Ethics of Tips: Tipping and Being Tipped
In the United States, many people commonly provide tips when service is provided primarily in the restaurant, taxi and hotel industries. However, the act of tipping is a customary action depending on the place. Around much of Asia, granting tips is unheard of or even offending while in much of Europe tips is not customary due to an already added service fee on most bills yet depending on the country some industries would still require tipping like bars in Germany. In the Western Hemisphere, much of North America has a tipping custom similar to the United States obviously because of the close interaction between the countries. South American countries do not generally possess a tipping custom but mostly if tips are given it would mostly apply to the restaurant industry.
As can be discovered, the act of tipping in the United States is primarily a custom of the country. In the United States, tipping is generally presumed to be around 10-15% before taxes and supposedly at the discretion of the customer. However, the act of not providing tips is frowned upon as unethical since the service provided by low paid hardworking employees should be thanked and rewarded. Indeed, thanking a person working in a low-paying job is the primary motive and moral reasoning behind tipping the service provider. Yet, in recent years, restaurants and service providers have taken into their own hands to increase the customary tip rate to 15-20% after taxes, which are creating more problems for fellow hard-pressed citizens. Why then are people still willing to pay so much? One answer is that some can truly afford such high gratuities while others are doing so just for the sake of not being frowned upon or looking unethical. The notion of unethical behavior in such a situation should be revisited to see who is truly unethical. Should a financially hard-pressed person still be paying such a high gratuity rate because it is unethical to not thank other hard-pressed citizens, or should hard-pressed low-wage service providers be unthanked for high quality service?
The answer is hard to give, but there are solutions. First, in the US, tips should not be asked as if it is a 100% expected right because it is not in any legal circumstances a given right. The act of giving tips is an act of generosity and thanks dependant on the customer’s desire to reward someone. Second, restaurants should not create an environment where the act of tipping becomes more like a fee in which defeats the whole purpose of tips and gratuities. The amount of gratuities given should not be recommended by restaurants rather by the whim of the consumers. Third, consumers should still give some form of tips even if it might be small because it is a sign of respect and thanks. However, if the act of giving small gratuities would garner consumers’ harsh gazes or words, then he/she should not worry because we must change the idea of tips being a right and back to its original purpose of being a well deserved thanks. In troubled times, tips should be a means of respectful thanks and not be a fee. Likewise, in hard-pressed times gratuities should be a form of reward and not a form of greed.
Kevin Yan, a writer for The Fourth Estate based in New York City and Boston.