Originally Posted by
China Clipper
What should be posted? That our establishment is run consistently with the norms in our society? Seems to me that only the exceptions should be noted. But it can certainly be argued that everything should be posted everywhere. Trouble is, many people run their lives according to "whateva whateva, I do what I want!"
The norm is that tips are conventional, but discretionary.
The level is also highly variable; I know several older folks who still insist that 10% is the standard for normal service, and while the spread between 15% on the pretax and 20% on the after-tax total is pretty small on a small bill, it gets nontrivial as the bills get larger.
In any event, it is NOT the norm of our society to add a "mandatory" tip to the bill, or to add a service charge, except for large parties, and even there, the norm is very much to publish on the menu what the amount is (which can be anywhere between 15% and 20%) and the minimum size of party for which it is added.
If you're running a restaurant and don't like that, make it a mandatory service charge -- which you WILL have to post on the menu -- and most places you'll have to charge sales tax on it.