New Jersey Diner Adds 'Kid Tip' to Bills, Angering Parents

[sl8]

From https://www.nbcnewyork.com/news/local/Kid-Tax-New-Jersey-Diner-Anger-Parents-456180213.html

https://media.nbcnewyork.com/images/1305%2A734/COLLETTI+KID+DINER+TAX+NJ+PKG+5PM+-+00004415_WNBC_0000000185620.jpg
Wayne Hills Diner

New Jersey Diner Adds 'Kid Tip' to Bills, Angering Parents
By Roseanne Colletti

WHAT TO KNOW

A New Jersey diner automatically adds tips to the checks of students and young people who eat there

Parents are angry, saying it's unfair and that tipping should be a choice

The diner owner says the restaurant often gets slammed from kids at the school across the street, and they often don't tip

It's customary to leave a tip when eating out, but one particular gratuity added to an order for a milkshake and fries at a New Jersey diner is angering parents.

...

More at link.

[bitterross]

1. Good! Did you look at the place in the article? It's not Burger King.

Can't say I blame the owners. If the kids are going to that nice a place then they should be prepared to tip.

[flotsam]

4. It's a diner-not the Taj Mahal!

Here's a good question-when they get "slammed" how good do you suppose the service is? Does the diner add extra crew for the time when the kids come or do they simply let the normal crew take the hit? Why should the kids tip for poor service and a crappy attitude?

[bitterross]

6. You tip at diners too. Not only at fancy places.

You are assuming a lot of facts not in evidence in your hypotheticals. Where did the article say the kids were getting crappy service? It didn't. What it DID say was the kids are the reason the servers are "slammed." Seems they should be the ones to tip if they are causing the servers to work more.

I would counter your question with: If the kids aren't tipping why would anyone want to work the busy time so why would the owner try to staff up?

Also: So you never give a server a break if you see they are slammed and tip them for the service they were able to provide knowing how little they make? I do.

And finally, don't expect me to feel bad for kids who can afford to go to a diner when there are plenty of kids who can't even afford their school lunch.

[CrispyQ]

2. I'm a good tipper, but I hate the custom of tipping & wish that restaurants

would pay their staff so I don't have to. I've also been out to eat with too many people who keep a running tab of every little thing the server doesn't do perfectly & use it as justification to skimp on the tip. I've also seen servers provide stellar service & still get stiffed.

[trc]

3. I agree

Quit using the concept of "please tip your server" and pay them a decent wage. Increase your prices by 15-20% and all will be well.

[sl8]

5. Aside from whether or not it's a fair policy, I wonder how the IRS views it

From Snopes, https://www.snopes.com/are-diners-obligated-to-pay-mandatory-gratuity-or-tip-charges/

...

Further muddying the waters is that as of 1 January 2014, the Internal Revenue Service decided that any form of “mandatory gratuity” is paid not to the server but to the restaurant (as a measure to ensure taxes are paid on tips):

The change actually came in June 2012, when the IRS issued Revenue Ruling 2012-18, which said that the mandatory extra fee restaurants often add to large parties is not a “tip” at all. A tip, it ruled, must be voluntary in every sense of the word. Customers must feel free to leave any amount they choose — or nothing at all. Instead, such mandatory add-ons are a “service charge,” a fee that must be paid if a customer wants to leave the restaurant without handcuffs.

This is much more than just simple semantics. You see, if an employee relies on tips for part of his or her income, an employer only has to pay a minimum wage of $2.13, according to the Department of Labor. Only if the employee doesn’t make enough in tips to meet the prevailing minimum wage (now $7.25 at the federal level) does the employer have to make up the difference … the IRS knows this has led to lots of number-fudging. For example, all employees who make more than $20 in tips must report them to the employer each month so that taxes can be withheld. But if the employee is less than honest and the employer looks the other way or under reports tip income, both parties can come out ahead while the federal government is left holding the bag.

...

Seems like the bookkeeping could get pretty complicated, if you're charging a mandatory "gratuity" to some customers and not others.