One person said if you can’t tip generously, don’t come. Another said, for goodness sake don’t tell customers that. Five huge issues with tipping in Hawaii.
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127 thoughts on ““Bribes To Ensure Good Service:” Hawaii Tipping Goes Insane”
The article failed to include people who live here who are not making more than the employees they are supposed to tip …buying a bag of coffee or sandwich from she shelf during their lunch break should not ask them to pay a tip! I would try to avoid such a business!
In hawaii just now and looked for articles as this is out of control.
Paying a lot for the hotel and yet at every step getting asked for a tip.
I have no issue leaving a tip for good service but it is expected even for handing over food to you from a fridge.
If the local opinion is to pay 15-20 percent or do not come then this is fine, I will not be back.
The businesses should be held responsible for the cost of living prices – put the tip onto the shelf price and give workers a decent wage.
The cost of living has gone up everywhere in the world and most industries did not get a pay rise to cover it.
But we seem to be now told by the service industry that we are not welcome unless we pay over the odds for everything.
They shouldn’t be surprised to go out of business …I think a good business that values customers will win in the end!
This isn’t just happening in Hawaii. This is an issue everywhere in the US because that’s the system. It’s been exacerbated by the economy right now, but it’s everywhere. If, as you suggest, businesses would simply pay their workers a living wage, and adjust their prices accordingly (not take advantage of it to rip us all off even more) then tips could go back to being a reward for excellent services.
I’m curious as to what is considered a “living wage”? And should that be the base pay for the least skilled, entry level job there is? And is this for just a single individual or someone who has a family? And a renter or homeowner? 0, 1 or 2 cars? Saving for a vacation and putting money away for retirement?
Lot’s of things to consider when someone is talking about a “living wage”
There is a living wage calculator available at living wage dot bit dot edu what will allow you to answer all of those questions for a particular place. It include info for individuals with 0-3 children, with 1 or 2 working adults. Specifically, for the state of Hawaii a family with 2 working adults and 2 children would need to make $29.57/hour each. This include expenses such as Food, Child Care, Medical, Housing, Transportation, Civic, and Other.
I think that the basic definition should be wage paid for 40 hours per week that would support the emloyee. The details are that a wage for a student working in summer and living at home is different from a person of the same age living on their own. I suspect that job expected to be temporary (summer job, working over holidays in sales) might be at a lower rate but all positions considered as “permanent” should pay enough so the employee can pay for food, housing, transpiration, and clothing.
It’s a nice idea but I don’t think that it will work, discrimination lawsuits will be flying.
But here’s the issue with the “living wage” discussion, especially as it applies to “unskilled” labor. And when I say “unskilled”, I’m not saying it isn’t hard work but that it doesn’t take a college degree or trade school training to do it. You can pretty much do it after some initial training.
Single guy fresh out of HS and he’s to get his first job in some service industry, like a hotel. What’s a living wage for this guy / job?
Now we have the exact same job but now it’s an adult with 2 kids and a mortgage and maybe a car payment.
A living wage for the each of these people is different but it’s the same job.
What do we base the pay for this job on? How hard it is? How much training it takes to do it? Who is doing it?
You’re assuming the same amount of experience for both. Someone that’s married with 2 kids is going to have been in the job longer that a kid just graduating from high school. So, just like now, the more experience you have in the same job the more you get paid.
Assumptions are never guarantees. Many HS Students that I know/see work after school and on weekends unless they are involved in Sports. An older, yet young, person with 2 children and a wife doesn’t necessarily have as much experience as this could be an extra income job, something far too many have zero interest in exploring.
Maybe I should rephrase my question. Should All jobs pay a living wage for single individuals, or married individuals or?
Obviously, a single individual doesn’t need the same living wage as a married with kids individual.
So how do we determine how much an unskilled labor job should pay?
Are you saying the pay should not be based on the job but on the person doing the job?
Nope, I’m saying that the pay should be based on the person and the job, and the experience. Just like it is today. Not many jobs have a single pay rate. It’s usually a pay range, and different levels. So there’s a pay difference between someone who’s doing a job at the entry level and someone with 15 years of experience and is a Sr. person. But in the end, yes, someone who’s married and has 2 kids gets a higher “base” pay than a single person with no experience.
Even for entry level unskilled job? Like burger flipping or car parking or whatever the “beginner” job might be.
And the married person should get more? What’s to prevent me, a single person, from saying I’m married, and I have two kids?
Patrick I like the way that you think but I suggest padding that a little more. You live in an overpriced small 4 room apartment with your wife, 2 toddlers in diapers, and your newborn daughter. Don’t forget to say that you have a cat, dog, turtle, and goldfish. Make it sound desperate and a bit dire. Never know how much it may or may not help with the money! Just a suggestion.
Lol. That’s kind of my point. Most entry level jobs are just that. Entry level / no experience required. A married person with kids Can’t except to make a “living wage” doing that.