BELOW SUPERNAV drop zone ⇩

Service charge vs. tip: What’s the difference?

MAIN AREA TOP drop zone ⇩

MAIN AREA TOP drop zone ⇩

ovp test

mLife Diagnostics LLC: Oral Fluid Drug Testing

Male shot by female at Shreveport apartment

Class to create biodiverse backyard

Rules for outbursts at Caddo School Board Meeting

Mortgage Calculator

This calculator helps you estimate your monthly mortgage payment. It adds up the loan payment (principal + interest), property tax, and insurance. The loan payment is spread out over the years of your loan term.

This is the total amount you're borrowing from the bank.
This is the yearly interest rate on your loan.
This is how long you'll take to repay the loan.
This is the yearly tax you pay on your property.
This is the yearly cost to insure your home.

Monthly Payment Breakdown

Principal and Interest: $

Property Tax: $

Homeowners Insurance: $

Total Estimated Monthly Payment: $

maylen

https://digital-stage.newsnationnow.com/

AUTO TEST CUSTOM HTML 20241114185800

AUTO TEST CUSTOM HTML 20241115200405

AUTO TEST CUSTOM HTML 20241118165728

AUTO TEST CUSTOM HTML 20241118184948

(NEXSTAR) – As restaurants feel pressure to add surcharges to diners’ tabs to make ends meet, you may see a few unfamiliar fees on your next bill.

It might be labeled a “living wage fee,” which helps the restaurant better pay staff that don’t traditionally receive tips. Some businesses have added a health care surcharge to help cover the cost of offering employees benefits. Some restaurants added service charges to cover COVID-related costs, such as PPE. More rarely you might encounter something like a carbon offset fee.

“Any non-discretionary charge added to a restaurant or bar customer’s bill, regardless of what it’s called, is a service charge,” explained Denise Mickelsen, communication director with the Colorado Restaurant Association and Foundation.

While these charges add some percentage extra on top of your bill, these are usually not the same as tips or gratuities.

“Because service charges are considered revenue, they can be allocated to employees as operators see fit; they do not count towards the tip credit,” Mickelsen said. “Tips, on the other hand, are non-compulsory gifts given from patrons directly to employees.”

In most cases, a service charge is not a replacement for a tip. If it is, like in the case of an auto-gratuity, that will be explicitly explained on the menu or the check.

When in doubt, read the fine print, or ask your server.

“Service charges typically appear on a customer’s bill with a brief explanation of the purpose of the charge – i.e., to replace tipping, add to back-of-house wages, or offset expenses, depending on the circumstance – and the amount or percentage of the charge. Some restaurants also post signage at tables or on menus to communicate their approach to service charges, and train their customer-facing staff members to explain the reasoning behind the service charges,” Mickelsen said.

While the proliferation of surcharges is understandably frustrating for diners, restaurant owners say it shouldn’t be seen as a cash grab. More likely, it’s a way they’re trying to cope with a tough economy and the industry’s slim profit margins.

Graham Painter recently told the New York Times he had to implement a 22% surcharge at his Houston restaurant Street to Kitchen. “If we didn’t have the service charge, we might be out of business in a couple weeks,” Painter said.

“Restaurants are not money-makers and the people who run them are doing so because they love to serve and care about hospitality,” Mickelsen. “When guests see a service charge on their bill, they should know that the cost of doing business right now is higher than ever before and those service charges are a means of staying in business. “

Food

Copyright 2024 Nexstar Media Inc. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten, or redistributed

Site Settings Survey

 

MAIN AREA MIDDLE drop zone ⇩

Trending on NewsNation

AUTO TEST CUSTOM HTML 20241119133138

MAIN AREA BOTTOM drop zone ⇩

tt

KC Chiefs parade shooting: 1 dead, 21 shot including 9 kids | Morning in America

Witness of Chiefs parade shooting describes suspect | Banfield

Kansas City Chiefs parade shooting: Mom of 2 dead, over 20 shot | Banfield

WWE star Ashley Massaro 'threatened' by board to keep quiet about alleged rape: Friend | Banfield

Friend of WWE star: Ashley Massaro 'spent hours' sobbing after alleged rape | Banfield

Sunny

la

48°F Sunny Feels like 48°
Wind
1 mph SSW
Humidity
54%
Sunrise
Sunset

Tonight

A few passing clouds. Low 46F. Winds light and variable.
46°F A few passing clouds. Low 46F. Winds light and variable.
Wind
2 mph N
Precip
8%
Sunset
Moon Phase
Waning Gibbous