A very, very interesting read from Wednesday's copy of the Canadian Globe and Mail. Please read this, and never again entertain the thought of leaving nothing behind!

A few tips on leaving tips

Tips make you feel a little bit more appreciated in an industry where many people don't even look up when you greet them or say "thank you" when you bring them their food. JENNIFER BOWERING

Wednesday, March 28, 2001


'I don't tip," the woman at table 19 tells her companion, taking a sip of her fishbowl-size mango-strawberry margarita, "out of principle."

Meanwhile I am in the kitchen, scraping the woman's plate of hardened refried beans into the garbage, trying to remember that table 18 is ready for their bill, that 16 wants water, that 20's food should be ready by now, and that 14 said "hold the olives." It will probably be 2:30 a.m. before I can sit down again.

Like most jobs, serving is a lot harder than it looks. But why should the customer have to tip? After all, the server is already getting paid by the restaurant. If the minimum wage she receives is not enough to pay tuition, buy groceries, pay utilities and pay the rent, surely it is the restaurant's fault, not the customer's.

What our customer (and most other Canadians) does not realize is that restaurants generally operate on the assumption that a server is being tipped about 15 per cent on each table. Because of this assumption, for every table that does not leave a tip the server loses money out of her own pocket. She has just paid $2.50 of her own money for the privilege of serving you.

This is because at the end of the night the server is required to "tip out" her co-workers based on the amount of food and drink that she sold. Most people are surprised to learn this, but it is a simple fact of life in almost every Canadian restaurant. At the Edmonton restaurant where I worked over the summer, I was obligated to tip 1.5 per cent of net sales to the bartender, 1 per cent to the hostess, 1 per cent to the busser, and 2 per cent of food sales to the kitchen.

This practice means that on a table that racked up a bill of $50, I had to pay everybody else about $2.50 on that table alone. My co-workers were hard-working individuals, and I would have tipped them out more than that if I could. But if I did not get a tip on that table, that money came out of my own pocket. By the end of an average Saturday night I usually tipped out around $50. I tipped out the same amount regardless of how much I made in tips that night.

Meanwhile at table 19, our friend's companion for the evening has offered to pick up the tab. He wants to leave a tip, but like many people, he isn't sure what is fair. The standard tip in the industry, if you have received good service, is 15 per cent of the bill. There is an easy way to calculate this -- simply look at the amount of GST on your bill, double it, and round up. His friend, however, still believes that refusing to tip is a way of making a statement. For those of you who fall into that category, there is one more thing to keep in mind:

In many other countries a gratuity is already hidden in the cost of the menu items or is automatically added to the bill. In most restaurants in Canada, we are lucky. As consumers, tipping is our tool to ensure good service. If we have received good service, we can let our servers know by giving them upwards of 15 per cent. If we have received poor service, we can let them know that too.

As a customer, I use my years of experience working in restaurants to help me decide when a server deserves a large tip and when she doesn't. If the restaurant is busy, I keep in mind the fact that the server and restaurant have many customers to get to. If the food is bad, I remember that it is not the server who prepared it. Even if service is slow or if the order comes out wrong, I know there is a good chance it was the kitchen's fault, not the server's, and give him or her the benefit of the doubt. When there is a problem it is always best to let the server know before the bill is settled. Usually the problem can be corrected, by making the order again or taking an item off the bill.

The grace with which a server handles complaints is, to me, one of the most important indicators of the quality of service. If my server is friendly, helpful and reasonably efficient, I give them at least 15 per cent. If they have gone out of their way to make special adjustments to an order or to help me get my food quickly when I am in a hurry, I will usually leave them more. If, on the other hand, they are rude, if they do not check in to make sure that I do not need anything, or if they do not address any concerns that I may have, then I will leave 10 per cent. In extreme cases I will leave only enough to cover their tip out.

A couple of bucks may not seem like enough to make much difference. But a nice tip can mean more than just another toonie or two in your pocket. It makes you feel a little bit more appreciated in an industry where many people don't even look up when you greet them, or say "thank you" when you bring them their food. It's not just about dollar and cents, it's about courtesy.

I once knew a server who saved a customer's life by administering the Heimlich manoeuver when the man began to choke on a chunk of hamburger.

The customer, in the end, still did not leave a tip.

But I am reminded that this is not a matter of money.

This is a matter of principle.

Jennifer Bowering lives in Edmonton.