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Eliminate tipping at restaurants?

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The 7th Settlement Brewery in Dover gained national attention after announcing a plan to ban tips starting this Labor Day.

The restaurant will instead raise prices 15-20% and pay servers $45-50,000 a year.  If a customer still leaves a tip, the restaurant will donate the tip to charity.

What’s wrong with tipping?

The goal is to pay staff equitably, including kitchen staff, and overcome problems that can come with tipping – sexual harassment, for example.

“Why do we assume that servers are inherently lazy unless we tip them? These are hard-working people and we want them to be proud of what they’re doing.”

- David Boynton, Owner

There is also research that shows the size of tips do not seem to have a significant relationship with the quality of service.  Race, gender, and attractiveness are more likely to have an impact. 

Tipping is a tradition

Supporters of tipping argue that it is still the best motivator for servers to provide good service.  Quality servers may actually make more with tips than they would with a salary.

Customers may also dislike the higher menu prices.  Joe’s Crab Shack, one of the first national restaurants to end tipping, stopped their experiment after losing too many customers. 

Would you be more or less likely to eat at a restaurant without tipping?  Let us know in the comments.

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