Here’s a tip: Find a better way to pay servers

At the Green Mountain Inn in Stowe, Vt., my fellow busboys and I lived and died by tips.

The wait staff (all women) served the food, and the busboys (all men) cleared the tables as fast as possible to make way for the next party of diners. At the end of the night, the servers counted up their tips and gave the busboys a percentage, which we split evenly.

The base hourly pay for a busboy (who also carted luggage to the rooms for busloads of leaf peepers in the peak fall season) was pitiful, well below minimum wage. Tips made the job worthwhile.

This was over 40 years ago, when spare change amounted to something. But the system hasn’t changed much: Servers, table clearers and dishwashers still rely on tips to make a living – or not.

A 1966 amendment to the Fair Labor Standards Act officially permitted a “subminimum wage” for workers who earned tips. Tips, in theory, were supposed to supplement income, raising pay to at least the minimum wage and possibly more.

This allowed restaurants to pay their workers less and, ostensibly, charge less for meals. Customers could then show their gratitude with a big tip – or their displeasure with a tiny one or no tip at all.

As this system has evolved, however, tipping has become less of a genuine gratuity than an obligation on the part of customers to supplement worker salaries. As customers, we’re all aware by now that our tips can be the difference between a good day and a bad day for restaurant employees.

Even if the service is lousy, we often still leave a tip of around 20 percent. We might leave more if the server is cute, witty, attentive or flirtatious – another reason the system is unfair.

But some in the food industry would like to see an end to tipping. Both restaurant owners and employees are looking for a better solution, one that isn’t so undependable or reliant on the largesse of surly customers.

Restaurants across Europe already have a better system: including a service charge of around 15 percent with the bill. If the service is outstanding, customers can leave a tip, but it’s often a small one.

Essentially though, the point is to include the cost of service up front, as part of the bill. That way, servers and other employees are assured of a decent payday.

Some American restaurants are adopting this “no tipping” policy, adding a 20 percent surcharge instead. The money is then split among the staff at the end of the shift.

It’s uncertain whether this system will work in America. If restaurants charge customers more, it could discourage business.

Servers might not want to give up the potential of earning a big tip. Likewise, they might be less inclined to be prompt and pleasant if the tip is guaranteed.

And customers might miss the chance of rewarding a server for work above and beyond announcing the specials of the day. Exorbitant tipping can be a big part of enjoying a great meal.

Customers also might miss the option of punishing a particularly bad server.

I, for one, enjoyed having the tip included in the bill when I was in Europe. It takes the guesswork out of it, and anybody but a total cheapskate is going to leave a 20 percent tip no matter what unless the service is appalling.

Let’s face it, tipping has become largely a duty, not an option. We need a system that is fairer to workers, less subjective and less reliant on crotchety skinflints who figure their tips out to the penny.

I know what it’s like. I was a busboy, and even if it was 40 years ago, I haven’t forgotten.

This story was originally published October 22, 2015 at 10:00 AM with the headline "Here’s a tip: Find a better way to pay servers."