MANDATORY TIPPING ON RISE

Meanwhile, a rising number of establishments are dispensing with the optional nature of tips altogether. Automatic gratuities (usually of 18 per cent) used to be reserved exclusively for large tables. That way, a server could have their time monopolized by a large group without the risk of being hung out to dry if the group skimped on the tip. But automatic gratuities are now showing up at resorts, hotels and even for airport porters. A not-infrequent occurrence is that an inebriated patron will pay a tip on their final bill without realizing that one was already slipped into their charges.

of the wage pie and any abolition of tipping is almost certainly going to result in a system wherein much of this advantage will be lost.