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Tipping has shifted from an appreciation of a job well done to leaving an expected percentage, and customers are allowing businesses to take advantage of their generosity. According to a 2023 report from the Pew Research Center, 29% of Americans see tipping as an obligation rather than a choice. Customers feel guilty not tipping, and the number of places asking for tips has gotten out of control.

Restaurants are the only places where customers should always leave a tip because the customer is completely relying on their service worker. As someone who works in the service industry, I know firsthand how difficult it can be to make a living relying on the generosity of others. Working in a restaurant is more difficult than some might think. Servers are constantly multitasking, cleaning and filling in gaps in other areas of the restaurant.

That being said, restaurants should be paying their servers a higher hourly wage. In Colorado, servers could make as low as $9.86 an hour. There is a tipping culture in restaurants that expects 20%, but I think a lower percentage should be the norm. If restaurants paid their servers a higher hourly wage, customers could be expected to tip a lower percentage unless the server did an exceptional job.

“Tipping 20% on a coffee is excessive, but they should still be tipped. I think tippers should also consider how long the service took.”

Tipping should be driven by the customer wanting to show appreciation for the service worker taking care of them rather than obligation.

Takeout orders and food delivery are still restaurant focused, but the difference is the customer is doing part of what the server would do if the customer were to sit down. Tipping these service workers changed during the COVID-19 pandemic — when takeout was the only option — and hasn’t gone down since. These workers should still be tipped for their services but certainly less than a server at a restaurant would be tipped.

Other services should be tipped according to quality of service. When you’ve just bought a coffee or paid a cover charge at a bar and the cashier flips an iPad toward you asking how much of a tip you’d like to leave, it’s awkward. You’re faced with a moral dilemma, and the cashier is just trying to earn a livable wage, which shouldn’t be the customer’s responsibility.

Especially for beauty services like the hair or nail salon, tipping should not be expected. Most nail salons charge a base price and then add on charges for certain nail shapes or designs. That’s a great example of how a business could use profits to pay their workers more. The average salary of a nail technician in Colorado is $20.73 an hour. That’s a livable wage, and clients shouldn’t feel pressure to always tip on top of that.

Tour guides and ride-share drivers can go above and beyond to create an enjoyable experience for customers and should be tipped accordingly. These people are providing a service or skill the customer does not possess on their own, which a customer might have a greater appreciation for.

Baristas and bartenders should be tipped according to order type. A drip coffee or a beer takes much less skill than a multi-step latte or cocktail. Tipping 20% on a coffee is excessive, but they should still be tipped. I think tippers should also consider how long the service took. A coffee that took less than 10 minutes should be tipped less than an hourlong ride-share drive or beauty appointment.

This culture of always tipping 20% is unreasonable in most expectations of service. Business owners need to take responsibility in paying their employees, and service workers should be working to create a valuable service worth tipping.

Reach Darien Rhoads at letters@collegian.com or on Twitter @darienrhoads.