If you are not from the US, one thing you’ll notice when dining out in America is that you HAVE to tip at least 20%. Unlike the UK, Spain, or even Asia, many tourists travelling to the US have found that their hometown practices are often greeted with a less-than grateful remarks, or worse, insults, simply because they don’t understand the tipping culture of America.
So its not a surprise that restaurant workers in the US have taken this a step further, and are not hoping for a new law to be passed, making their 20% gratuity a requirement.
In May of this year, website Fair Tip, as been gathering petitions for the 20% tip to be automatically added to all bills in US restaurants. Fair Tip‘s founder, Yakup Ulutas, who was originally from Turkey (where he was a waiter – and no, they don’t tip in Turkey) and now manages a restaurant in Georgia, sees this new measure as a way to lift up the status of servers, and make it into a more respectable profession.
Making several media appearances on radio and television to promote his cause, Mr. Ulutap felt that tipping was at a standstill in the US and it was needed to protect servers from small tippers.
Ulutap explained:
”They work overtime, they work holidays, they work anytime you’re not working.. It’s time for the country to treat the servers with the quality they deserve as a professional. The system is not fair to servers.”
