The way I've been putting this into practice is to ask my server for their venmo/cashapp and tipping them through that, then writing on the receipt "I don't believe in tipping"
This is the only way I've found to attack the structural problem of tipping without hurting the workers.
This is still tricky for the worker, because waitstaff management uses tip totals as a proxy for worker productivity. I try to offset that by writing on the receipt, which the worker can share to demonstrate it wasn't because they did a bad job.
The rest of the incentives are impacted in the way I want them to be, except for taxation, which I believe in, and the kitchen staff who are usually underpaid with the expectation that a percent of tips will flow to them.
> which the worker can share to demonstrate it wasn't because they did a bad job
Friends in hospitality. Unfortunately, there is a contingent of assholes who do this in lieu of tipping at all. This doubly fucks the server in a place with pooled tips; their colleagues now question whether they stole the tip.
If the tip is for good service, which is ostensibly what it is for, then why should it be pooled in the first place?
If it is out of fairness to the back of kitchen staff, then they should take a front of house job instead. That’s like an engineer demanding to get part of a sales guy’s commission on a sale.
This is the only way I've found to attack the structural problem of tipping without hurting the workers.
This is still tricky for the worker, because waitstaff management uses tip totals as a proxy for worker productivity. I try to offset that by writing on the receipt, which the worker can share to demonstrate it wasn't because they did a bad job.
The rest of the incentives are impacted in the way I want them to be, except for taxation, which I believe in, and the kitchen staff who are usually underpaid with the expectation that a percent of tips will flow to them.