To tip or not to tip, that is the question

Greater debate is needed to ensure that waiting staff get their fair share of tips in restaurants across the UAE. Pawan Singh / The National

You can learn much about a person’s culture when the bill arrives after a meal. Put simply, the percentage of the tip is not just a reflection of the diner’s personal circumstances but a representation of the culture and mindset of their home country. In America, for example, restaurant staff depend heavily on tips because their average salary hovers somewhere in the vicinity of the minimum wage. This means that the customer – not the proprietor – assumes responsibility for any gaps in the waiter’s salary. In Australia or Germany, waiters are paid a living wage and a tip is really only due if someone has provided extraordinary service.

Emiratis, meanwhile, are known for generosity. Still, tipping can be a bit of a delicate issue, given the melange of cultures and the fact that people from everywhere live and work here. To be sure, American expatriates bring with them their generous tipping attitudes but those from Britain, for instance, tend to be a little more, shall we say, frugal. To complicate matters, many restaurants levy a 10 per cent service charge but as The National reported yesterday, it is not always clear if this really goes to the staff or into the pocket of the restaurant owner. What is clear, however, is that this confusion shortchanges the staff, many of whom are paid so poorly they depend on tips to pay for essential things.

The solution is simple. We need the restaurant sector to start a debate that should factor in the rights and responsibilities of both restaurant-owners and employees. This should cover the need to pay staff a fair wage and provide some guidelines on the collection and distribution of tips. The final destination of the service charge also needs to be clarified to customers. The goal of such an industry-wide conversation would be improved circumstances for staff, and employers who could reap the rewards of having happier workers.

We are fortunate to live in a multicultural society where it is easy to enjoy veritable culinary tours of the world without leaving one’s city. Now all that remains is to ensure that those who serve us – wherever they’re from and whatever the culture of the diner – can rely on a basic standard of wage and tips.