http://www.taiwannews.com.tw/etn/news_content.php?id=2203694
Another idiotic scheme in the planning
Tipping should be voluntary, but if it is encouraged, then that is a whole nudder storie.
I’m having a hard time seeing this as the hospitality industry wanting to help low-paid staff. I wonder if this is just step 1 from hotels, with step 2 being telling the government that they should be allowed to pay their workers below minimum wage.
Five percent? Right now the minimum wage is NT$19,047 per month, 5% of which is NT$952. So at NT$50 per tip, that’s just 19 tips per month, or about one per day given a five-day workweek. Are hotel workers really that underutilized?
Thumbs down from me.
1 Like
As a dumbass that lived of tips the last 10 years, I think it will become a problem when the boss realizes how much money people will make on tips and cut their wages, you know waiters in Texas earn an average of 2.13 USD per hour AND are obligated to the worse scam ever: TIPSHARE.
Restaurants tipshare varies from 2% to 8% of your sales (yes it means you give away money from your tips to your employer to pay for other workers) while a if you are a really good waiter and are a very lucky guy you get between 15% and 20% of your sales on tips, but a lot of people barely make a 10%. So it could also be a way for employers to cut costs.
Yeah tip is voluntary but very very little people don’t tip at all, even if you dump a full lasagna on their pants.
[quote=“TexMex”]As a dumbass that lived of tips the last 10 years, I think it will become a problem when the boss realizes how much money people will make on tips and cut their wages, you know waiters in Texas earn an average of 2.13 USD per hour AND are obligated to the worse scam ever: TIPSHARE.
Restaurants tipshare varies from 2% to 8% of your sales (yes it means you give away money from your tips to your employer to pay for other workers) while a if you are a really good waiter and are a very lucky guy you get between 15% and 20% of your sales on tips, [color=#FF0000]but a lot of people barely make a 10%[/color]. So it could also be a way for employers to cut costs.
Yeah tip is voluntary but very very little people don’t tip at all, even if you dump a full lasagna on their pants.[/quote]
Maybe in Texas most people make about 10%. In CA I got so much tip that I really didn’t care much for my paycheck anymore.
Oh 550$! Where did that come from?
That’s your paycheck.
I almost forgot. Thanks anyway.
I do always tip Taxi drivers in Taiwan,unless they are rude. Restaurants…if good service,even if 10% charged…bars the same. It is a lot cheaper than the USA . I paid for a meal for 12 People in California,recently and the Service charge over 10 people was 20%.That was a tip of over $60,which I think is too high.?
That’s why I am lovin it!
Maybe in Texas most people make about 10%. In CA I got so much tip that I really didn’t care much for my paycheck anymore.
Oh 550$! Where did that come from?
That’s your paycheck.
I almost forgot. Thanks anyway.[/quote]
You do sound like a very successful fellow, $550 on a paycheck?? How many dependents you had??? (550 biweekly between 70 hours aprox. minus taxes on Calif… wow those are high wages more that 7 bucks an hour after taxes!!)
I was referring to people working on buffets or those kind of very popular casual dinning, as we were talking about Taiwan’s new crap. I used to make 200% of my sales on tips!! Hahahha jk.
Anyways yeah is funny to talk about getting a bunch of stapled “pay” checks with zeros just because the manager can’t trow them away himself.
In my case I was poorly educated on working attitudes from my parents, I was always more of a polite guy not looking for confrontations or any ass kissing, more like been true to yourself noble and hard worker. So that’s why I was never an extremely successful waiter, even tho I was making more money on fine dinning than most people teaching English here, I was usually making like 60% or less than the manager pets. But I liked that profession because at the end it was about having fun, while working on my own projects, and no I’m not an actor lol. And now here I can make my own stuff full time, even on a visitor visa so no complains there.
“Tips are not recommended in restaurants where a 10 percent service charge is already in place, the bureau said.”
How does this have anything to do with what they’re talking about?
“Greg, 64, an American tourist identified only by his first name, said that it is basic protocol to tip the people who provide services, but he thinks NT$50 is a bit high.”
lol. Damn Greg
“The Tourism Bureau said it will inform Chinese tourists about the new system via cross-strait communications channels.”
Ha!
Bet it’s the first step in a move to institute the 10% “Service Charge” in hotels
Maybe in Texas most people make about 10%. In CA I got so much tip that I really didn’t care much for my paycheck anymore.
Oh 550$! Where did that come from?
That’s your paycheck.
I almost forgot. Thanks anyway.[/quote]
You do sound like a very successful fellow, $550 on a paycheck?? How many dependents you had??? (550 biweekly between 70 hours aprox. minus taxes on Calif… wow those are high wages more that 7 bucks an hour after taxes!!)
I was referring to people working on buffets or those kind of very popular casual dinning, as we were talking about Taiwan’s new crap. I used to make 200% of my sales on tips!! Hahahha jk.
Anyways yeah is funny to talk about getting a bunch of stapled “pay” checks with zeros just because the manager can’t trow them away himself.
In my case I was poorly educated on working attitudes from my parents, I was always more of a polite guy not looking for confrontations or any ass kissing, more like been true to yourself noble and hard worker. So that’s why I was never an extremely successful waiter, even tho I was making more money on fine dinning than most people teaching English here, I was usually making like 60% or less than the manager pets. But I liked that profession because at the end it was about having fun, while working on my own projects, and no I’m not an actor lol. And now here I can make my own stuff full time, even on a visitor visa so no complains there.[/quote]
Sorry I was a bit confusing.
I got paid biweekly and it added up to about 550 per month. I only had three or four working days per week. The minimum wage at that time was 5.75 or so.
The tip, however was incredible.
Table of two tipping 25$ and more.
I also had a job in a coffee shop for some time. The coffee was about 75 plain coffee to 1.75/225 for single/double latte. I had every morning 50$ tip, working from 8:00 am to 2:00 pm.
But back to Taiwan.
I seldom tip here. However, when ever my wife and I get the food at the same time, I certainly do leave some tip. Most of the time, either I watch my wife eating, or she watches me and then I watch her.
If I get the food first and don’t want to appear rude, I end up eating a cold dish. The service is not properly trained here. They hardly ever wipe the tables. They drop your food onto the wrong table and when realizing their mistake 15 minutes later, they’ll just make a u-turn through the kitchen and serve it to you.
I foresee two unfortunate consequences arising from a tipping system. First is what TexMex pointed out – employers will cut wages on the excuse that employees get tips anyway, so where’s the harm? But the wage cutting will affect everyone in the highly competitive hotel industry, while not every hotel guest will start leaving tips on command. Bad result.
Alternately, it will have a negative effect on service. I think most people agree that service in Taiwan is already at a pretty decent level, so I don’t see the necessity to put down a tip unless a serviceperson goes above and beyond. But when tipping becomes a sort-of-given, and a lot of servicepeople find they are not getting them, the industry is going to look like the industry in the US – what Taiwanese people might call an M-shape where service is either excellent or dreadful and there’s little in between.
I am strongly against this idea. And also I think NT$50 is a little much since I earn my very modest salary in NT$ (but as a Westerner would doubtlessly be expected by hotel staff to be moneybags rich).
1 Like
Maybe in Texas most people make about 10%. In CA I got so much tip that I really didn’t care much for my paycheck anymore.
Oh 550$! Where did that come from?
That’s your paycheck.
I almost forgot. Thanks anyway.[/quote]
You do sound like a very successful fellow, $550 on a paycheck?? How many dependents you had??? (550 biweekly between 70 hours aprox. minus taxes on Calif… wow those are high wages more that 7 bucks an hour after taxes!!)
I was referring to people working on buffets or those kind of very popular casual dinning, as we were talking about Taiwan’s new crap. I used to make 200% of my sales on tips!! Hahahha jk.
Anyways yeah is funny to talk about getting a bunch of stapled “pay” checks with zeros just because the manager can’t trow them away himself.
In my case I was poorly educated on working attitudes from my parents, I was always more of a polite guy not looking for confrontations or any ass kissing, more like been true to yourself noble and hard worker. So that’s why I was never an extremely successful waiter, even tho I was making more money on fine dinning than most people teaching English here, I was usually making like 60% or less than the manager pets. But I liked that profession because at the end it was about having fun, while working on my own projects, and no I’m not an actor lol. And now here I can make my own stuff full time, even on a visitor visa so no complains there.[/quote]
can someone translate this into English for me?
I hate tipping. All these awkward situations where you don’t know how much, where you give too much, because you don’t have change or smaller bills, the waiter or porter standing there wondering if something is coming or not, feeling like a beggar, the reaction you get when a waiter expects a tip and gets nothing, it’s all very annoying.
If pay is too low in the service industry, it’s because the employers don’t pay enough. Why should I pay a bell boy for carrying my bags. It’s his job, he should be paid adequately for doing it. Hotels should pay them more to make them happy, to make them make the hotel guests happy.
I also hate to have to pay for using toilets. That’s one thing I enjoy in Taiwan. Free toilet use all the way.
One thing I like about Taiwan is the lack of a tipping culture.
I don’t like the concept of tipping. Employees should be paid by their employers. Tipping should be 100% optional, and not something to be expected or depended on for income.
I agree this sounds like something that’s come out of the latest round of gov-business negotiations. Remember that tycoon who said to labor to be careful because wages could easily go even further down?
What I would like is scenic areas/hot spring villages/etc to charge a hotel tax to pay for improvements in the area, just like almost every popular tourist areas in the world.
The problem is that this will probably drive down wages and Taiwanese are still too cheap to tip. The only way around that is to obnoxiously tack on 10-15% automatically to the bill that some restaurants do. Does a restaurant (like Friday’s) really distribute that to their staff or does the owner take a big share? I have my suspicions since it’s a lot of money.
Why not just factor that extra 10% into the price and save us the trouble? I’ve heard it all goes back to the store, anyway…
Tips dont go to the wait staff typically in Taiwan.
Voluntary tipping when someone provides service that goes above and beyond what is expected. 
Compulsory (or expected) tipping someone for doing the job they are hired for. 
I was wondering about that myself long time ago. I knew someone working as a bell boy in a famous hotel for movie stars, singers etc.
The bell boys got 2 working days per week only and made about 100EURO tip per day. So why would someone rich give the person carrying his personal belongings so much tip.
Keep in mind, if that bell boy gets caught stealing even a pen, he’s fired.
[quote=“hannes”]
I also hate to have to pay for using toilets. That’s one thing I enjoy in Taiwan. Free toilet use all the way.[/quote]
I always manage to get home for that and if I ever had to, I’d pay a days salary for the service you get in Germany.
Many toilets have a cleaning guy who cleans them after every use.