[vc_row][vc_column][vc_column_text]The food service industry is undoubtedly one of the most difficult areas to work in due to the vast amount of people servers attend concurrently, the nonexistent turn-around time in peak hours and the multiple personalities a server has to meet with a smile. At the end of an especially taxing encounter, the most irritating thing to see is a table full of plates and no tip. And even if someone does leave a dollar or two, the unspoken rules surrounding tipping are vague, and the math involved may be too much for an individual after three glasses of wine.

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Whether or not you’re one of the few rare experts at calculating tips at restaurants, tipping should definitely be mandatory for everyone and automatically calculated into the check — both for the customer’s and establishment’s convenience. An automated process is far more comfortable than the awkward and rushed calculation after every meal. For the hard-working people employed in the service industry, tips are most of their income, and they should be compensated for every table they serve. Most people working on tips are not getting paid minimum wage, and the scale to tip (usually 10-15 percent) is not unreasonable for a meal. Restaurants are only required to pay their employees $2.13 an hour, according to federal law.

Some would argue that they are paying for their food and would only tip if service was exceptional, but people need to remember that a server working an entire section of a restaurant may only be able to give satisfactory service and not go above and beyond, based on the sheer amount of work they are doing, while also trying to be personable enough for each individual table. Additionally, it has been found that tips only go up about four percent with good service, so in many cases it is based on the customer’s personal philosophy when it comes to tipping. In my experience, I have had many more instances of great service and only one or two incidents when a server did not perform to the caliber expected. But the few who are not doing what they should do not represent service workers as a whole, and automated gratuity does not lower their incentive to work hard. A server’s work is grueling, and a small tip afterwards should not be left to the discretion of the customer’s whims. If they choose to eat out, they should tip.

The concept of automatically adding tips to a check is being used in many higher-scale restaurants, but establishment owners believe it is the future of tipping. An app called “Reserve” helps the whole process along by using technology similar to Uber — the charge for the meal and appropriate tax is automatically calculated and billed to the card associated with the app account. A customer is able to walk out after their meal without any social dilemma or revisiting of 5th grade math when it comes to the “tip or no tip” moment.

Automated tipping and even these types of technologies should be used in all restaurants to benefit the workers in the service industry. It will not only greatly affect your day if you decide to tip appropriately, but it means something to the individual working hard to make your meal an enjoyable one.

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