When a service charge appears on our Tampa restaurants tab, it becomes our favorite excuse not to tip the waiters, waitresses, bartenders, and receptionists who served us. We think that just because we already paid a 10-percent service charge, we don’t have to give even a dollar to the wait staff. This always happens when we dine in a sit-down restaurant. There’s always an additional 8% or 10% on the original bill.
The question remains, though: Does this service charge go to the wait staff or is this simply how the tip works? Most countries have this to say about service charges: 85% of the service charge must go to the employees while 15% goes to the management. We’re not exactly sure if this works and if this is applied. We’re sure employees would balk at the thought of the management taking more than 15% of what they worked hard for.
All the employees must have equal share in the 85% of the total service charge collected. In case the service charge is abolished, it should be part of their total wages. The problem is that most employees do not receive their part of the service charge. Instead, a survey found out that the percentage that’s supposed to go to the employees go to the restaurant owners.
That’s the reason why you should still give a tip to the wait staff, especially when they provided good service. There are different tipping suggestions in every country but in the United States, the most common is 15% to 20%. That means that if your bill is $100, you should leave a $15 to $20 tip. You may also leave a separate tip for the bartender or the sommelier. There’s another tip for the receptionist, too. Make sure it’s a considerable amount if he/she got you a table even in the midst of a busy hour.
There’s another practice in some restaurants and café that we may notice but don’t usually support. When a fishbowl happens to be placed near the cash register, that’s a simple way of the servers asking for a tip. You can give any amount you want though out of respect, please don’t put pennies in it. You can give as little as $1 to as much as you can. The staff will divide the total amount at the end of the day. It’s another way of saying thank you to the people who gave you a good service.