obviously! mandatory tipping =O but you should really....unless the service is awful =D

i think its should be optional as sometimes the service could be really good or then again it could be really bad

The reason I ask is because I recently read about an organization that wants to abolish tipping in restaurants altogether. As a former server, I would be all for this except for the fact that the U.S. government treats tipping as if it's mandatory, even though it's technically optional.

For example, servers can be paid less than minimum wage. In Illinois, the standard minimum wage is $7.50/hr but minimum wage for servers and bartenders is $4.85/hr. Also, the government requires servers and bartenders to pay taxes on a minimum 8% tip. This means that, if person feels that they've been given lousy service, they can stiff their server and, because tipping is technically optional, this is perfectly within their right. However, that server still has to pay taxes as though that person had left an 8% tip. Essentially, when you stiff your server, you're not just refusing to tip them but you're actually costing them additional money.

I'm basically in the all or nothing category. If the government wants to continue treating tipping as though it's mandatory, there needs to be a law requiring people to tip. Otherwise, I think it should be abolished (or at least truely optional and not this fake optional we have in the U.S.).

Restaurants should have to pay their servers a decent wage so they don't have to depend on their tips to survive. I worked my way through college as a waitress and it is shocking how many people will tip badly or not even tip at all. No matter how good the service, there are people in this world who have no concept that the money you leave the server is what they have to live on. I've been to several restaurants where they have abolished tipping and the service is still excellent and the servers seem much happier.

^^^^^^ Good point. You're less likely to spit in someone's food when there's no concept of good tipper vs. bad tipper.

If people say if the service was good or bad they could say that all the time and not pay

Mandatory is ridiculous - tipping should be a gesture of appreciation. Abolition is also flawed for the same reason - suddenly people can't express their appreciation of people working in food service the way they do in any other service job - with financial remuneration?

That's not to say that restaurants shouldn't pay better wages for food service workers - they should. But addressing the issue by regulating tipping is idiotic. The fact that tips are a hot issue is a symptom, not the problem.

servers should be paid the same way any other person in the service industry is paid.

well it's like how at shops someone might go "keep the change" it's a tip, right?? Optional is how it should always be and it shouldn't be looked down upon if you don't tip someone too.

In Sweden the servers are paid like they should be. The US is so very stupid about this.

"optional" is what it is now, and there are so many problems. instead of being paid ridiculously low wages and having to depend on "optional" tips, servers should simply be paid wages that fit the job they perform.

patrons shouldn't feel obligated to tip servers because they know they depend on the money, and servers shouldn't have to depend on their tips to get by in the first place.

Tips should be rare... for outstanding service and so that it really means something and rewards superior work. Like it is in Sweden now...

If you make it mandatory it's not a tip anymore. It's just some extra money you have to give, it's not a compliment to the restaurant then.

optional, but i think you should always tip people unless you had a particularly bad meal. other wise i do think, you should tip.

Tip if the service is worth it, if not then it's undeserved. I've worked in restaurants, waiting on tables & as a kitchen porter, I found that the kitchen staff often have a much harder job (remember i've done both) & never get a tip so they should have to earn any extra.

Abolishing is going a little far, after all if people want to give you more money they should be aloud but it should have no baring on your wage (which should be decent as Chel put it).

well considering the rules in america do apply then do you think it should be optional or banned?
I think that is the more interesting debate considering most people agree that if it's good service them you tip, if it's not you don't
personally if them laws apply then i think it should be abolished as they should get compesated like any other employees, tips make a lotof their wages depend on certain customers and chance

The minimum wage should go up but we should still be allowed to tip if we want.

It shouldn't be mandatory because it's not fair if you have a bad server. In fact, I got really pissed off then this waiter got scared because my family was from Pakistan (he literaly jumped and got scared, it's funny now but at the time, i was very insulted). So, I would not like to give him as great of a tip.

did he actually say that was why he jumped? strange guy!

My argument still stands. Tipping is not a problem, so it shouldn't be regulated as if it were. Below subsistence wages for service workers is the problem in the US. Blaming tipping for this is completely missing the issue.

I'm with Dwight Schrute on this one: "Why tip someone for a job I'm capable of doing myself? I can deliver food. I can drive a taxi. I can, and do, cut my own hair. I did however, tip my urologist, because I am unable to pulverize my own kidney stones."

No, but seriously, I'm with blisslikethis and chel on this one. Servers should be paid a fair amount without taking tips into consideration. In today's world, tipping, though technically optional, is expected. I think that this policy should be changed - tips should be for good service, not any service at all. Perhaps tips shouldn't be completely abolished, but they shouldn't be obligitory.

It should be an option because sometimes we don't have that kind of money to be tipping. But of course then we wouldn't eat out, but sometimes we just feel like we need to.

It should be optional, at the end of day it down to the customer(s)if they want to tip....Me personnally don't tip beacuse they in the job to offer an service to customer (wherever it a taxi driver or fast food etc). I do agree with tessajanuary "technically optional, it is expected" it shouldn't be expected from the employee that they should be tipped, no matter how go the service was.

I like having the power of showing my like or dislike of the waiter. Waiters shouldn't be dependent on tips for their wages; as a customer, it shouldn't be my concern if the waiter is going to be paid enough or not. I just want to be able to give a tip if the service is good, and not give a tip if the service is bad.

Servers are generally paid way below minimum wage. The government assumes that they will get the extra money using tips. Tipping should either be mandatory, with a certain minimum percentage, or abolished, giving servers the regular minimum wage.

Of course, I think that the current minimum wage is WAY too small, but that's a different subject.

In belgium it's obligotary and is part of your bill for everything - taxis, Restaurants wtv.... but I think you whould be able to refuse to pay iof ur service was not acceptable...

UhHH... TO AVOID THE WHOLE I won't pay thing and the whole you have to pay tip thing why don' we make it optinal in this way everyone gets what they want, and a happy ending to the story. Wasn't that easy?

We don't tip where I come from. I think it's silly. People get paid their wages, that should be it. What's the point in making tipping mandatory anyway? Making minimum wage higher would have the same effect.

Until servers get paid minimum wage, I think it should be mandatory.

All states should enforce minimum wage, and all restaurants should be paying their waitstaff at least the federally mandated minimum wage. The IRS should recategorize "tips" and they should be taxed at a lower tax rate (maybe a flat 5%) than earned wages. A tip by definition is OPTIONAL and should remain that way. Once you start making a tip MANDATORY, it ceases being a tip. It becomes a FEE. A Mandatory tip is an oxymoron and is a ridiculous concept. People should tip for average to great service, but should never be forced or made to feel they have to pay for bad or lousy service. If waitstaff think they are being paid too little by the restaurant owner(s) maybe they should consider a change of job...This advice is for the waitstaff that say they depend on tips for their livelihood. Again waitstaff shouldn't get upset at customers because they aren't getting paid enough. Get upset at your bosses for paying too little of a basic wage.

A SERVICE CHARGE should be included with the bill. For example, if a plate of homemade fries, pork tacos and salsa dip cost me $15.75 in the restaurant I've chosen to eaten in, the restaurant should include a $6.00 "service charge" for the waiters service; which would bring the total to $21.75 cents (plus tax).

That way, waiters and other service men and women can receive their payment for work done without relying on the "generosity" of customers. It's a protective measure that would help service men and women to financially support themselves.