http://pawlconsulting.com/blog Business Ethics Fri, 09 Dec 2011 18:01:24 +0000 http://wordpress.org/?v=2.8.5 en hourly 1 http://pawlconsulting.com/blog/2009/04/24/is-it-ethical-to-tip/ http://pawlconsulting.com/blog/2009/04/24/is-it-ethical-to-tip/#comments Sat, 25 Apr 2009 00:14:11 +0000 Administrator http://pawlconsulting.com/blog/?p=25 I know this will be a very controversial topic, but I just have to do it. We can agree that “tipping” someone prior to service is unethical as it constitutes a bribe, i.e. slipping someone a twenty to get seated in a packed restaurant. But what about tipping AFTER service? This is a common practice here in the U.S., but it is seen as unethical in many other parts of the world.
Shouldn’t the establishment be paying their employees a valid wage rather than relying on the paying customer to tip? Why is tipping prior to service any different than tipping post service? Are we not sending the same message? I know there are many people out there in cyberworld that will argue the point claiming that one tips for “good service rendered,” but that is no longer realistic. When restaurants have policies that automatically tack on a 15 – 20% tip for parties of 5 or more that is NOT tipping for good service rendered. That is an unethical “charge.” We don’t tip our postal carriers for making sure our mail gets to us. We don’t tip our doctors for saving our lives. We certainly don’t tip firemen when they save our homes, and believe me, I live in a fire area and would not mind tipping them at all! We don’t even tip the dry cleaner, the supermarket checkout person, the gas station attendant or the smiling “greeter” at our local superstore. So where did this unethical practice begin, and when will it end?
I am fine with incorporating the cost into the meal, but I don’t think tipping is appropriate. Now don’t get me wrong, I consider myself a good tipper, but I resent it. I resent being made to feel that I have to leave a huge tip. If I don’t I certainly won’t get good service the next time around, and yet I should just because I am a paying customer.
We get our ethics from four places; Authority, Culture, Intuition, and Reason, and over time ethical beliefs evolve. Perhaps we should be evolving with regards to tipping and utilizing reason to determine whether or not this is a practice that should discontinue. It wasn’t that long ago that the practice of “tipping” beforehand was commonplace and acceptable here in the U.S., but we came to the conclusion, through reason, that it is unethical. Shouldn’t the next logical step be to find tipping after service also unethical?

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