tipping

Dylan Schenker got his first barista job about a decade ago. He says, "At first it was just a job," but he then got passionate about it. But increasingly he's becoming dependent on tips and says people have a fundamental misunderstanding about tipping.

Economy

Got tipping rage? This barista reveals what it's like to be behind the tip screen

3:07pm July 17, 2023

by Stacey Vanek Smith

The rise in tipping has many customers fuming, but one worker who depends on tips says most customers misunderstand what they are — and shares what it feels like when people don't tip.

An Amazon worker pulls a cart of packages for delivery in New York City in July. A promotion that enabled shoppers to tip workers last week maxed out in less than 48 hours.

National

Amazon launched a driver tipping promotion on the same day it got sued over tip fraud

5:01am December 14, 2022

by Emily Olson

An Amazon promotion that tipped delivery drivers $5 for every customer that sent a "thank you" message maxed out on the second day, raising questions about whether drivers deserve tips year-round.

A receipt from Centre Street Cafe in Jamaica Plain, Mass., includes a 3 percent "hospitality administration fee," which comes out to 39 cents on $13 of food sales. The entire fee goes to nontipped employees in the kitchen.

National

Restaurants Cook Up A New Way To Pay Kitchen Staff More: A Cut Of Sales

8:40pm March 31, 2017

by Simón Rios

Revenue sharing is taking off in restaurants in cities like Boston and San Francisco. The model varies from place to place, but the idea is simple: funnel a percentage of sales to kitchen workers.

Queue Listen Now

Beijing-based restaurateur Song Ji (right) demonstrates his system, which allows customers to tip waitstaff. Diners use smartphones to scan QR codes that the waitstaff wear on their sleeves. This generates a tip of 4.56 yuan, or about 70 cents. Waitress L

World News

Long Absent In China, Tipping Makes A Comeback At A Few Trendy Restaurants

12:52pm September 27, 2016

by Anthony Kuhn

Viewed for decades as capitalist exploitation, tipping is now encouraged at some upscale urban restaurants catering to wealthy young customers. Restaurateurs insist it's strictly voluntary.

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Thad Vogler, at his restaurant Bar Agricole in 2011, says the no-tipping model didn't work out for his two San Francisco restaurants. Looking back, he would've hiked up his prices even more so the money flowed to the staff more evenly.

Economy

Why Restaurants Are Ditching The Switch To No Tipping

10:33am May 15, 2016

by NPR Staff

It's customer and staff complaints that did away with the model to start, but that's also what's bringing the tradition back to restaurants that've been experimenting with the policy to even out pay.

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Seattle chef Renee Erickson won the 2016 James Beard Award as best chef in the Northwest. She employs 100 people at her restaurant group.

Why This Seattle Chef Is Embracing A Higher Minimum Wage For Employees

11:50am May 06, 2016

by NPR Staff

Small businesses in Seattle have to pay a minimum of $15 an hour starting in 2021. But chef Renee Erickson has adopted higher pay for employees of her restaurant group ahead of schedule.

Imported from Europe, the custom of leaving gratuities began spreading in the U.S. post-Civil War. It was loathed as a master-serf custom that degraded America's democratic, anti-aristocratic ethic.

When Tipping Was Considered Deeply Un-American

5:29pm November 30, 2015

by Nina Martyris

Imported from Europe, the custom of leaving gratuities began spreading in the U.S. post-Civil War. It was loathed as a master-serf custom that degraded America's democratic, anti-aristocratic ethic.

At fine-dining places, white workers overwhelmingly fill jobs with the heftiest salaries, while Latinos, blacks and other minorities have jobs with pay closer to the poverty level, a study finds.

National

The Startling Racial Divide In Pay For Restaurant Workers

4:02pm October 22, 2015

by Alastair Bland

At fine-dining places, white workers overwhelmingly fill jobs with the heftiest salaries, while Latinos, blacks and other minorities have jobs with pay closer to the poverty level, a study finds.

#NPRreads: A Digital Dark Age And A Story That's Part Listicle, Part Longread

5:39pm October 16, 2015

Also this week: a look at President Obama's decision to keep more U.S. troops in Afghanistan.

Staff in the kitchen of The Modern, a restaurant operated by Meyer's Union Square Hospitality Group and located in the Museum of Modern Art.

Danny Meyer To Banish Tipping And Raise Prices At His N.Y. Restaurants

12:09pm October 15, 2015

by NPR Staff

Meyer says "something fascinating and completely unfair" plagues the restaurant industry: Waiters' incomes have risen far faster than other staff. To balance salaries out, he'll charge more for food.

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