[GPB News] What is the new etiquette for tipping?
What are the new rules for tipping?
Businesses that never seemed to ask for a tip before — like grocery stores, self-checkout machines and fast food restaurants — are now asking for one these days.
To answer this question, it helps to understand the purpose of tipping and why requests have increased over the past few years. It’s a tricky topic, says Sylvia Allegretto, a senior economist at the Center for Economic and Policy Research who has done extensive research on wages and tipping. “It’s confusing, people don’t get it — but it’s really quite important” to how some workers get paid.
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Tipping is also a way to pay workers more without actually raising their wages. It allows restaurants to get more money to workers while still keeping their prices low, says Sean Jung, assistant professor at Boston University’s School of Hospitality Administration.