Tipping in restaurants: investigation of the question

This time our conversation with the restaurant expert is devoted to tips. For what we pay ? How important is it for the waiter? And how much is it that pay, so that no one had gone wrong? The answers to these questions read below.

- According to statistics of "Lasoon", most restaurant guests are not against tipping. Is it adequately adjusted to the audience the site?

- At least, in Kiev, the majority (95%) of customers restaurants are really ready to tip and give them. But unlike Europe, we do not always follow tradition to give a tip of 10% of the bill, most often simply the sum of rounded off. That is, if the score 75 UAH., 80, and give not take delivery. If the amount of the check is large enough (300-500 grn.) Tip can be 50-80 hrn. Average amount of tips in a restaurant - 10-20 hryvnia. Do not give a tip if the guest was not satisfied with a restaurant, if he does not want to spoil your mood and make trouble, it's a good way to show correctly the restaurant to complain.

- Some restaurants add service charges to the bill. Is this correct? And what if the visitor does not want to give for "tea"?

- First and foremost this is a violation of law, because the customer invoice for the service, which he did not order. And then, this is incorrect. Good service - restaurant duty, and the client should not pay for it separately. Maybe, but it should not. The only exception - when a customer orders a dinner or cocktail party. In this case, the order specifies the required tip of 5-10% of the total. Of course, if the event will take place without incident.Include charges to the bill - a bad policy for the restaurant. In this case the tip does not stimulate the staff to work better. Their restaurant picks, distributes "on the grid", and the waiter who served well, not necessarily receive the award.Optimum variant - when in the check present phrase like "tips are welcome, but left to the guest."

- Is the administration of restaurants records tips?

- Yes. There are two options. It all depends on what kind of institution, as well as the proper authorities. The first option - tips are the property of the waiters and their personal rewards. Another option - when the tip collects and distributes the administrator, "on the grid" at the end of the shift. Perhaps this is a fair scheme, because the chef who prepared a well deserved reward for not less than a waiter. This also applies to other staff kitchen. Of course, the waiter gets a higher percentage of 30-40% goes to the kitchen.

- Which category people are now working as a waiter?

- As a rule, these people are very young, often people not from Kiev, who arrived in Kiev to make money, or students. In the elite restaurants the waiters are working already with some experience: 1-2 years. Experience five years and more - a great rarity.Learning to be a waiter quite simple you may in general not have work experience. However, the beginner, as in any profession needs a teacher - a senior waiter, manager. The usual scheme in such cases - the first student to take an internship with no pay, and assign an experienced waiter, who trains him for 1-2 weeks. Only then starts the actual waiter newly come out into the hall.In many establishments is considered that you need to recruit waiters without any experience. The criteria for selection in this establishment are sociable, smiling, accurate appearance. They pass training course, nor do these workers do not have negative experiences with previous work. Because retrain, to cure bad habits, ingrained in the memory and the subconscious, much harder than to teach from scratch.

- Is it possible existence of a restaurant where the waiters work for tips only?

- Not possible. I know some of Kiev restaurants. They do not pay wages to waiters - establishment just gives them access to making money. This scheme is popular in the arrays, or, for example, in the Crimea in the summer. This is not a branded institution there high turnover of customers and the waiter may one day serve them a sufficiently large number. Correspondingly increases and the number of tips. For example, if the turnover of one seat in the restaurant 3-4 in the day, and the waiter serves 5 tables, each of which has 4 people, and if everyone will give at least three hryvnia, it appears that in this restaurant, the waiter a tip for the day only can earn 180-240 UAH. But the waiters are often not happy with this work, because they always feel insecure. Earnings waiter depends on the popularity of the restaurant or cafe. Its responsibility is to serve only those who have already come. And if the administration will save money on advertising, and visitors will be enough, the waiter will have no money. So at the first opportunity this restaurant staff will move to another job.The absence of wage waiters in any case can not be applied in establishments where the flow of visitors is low. For example, those that have just opened. There's basic income is, of course, salary. It is in this case should be $ 150-250. With the expectation that while the establishment "is not untwisted", visitors be a little, and tip, respectively, too. A staff should work well, otherwise the restaurant did not win a niche in the market. If the restaurant advertised and there are many people wage may be minimal (400 UAH).

- Are there restaurants with special criteria for selection of waiters?

- Standard criteria - knowledge of the profession, good look, experience. There are restaurants that are trying to select only boys or only girls, but they quickly get tired of doing it. The fact that the waiter - a profession in which people do not stay for long. And that's OK, because the restaurant is the lowest level of the career ladder. Man will not be long ambitious work as a waiter, he wants to become an administrator or even the director, or would consider this job as temporary. Therefore, the waiter - scarce specialty. It can be very difficult to find just 12-15 waiters at the restaurant. In this profession there is no contest. And even if the restaurant offers a salary of more than the waiter $ 200 for Kiev is like a small wage and employees to choose from almost anyone. And if the restaurant will choose its only girls or only boys, he may be left without employees.Even in a good restaurant now and again the problem arises when several waiters, leaves and those who left have to serve not laid 5.4 tables but 6-7. Which is physically very hard. And the rest of the waiters are not to blame. This situation occurs most often in summer when the season starts the migration of staff in the Crimea, where in this period, resourceful waiter can earn several thousand dollars. Then, in autumn returned into the city, none of the migratory birds do not remain without work.The work of waiter hard physically and mentally, because every day he is faced with the fact that people spend on lunch or dinner his month salary. And although he earns relatively well, though this situation may be very unpleasant. So you can not humiliate a waiter, or be angry with no apparent cause - because his work is not sugar. It is also possible that it is not his fault that the order had to be long in coming.Even with the desire to work as a waiter, not everyone is able to. For this job you need to have the natural suppleness. Some waiters smile obtained through force, it immediately evident grates. Also, the waiter can not be arrogant - it should not show offbut , he should serve.

- Could this cause in a short time increase the wage of waiters?

- To make the profession more attractive? Hardly. The work of waiter will never be prestigious. It will always be difficult and pointless, and, therefore, temporary. Of course, if the janitor gets twice as many doctor or a teacher, why anyone would study for years, if you can now go on the job and get twice as much? The same might be and with waiters. Only thing is that the profitability of the restaurant business is reduced. And it will decrease. Prices for food are rising, but not dramatically. While wages in the restaurant industry grew by more than two times, the dishes went up by 10-15 UAH. Increasing competition constrains prices. So now, many entrepreneurs set up businesses to create without any waiters - fast foods. If the standard restaurant with 100 seats, at least 15 waiters, plus 4-3 Administrator and the same bartenders, that is at least 20 people, who need to pay wages, the fast-food staff costs are much lower. In this situation, increase in wages of waiters, as well as other restaurant workers would be unlikely. b> - What is the situation with the tip and salaries in other cities in Ukraine? - There's still a little worse. Such salaries, as in Kiev and other cities pay no one. Nearly Kiev wages now in Dnepropetrovsk, Odessa, Sevastopol, Donetsk. There waiters receive about $ 150 plus tip. But the level of service severely lame, especially in small towns. I am faced with the fact that the waiters in other cities, despite the good salary and tips, service through the "do not want to." It is amazing that even very young waiters and waitresses take over "soviet" type of service. Perhaps this is due to the lack of competition in this profession, and with the connivance of the administration.

Interview by Nina Khodorivskaya