Service charge in restaurants

[Daydreamer]

Is the service charge meant to be the tip or is a tip in addition to this"tax" this charge is separate from the
Government tax

[Daydreamer]

Is the service charge that is charged by restaurants meant to represent the "tip"
Or is tipping in addition to this charge. This is a different charge on top of the
Government charge

[farmer]

Hey Daydreamer
It has been pointed out to me that it is divided amongst all staff usually 10 %
We always give another 10 % in cash directly to our server
wages are small otherwise so we find it money well spent and are always treated rite
when we return
Farmer

[Babalew]

I like that idea...that way everyone gets a piece of the pie! and the server a little extra!

[Rumlover]

According to locals I know and trust the service charge can be anything the restaurant wants it to be. Sometimes shared, usually not. If you want your tip to go to your server hand them cash separate from paying the tab. Even when I use a credit card to pay for dinner I give cash to the server. It will be appreciated. Tourists from certain countries tip nothing as that's the way it works for them at home where servers are paid a livable wage. I've always found it hard to believe those tourists don't know tips are what help feed the families of the bartenders, servers, housekeepers, etc..

[Rob]

According to locals I know and trust the service charge can be anything the restaurant wants it to be. Sometimes shared, usually not. If you want your tip to go to your server hand them cash separate from paying the tab. Even when I use a credit card to pay for dinner I give cash to the server. It will be appreciated. Tourists from certain countries tip nothing as that's the way it works for them at home where servers are paid a livable wage. I've always found it hard to believe those tourists don't know tips are what help feed the families of the bartenders, servers, housekeepers, etc..

Rumlover,

The service charge is NOT anything the restaurant wants it to be. It is a line item on the business accounting and is shared among all hourly employees. That includes the servers, the cooks, the dishwashers, the groundskeepers, the maintenance folks, etc. It is illegal to have a service charge on the bill if it is not shared. The fine has been raised to discourage any misuse of these shared service charges to the employees. Unfortunately you were given wrong information.

[Rumlover]

Rob,
Wasn't trying to accuse anyone of misuse of the 10% service charge. I should have been more concise. I was told by friends that they do not see the 10% service charge it is not their tip as it is in the USA. Many tourists (myself included at one time) believed I was tipping my server for good service as I would at home. A dollar is so much more to most I know in Jamaica than it is to someone here. I stand by my believe that you should still tip your server on top of the "service charge". As you said it is spread between the servers, the cooks, the dishwashers, the groundskeepers, the maintenance folks, etc.. It's a small amount added to wages, not gratuity. Tipping shows appreciation for the service provided. At home I tip 15% for barely average or below average and 20% or more for above average. I would do it no differently in Jamaica.

I'm very happy to hear the raised fine has totally corrected any problem there may have been in the past. I apologize for any misinformation.

[Rob]

When you tip for good service when provided, the server keeps that tip. But that does not take into account all the other people who made that good service experience possible. If your meal was tasty and the way you wanted it, did you tip the cook in the kitchen? After all, they prepared the meal. All the server did was take your order and deliver it.

Were the cutlery clean and plates spotless? How does the dishwasher benefit. Do you tip the dishwasher? And if the atmosphere at the restaurant helped to make the meal a pleasant one, do you search out the groundskeeper and tip them?

Since the US system was directly brought up, the US allows tipped employees to be paid as low as us$2.13 an hour:

http://www.dol.gov/whd/state/tipped.htm

But unlike the US, servers in Jamaica do not have a special lower wage, they are generally paid the same as everyone else based on their experience and benefit to the business. The service charge goes a long way in providing a practical way for more than a single individual to benefit from your dining experience.

[Rob]

Rumlover,

That is because it is not a "tip" as it is in the US, it is part of their paycheck - I wrote this back in early 2012 to explain how the service charge works:

"If your bill has a "service charge" then this is a shared tip for all the hourly employees, not a direct tip to your bartender or server. The Jamaican government enacted the service charge so that more Jamaicans benefit.

A service charge of 10% is added to the bill, then it is totaled from all receipts during that pay period, and then split between all hourly employees equally, from the bartender to the gardener to the housekeepers. That way, when a guest purchases something, more than just the server makes a bit of money.

For a simple example, lets say a server hands you a bill for us$100, with a $10 service charge added. The server will not get that $10 service charge directly. Lets suppose there are 10 employees total at the property. At the end of the pay period, that $10 charge will be split between all 10 employees equally. So while the server did not get the entire $10, they did receive $1 from it as did all the other employees.

The service charge is set at 10% so that it leaves room open for you to tip the server directly - and that tip is up to your discretion. You can leave an additional 5% that they will keep for themselves, or any additional amount that you choose.

It is often speculated that the employees never see the service charge. You may even hear that from the employees themselves. But this is simply not true. If a business has a service charge, then the business can be fined and even closed should they not share this with all their hourly employees. A server may say they never see the money, but they do see their percentage of that charge which is of course much smaller depending on the number of employees. For the example above, the server may feel they didnt get anything from it, because they never saw 90% of the charge. But they did receive their percentage on their paycheck.

I hope this clears up the issue a bit."

[Daydreamer]

Thanks folks for the information. My husband was tipping 15 percent on top of the bill.
Wish I had asked this before our dinner at Rockhouse the other night

Farmer, think we met you at Best in the West on Thursday night - nice to meet some boardies while in town