TIPPING might not be on the rise in Jamaica but restaurants are now being more upfront about asking for it.

If you’re someone who enjoys dining out, you would have observed that almost every restaurant you go to now has a digital tipping option on their point of sale (POS) machines. While it’s no secret that service workers rely on these tips to sustain their living expenses due to low wages, it seems restaurant owners are offloading some of the cost of employing their service workers on to their customers.

When the Jamaica Observer spoke with service workers (who asked that we only use their first names) one waitress, Britanya, who has only been in the industry for six months, said she has “taken home about $30,000 in tips for half the week”. That’s more than double what she would have earned in a week, and she says it makes a big difference for her income.

Another waitress, Michelle, who has been in the industry for over 13 years, says she has observed no drastic improvement in tips among Jamaicans.

“The tip for the week can be like $15,000 or $10,000” she said, noting it has been the same over the years but says it feels less due to the rising costs for goods.

For Michelle, her “regular customer[s]” tend to leave tips ranging between $3,000 and $5,000, while a new customer tips $500 up to $1,000.

So is the potential for these workers to earn through tips so high that restaurant owners believe the minimum wage is enough? One restaurant manager in a resort town hinted at exactly that.

“These waitresses earn multiple times their salaries from tipping,” he told the Business Observer while asking not to disclose his name and that of the establishment.

In addition to asking customers to leave a tip at checkout, there’s a compulsory service charge, or gratuity, ranging from 10 per cent to 20 per cent at some restuarants — which means that a portion of your payment is already going towards tipping the entire staff.

While many have no issues with tipping, for anyone taking business lunch/dinner meetings and racking up a bill of $100,000 with a 10 per cent service fee — a $10,000 tip which could cover meals for two persons — asking for a tip afterwards may seem a bit excessive. So, why ask for the additional tip ?

“The global standard for service charge is 15 per cent. That’s a minimum. We have a service charge which is equivalent to 20 per cent of the value of the meal, above a certain level. That money is divided among staff so that people like the cooks, management and others, will get a share of the tips,” the manager explained.

He added: “The waitresses will also earn tips that people give them in their hands. All we ask from them is a certain percentage to be divided among staff who do not interact with the public as well. It is a policy that is explained to everyone and everyone agrees with it and works with it.”

With the service charge being divided among staff who would not have the chance to interact with customers or guests, restaurants are now asking customers to tip the waitresses as a way to make up their salary further. Generally, Jamaicans have no issue tipping.

“It shows that you are pleased with their service and it’s the right thing to do. That’s how waiters make their money,” said Daniel Mckenzie, who dines out monthly.

His sentiments revealed that when Jamaicans dine out they tip mainly because “it feels like the right thing to do”.

Before POS machines started leaving a little reminder to tip, it was up to the consumers — without question — to exercise that option. But being asked up front while paying for your bill and having to click on the “No” option can guilt customers into leaving a tip, even if they already could not afford to.

Still, service workers are silently pleading to Jamaicans to tip them the cash instead of tipping through the POS machines.

“When they tip you on the machine, it’s taxed. [So] when you work it out, basically if you get a thousand on it, when they finish tax it you get bout $750,” Michelle shared with Business Observer.

A closer look at the machines shows that tips can be as high as 25 per cent of the amount of the bill. So the food is taxed, the service is taxed, and if you leave a tip via digital means, that’s also taxed. The reality is, though, without any tips these workers are only taking home the minimum wage of $9,000, plus the divided gratuity. These are just for workers in restaurants, who are among the highest-tipped employees in the service industry, alongside those in the hospitality sector.

The manager also noted that tipping is becoming more acceptable in Jamaica; however, Jamaicans do not tip as much as Americans.

“I tell you, I have managed restaurants in resort areas both locally and internationally and see waitresses react to clients based on how they know they will tip. It should not happen, but when a waitress sees an American visitor, especially a Caucasian American, they serve them more readily because they know that they will tip generously. African Americans do tip, but not as generously. The British are hard-pressed to tip because it is not their culture. Jamaicans tip as well, but very little. Jamaicans think $100 or $500 is enough to tip a waitress serving a table of 10.”

But one hotel worker in a resort town, Jason, offered some insight into the reason for the low tipping tendency among Jamaicans. “You haffi have a special skill when it come on to Jamaicans, and the Jamaicans that do tip is more the middle to poor class.”

He explained that to get tips from Jamaicans, service workers have to interact exceptionally well with them. However, those Jamaicans who have worked hard to get a few days of vacation are more likely to give, but they simply can’t afford to give any more than they do.

“When them come inna the hotel them will tip you $500 almost evey other night, once you take care of them. The richer ones them? Ha! Yes, dem will laugh and talk with you, man, but sometimes one of out 10 or two out of the 10 might give you a money,” he related, adding that tourists and the poorer class of Jamaicans are the main contributors to service workers’ tips.

While the tipping culture isn’t non-existent it’s still developing, and there’s a pool of service workers either left out of the tipping pool completely or tipped less frequently. In responding to questions from the Business Observer, nine out 10 individuals said they are likely to tip waitresses/waiters; seven out of 10 said supermarket bag packers; six out 10 said bartenders; one out of 10 would tip a taxi driver; and all other service workers got a zero rating. As for how individuals felt about paying a service fee and leaving a tip at restaurants, eight out of 10 disagreed with restauraunts charging the compulsory fee and then asking for tips, while three out of 10 were unaware that restaurants even charged a service fee.

Overall, most people said they left a tip simply because the service was good.