To tip or not to tip?
Many restaurants in the U.S. are starting to ban their servers from receiving gratuities, saying they would rather pay the staff more, leaving the customers with no (often awkward) obligation to do so.
According to a report on Huffington Post, in the United States, customers are expected to add 10 - 20 per cent as tip for the waitron.
But, more and more restaurants are now opting to pay their staff more, and not allowing their servers to receive tips.
The minimum wage in the United States is $7.25 per hour, but many restaurants pay their service staff as little as $2.00 per hour, relying on their patrons to pay the rest via gratuities.
Rory says he spent 14 years as a waiter so knows all too well the extent to which the industry sometimes abuses its service staff. In some cases, Rory says he would leave work having to actually pay in.
Many restaurants in South Africa even charge their waiters fix fees for possible breakages.
Should restaurants in South Africa be closely monitored and forced to pay their staff more, leaving less obligation on their customers?
What do you think?