Paying fair wages better than 20% tips

Re If you can eat out, you can tip 20 per cent,

Nov. 8 Restaurant critic Amy Pataki asserts that everyone should tip at least 20 per cent of the bill after tax when dining out.

A 2016 study on tipping by University of Guelph professors Bruce McAdams and Michael von Massow pointed out many of the problems caused by this practice.

They ranged from income inequality, as servers make more than cooks or management; competition for better tipping customers and lack of co-operation between staff, who tended to focus only on their own customers.

Servers work hard and it is usually not their fault if food is late or not up to expectations. By the same token, shouldn’t we be tipping cooks, bussers, managers, etc.?

Wouldn’t it be simpler for the hospitality industry to charge the full cost to their customers and pay servers a fair wage?

This will bypass the problems and unfairness caused by tipping. Moses Shuldiner, Toronto Although Amy Pataki makes some good points, I must disagree that I have to tip 20 per cent.

Tipping is not part of eating out, as she says. It may have become mainstream but it was intended as a reward for superior food or service.

In today’s economy, a lot of people struggle to raise a family, put food on the table and pay the mortgage. This is no different than when I was raising my children. Eating out was not the norm and, when we did, it put a big dent in our budget.

Eating out with two or three children can be quite costly. Adding 20 per cent to that might make it prohibitive and could mean that once-a-month treat is no longer affordable. Does 5 per cent make such a big difference? Yes, to some families it will. I agree servers should be paid a fair wage. But that should not be up to me and others who can only afford a treat on a rare occasion.

Those who can afford to tip more, do so. But those who can’t shouldn’t be made to feel ashamed. Rita Maio, Woodbridge