you with pre-calculated tip buttons. It just makes coming back to the US and paying relatively the same price for a meal and then being asked for 20% on top of that seem like bullshit.
