glg

No, because most of the US has a significantly lower minimum wage for tipped employees.

US minimum wage is $7.25/hour, though many states and cities have a higher minimum. Minimum wage for tipped employees is $2.13/hour. Again, many states and cities have a higher minimum.

In some cases, the locality doesn't allow for a lower minimum, so in those cases, you may have waitstaff being paid higher overall wages.

London_traveller

I disagree with the sentiment that tipping or a service charge is needed in order to incentivise good service. I was in Japan on holiday recently and nobody tips for anything. It's just not done. However, the standard of service we received, in all manner of different bars/restaurants/etc, was consistently high.

I've travelled to the US a fair bit in recent years and although the level of tipping is irritating to me, it is nonetheless part of the culture. If employees are reliant on those tips to get to any kind of basic salary, I don't see it as my job to cast my opinion on the tipping system via no tip to my server; the only person that suffers is the server, while the system doesn't change.

I support this review the government is doing. Far too opaque here in the UK right now.

IAN-UK

That's a sobering statistic: and if it describes a situation in anyway widespread in the US, then I am embarrassed. I tip grudgingly and only under pressure from companions do I approach the recommended levels.

LondonElite

Slightly circular, however. Who decides what a 'tipped employee' is?

glg

Sorry to keep up with this tangent on US practices!

It's defined by the US government as:
"A tipped employee means any employee engaged in an occupation in which he or she customarily and regularly receives more than $30 a month in tips."