Tipping is a replacement for employee wages. Restaurant owners can pay way less than the standard minimum wage ($7) so long as the tips reported can supplement the minimum wage amount they should be getting. In some states restaurants are allowed to pay as low as $2
That would go against the law. I am American, and I'm explaining this to you to provide clarity. Tips are not substituted for wages and that practice doesn't even exist here in the US. All staff, whether or not they're in hospitality, is REQUIRED a wage. Any restauarant paying that low would've been shut down. Tips are an optional addition to wages given to staff by customers, NOT a replacement as you're stating here. Yes, its true that some restaurants and other forms of hospitality may or may not pay its staff higher wages, and this is why the garnering of tips are heavily valued among staff in the hospitality industry, but tips are not given to staff in place of wages, regardless of how low the wages are. That is a fact. Tips are an optional gesture from customers and patrons, and are solely dependent upon how well the service was. The better the service, the higher the tip....generally. And such it is for poor service.
Also, people who earn the lower end of the minimum wage in this country are paid based on the minimum wage in their state. Each state's minimum wage is different. The lowest minimum wage is $5.50, and that is in the two states of Georgia and Wyoming. Puerto Rico (a somewhat newer addition to the US as a state) will be paid $10.50 starting this year, and other areas, like New York City (which is where I am) pays $15.00. However, as I have stated more than once, me being an Anerican speaking on American "tip culture", tipping is optional. For the last time, the tips DO NOT come from restaurants, they come from customers and patrons. They are NOT mandatory for customers and patrons to give, and they are NOT given in place of wages. They are an addition to the wages that a staff person gets, and they are given solely based on the level of service. We tip based on these factors: Did they get my order right? Were they friendly and courteous? Did they seem as though they cared about my experience at their restaurant and would like for me to come back? If a person has a good experience at your restaurant, they will tip you well, they will tell everyone how great your resraurant is, and they will return...sometimes with more people so that others can enjoy your restaurant too. Its how we show gratitude for great service. We don't mind giving you extra money EVEN WHEN YOU'RE GETTING A PAYCHECK when you give great service.
And for the record, the United States is NOT the only country that requests a gratuity charge (tip). Some other countries that practice tipping today are for example, a few African countries such as Jordan and Morocco. Outside of Africa, there's The United Kingdom (the UK is England Scotland, Wales, and Northern Ireland), Vietnam, Greece, Croatia, Turkey, Italy, Qatar, United Arab Emirates, France, and Poland. Tipping culture is not an American "thing", especially when it literally exists around the world. Here's the link: https://finance.yahoo.com/news…-most-2023-213725138.html
