Out of interest, is it compulsory to give tips to waiters in the US, even if it's poor service? (Not that I'm calling where you work poor service - I'm just curious because of culture differences)
Wait staff and other "tipped employees" are exempt from normal minimum wage laws; in Colorado, for instance, minimum wage is $7.26 per hour, unless you are a waitress (or bartender or whatever), in which case minimum wage is $4.26 per hour. I don't claim to have seen a representative sample by any means, but about 95% of the restaurants I've audited at work pay exactly the minimum wage.
Colorado is typical in that full-time, regular minimum wage (for non-tipped employees) after taxes is just barely enough to cover rent and living expenses if you (a) share an apartment with someone or at least (b) don't have any student loans. Of course, receiving $3 less per hour is worse. So it's not compulsory to tip in the sense of a legal obligation, but it really hurts people if you don't.
It's not compulsory - some restaurants include tip for parties over a certain number (eight, ten, twelve, larger parties), but there's no requirement to tip
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Colorado is typical in that full-time, regular minimum wage (for non-tipped employees) after taxes is just barely enough to cover rent and living expenses if you (a) share an apartment with someone or at least (b) don't have any student loans. Of course, receiving $3 less per hour is worse. So it's not compulsory to tip in the sense of a legal obligation, but it really hurts people if you don't.
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