Do you think that the “optional” Service Charge on a restaurant bill is going to the staff? Well think again.
I am not anti tipping – far from it, if a job is done well then I am more than happy to tip the staff in a restaurant, many are on minimum wages, spend all day on their feet dealing with members of the public; some of which can be quite rude and unreasonable.
However at some restaurants that “Optional Service Charge” listed on the bill in fact goes to the company or individual that owns the restaurant and is not given to the staff as a tip on top of their wages. Sometimes it is used to supplement the staff wages up to the minimum wage, sometimes the management just keeps the service charge. In my opinion this practice is at best misleading and at worse downright morally bankrupt as most people assume that the service charge will go to the staff as an extra to their basic wages and it is not used to further line the restaurant owners’ pockets. (One establishment has the nerve to charge a cover charge per person and to then also pocket the service charge, they also have declined to answer my e-mails to them questioning this practise).
The law is due to change and in the UK all service staff will be paid the minimum wage as basic, stopping employers making wages up to the minimum with service charges and tip.
So, now whenever I eat out I always ask if the service charge goes to the staff, if not I ask to speak to the manager and explain to them why I will not be paying the service charge and ask them to take it off the bill, I then check that a cash tip will go to the staff as an extra above their wages.
Generally I try and pay the tip in cash separately to the main bill, rather than pay the service charge, tips paid as part of the bill by card are generally added to wages through payroll (and the company make take a % of tips paid by card as an admin fee) and can be liable for National Insurance as well as tax deductions, cash tips go directly to the employees.
So next time you eat out, please ask where the service charge goes, and if possible tip by cash. If you are told that the service charge goes to the company, please decline to pay it and contact the company to make your feelings known.
Thank you for this really informative post. I hate it when places automatically add the service charge, but never have the balls to ask them to take it off. In future I will certainly ask.
Jules,
I just tell them that I prefer to pay the tip in cash having established that it does in fact go to the staff as an extra.
Thanks for reading, glad to have been of help.
Good heavens! It would never occur to me that the service charge wouldn’t go to the waitstaff. This is a real eye-opener–thank you for sharing this information.
It can be such a rip off – I hate to think that my tips either don’t reach the intended recipient or are used to pay their wages
ooh that’s interesting, never had that experience as a waitress in my younger years, but I’m sure this practice exists. terrible! waiting tables is such hard work!
Where I work there is 12.5 percent service charage added to the bill that staff do not get and the cash tips are put into a pot from which the managers buy sweets for the staff with…
Rubbish but no laws in place to stop it
Listen to me: I am working for 2 years in this industry, and I have met only 1 restaurant that gives the service charge to the stuff, in Chelsea. And I am not talking only about me, but for my friends and family. That’s the simple plain truth. It is a fcn disgrace!