Tipping…a fading tradition?
When I was growing up, I remember making sure I was aware that you tipped people providing you a service. Great service, better tip. And I always loved getting the money from my parents to give to the person myself- made me feel like a grown up.
Now that I am a grown up, gratuity is more than feeling like a grown up! There is an expectation of tipping for certain services, and that expectation is based upon the fact that generally, those service providers aren't making the equivalent to a living wage and therefore need their tips to bring their service fees to a livable manner.
Servers, nail technicians, bartenders, hair stylists, taxi drivers, hotel staff like housekeeping, room service, valet etc) are all examples of professions commonly known to receive tips.
Servers are one profession that seems to be a popular one, so lets use them as an example. It seems that its pretty standard knowledge that their hourly wage was typically less than minimum wage BECAUSE of the expectations of tips. And these tips were expected to give them a better, livable wage. Did you know that Ontario eliminated the subminimum servers wage and that all service, waiters, bartenders make the same minimum wage as all other workers?! This JUST happened in early 2022!
This always baffled me, their income was reliant on really, the kindness of others, not the fact that they were providing a service and doing their job.
Imagine for a second, if every day other people got to decide your work pay based upon your looks, your personality, your ability to check off every box of THAT individual person? And every day, you made a different amount. Every person has varying checklists as to what they believe constitutes great service and what they believe qualifies for a larger tip.
I've heard a lot- and even said some myself- when it comes to why or why not someone deserves a good tip. Perhaps, they don't believe in tipping. Or maybe they're a teenager, or they're new to Canada and who aren't aware of gratuity (in a lot of countries, tipping isn't the norm). Or they're someone on a strict income budget, and this one thing was their treat for themselves that they never indulge in. Or someone doesn't tip a service provider because they "are their own business" and therefore don't deserve a tip. There are SO many factors when it comes to giving gratuity. I could probably go on and on.
But really, when you think about it; everyone deserves to make a living wage - a real one- based upon the fact they are working a job, they are providing a service.
When you take the reins of your own future, especially as a service provider, you get to choose for yourself what you want for your future.
Did you know, the premise of tipping is deeply rooted in sexism and racism? Honestly, I didn’t. And when I started to learn the history, it just hit differently. It’s SO engrained in western culture that it’s practically unheard of to hear that tipping isn’t encouraged. While the entire practice and expectation, and history certainly needs to be addressed, I won’t get into the whole of it here but encourage you to look into it (Here is just one simple article written https://www.nytimes.com/2021/02/05/opinion/minimum-wage-racism.html….there are many!) We simply want our stylists to be successful, and our salon future to be genderless and promote inclusivity and take the steps to remove gender and racial bias from our profession.
At Bounce, gone are the days that gratuity is needed, expected or a frequent occurrence. Our team has, on an individual basis, worked the numbers, determined their value and charge based upon their needs, desires, skill, future and goals. Our stylists calculate their hourly rate to allow them to live their lives, which means that the “customary” tipping is no longer a necessity. Our clients don’t have to worry they have to tip on top of their appointment costs, no calculating, no reducing your appointment time because “adding in a tip will put you over your budget”.
Now we’re not saying that tipping should be abolished; nor should anyone who feels the need to tip feel badly regarding doing so! What we are saying is that you don’t need to feel badly if you don’t!
