Tip… or salary?

I must admit that a recurring subject bothers me. Indeed, every time I travel and even more on a cruise, the tip is a real headache. When I say puzzle, I am being polite. "Why? How? Or? How? ”… So many questions that keep coming back… I know I'm not the only one in this case. So let's try to see it more clearly.

DEFINITION:

Tip: supplement that a customer leaves to the staff.

Synonym: gratification

ORIGIN:

Tipping would have its origins in the XNUMXth century across the Channel, when the owner of a restaurant installed a jar on his counter with the inscriptions “To Insure Promptness”. To ensure the speed of service. This pot was intended to receive a few coins from customers in a hurry who wanted to be served faster. The initials of this expression have remained and form the word “tip”, meaning since then tip, in English.

In France, this practice developed later, in the XNUMXth century, to reward coffee makers and restaurateurs for quality service. As its name suggests, a tip was a drink offered as a thank you for a service or a penny to offer it. Likewise, in Germany tip is “Trinkgeld”, literally “money to drink”, like the Portuguese word “Gorjeta”. In Spanish, “Propina” comes from an ancient custom of drinking half a glass after having toasted someone's health and then offering that person the remaining half in the glass. In Russia, the translation for tip gives “na chaï”, which means “money for tea”. Over time, this habit diversified and the tip was paid as a favor granted by a grateful customer to cinema and theater openers, hairdressers, taxi drivers, hotel staff and more broadly to many daily or occasional service providers, home delivery people, convenience stores, tourist guides, movers, porters or couriers, etc.

Tipping is not practiced in the same way and does not have the same meaning everywhere in the world. In Canada, for example, it is agreed to leave between 10 and 15% of your bill, but you can also give less if you feel that the service was not up to par. The Japanese waiter will be annoyed or even offended if you leave him some coins because, believing that his salary is already a sufficient source of income, he does not want additional favors from you.

Part of salary or additional bonus?

In short, when tipping is mandatory, it allows employers to pay minimum wage to employees who can reasonably expect to receive tips. Completely accepted in some cultures, especially in the USA, it is much more complicated for us.

This changes everything since the meaning of the word has remained for us as it was at its origin. When the service is normal, the price we pay covers the expenses related to the employee. If, and only if, the service is above normal, then a tip is given but it is left to everyone's discretion.

I happen to be returning from a cruise organized by an American company. We can read on his website:

"Crew gratuities are not included in the charter. We believe gratuities should be voluntary and based on the quality of service provided by the crew. When settling your account on Friday, the Captain will have an envelope for free that will be divided among the crew. Payment can be made by cash, traveler 's check or credit card.

Translation :

“Crew tips are not included in the price of the cruise. We believe that tips should be voluntary and based on the quality of service provided by the crew. When settling your account at the end of the cruise, the captain will have an envelope for tips which will be distributed equally to the entire crew. Payment can be made by cash, travelers checks or credit card. ”

On Friday, the captain gives us the envelopes and adds: “Concerning tips, it is customary to give 10% of the price of the cruise”… Surprise! The cruise costing $ 5000 USD… we are still talking about an additional $ 500… the equivalent of € 450!

On another trip, a cruise director explained to me how important it is to tip because otherwise the staff will be hired elsewhere so they have only the bad guys left. Does this not mean admitting that you do not pay your staff and that we rely on customers to do it? The system of service included is exactly that, but it has the advantage of being clear, without leaving any doubt.

Because we must remember that when we are on a diving holiday, we are on HOLIDAY! Would it not be rational to include this amount directly in the price of the trip?

So I asked some travel agencies specializing in diving, the TOs, why they don't do it. I was told that it would be more expensive, that a company must make a margin on pain of straining its accounting results. Receiving 100 euros in tips without making a margin on it would amount to increasing the turnover without making a profit and therefore, reducing the results which banks and shareholders do not like.

We are well advanced. It seems that it will not be tomorrow the day before that we will be rid of this practice, which lacks clarity for our French spirit abroad ... And you, what do you do?

Unless it is quite simply, again… an exception to the French?

TIPS AROUND THE WORLD

FRANCE : The service (staff and cutlery) is included in the bill. In France, tipping is a custom. In the restaurant business, it is customary to round up the price when you are satisfied with the service, leaving change on the table. In the hotel industry, it is customary to tip, usually a ticket (s), upon a specific request, to room service, to the porter and to the valet, when you appreciate the quality of service.

GERMANY : In Germany, it is customary to tip (German: Trinkgeld) between 5% and 10% of the amount paid. This is done in restaurants, taverns and sometimes at the hairdresser. You don't tip in snack bars or when you are served by the boss himself. Minimum tips are considered offensive: it is better not to give any at all.

SPAIN : The tip is not included, it is a voluntary contribution of each one.

ITALY : It is advisable to tip a server. This gesture is considered a compliment and honors the quality of services.

UK : According to the UK Tourism Agency, tipping is not always compulsory in the UK. It indicates that you enjoyed the service and want to show it. Most hotel bills include service (between 10% and 12% of the bill). When service is not included in a hotel restaurant bill, a tip is usually left of 10 to 15% of the bill.

SWITZERLAND : Since 1985, the service is included in the price of consumption, restaurant or coffee. Still, for a quality service, even exceptional, customers can round above to leave a tip to the server.

UNITED STATES : In the US, the convention is to leave a tip of 15 at 20% of the total bill. 15% is the minimum, and more than 20% is an excellent service. 10 15% tip is also paid to taxis, valets, hairdressers or any other service rendered.

CANADA : The percentage of tips in Canada is similar to those in the United States, except in Quebec where they are around 10% to 15% depending on the quality of the service.

JAPAN : Regarding Japan, the tip is nonexistent. Indeed, it is perceived as a lack of respect towards the waiters and the cooks of the restaurants.

EGYPT : Tipping is very important in Egypt in the tourism sector, for drivers, waiters in restaurants, hotel staff and guides (between 20 and 40 euros per person per week).

THAILAND : The price on a bill always includes service. The custom is to leave in a restaurant, a bar or a nightclub the sum of 20 baht for tips. However, this is not an obligation but it allows you to “not lose face”.