I appreciate what scanman posted, and will give more thought to my tipping decisions. But I want to say something in regards to pickup orders versus eat in because it's not all cut and dried. (BTW, state by state information here: [
www.dol.gov])
For one thing, all employees have to receive minimum wage. "Tipped employees" are defined by whether they actually get tips, not by whether the employer thinks they should. If we tip employees at counters, we may force them into a tipped category. When I worked fast food in high school I received exactly 2 tips in 3 1/2 years -- one for 25 cents and one for 50 cents at a time when the minimum wage was about $1.75. My employer paid me the minimum wage, not the customers. Now those jars are everywhere, primarily saving the restaurant money, not helping the employees.
===By putting out those tip jars on counters, the business is trying to get out of having to pay minimum wage out of its pocket, or is trying to have the customers subsidize it. The tip, in these cases, may be benefiting the restaurant, not the counter help. The counter help has to get at least minimum wage, even if the tips don't cover that much.===
So let's say I'm eating in. I'm ordering $20 worth of food and a couple of drinks, call it a $25 tab total. My guest and I are sitting there, taking up that table from the moment we arrive to the moment we leave. While we are at that table, there is one check that table has that might yield a tip, and it's a $25 check. So I tip 20% and the waitperson gets $5 for the hour we tied up that table. Let's say they have four tables (I have no idea what is a normal number of tables for a server). If they all order similarly to me and tip properly, that server makes $20 an hour in tips. And that's in addition to the $3 an hour or whatever they get from the restaurant. In lower priced restaurants, she probably has more tables; higher priced restaurants she probably has fewer but the tabs are higher.
Now let's take the situation of a takeout order. I order the same $20 worth of food, maybe I don't order drinks because I have sodas at home already. I interact with the unfortunate counter person for two minutes, and maybe they spent five minutes getting my to-go salad, filling a cup with dressing, stuffing in napkins and plastic forks, etc. Maybe it's ten minutes total to get that $20 order ready to go, take my payment, and wish me a good day.
Why would I tip her the same 20% I would if she waited on my table? In ten minutes, not an hour, she'll have another customer picking up food. Tipping even 5% would be very generous. I'm picking up food. I am going to be serving it to my guests, getting the drinks, napkins, and silverware, and clearing the table afterward, not her. I'm doing her job. Why should I tip her if I'm doing her job?
If they have a busy take-out service she will serve five or six times the customers in an hour as she would at a table and doesn't have to put up with complaints, redo the salad because she forgot they said no onions, take the entree back because they wanted rare, not medium, have to take time out to sing happy birthday to someone, and get applesauce flung at her by a rambunctious toddler. She doesn't really even have to smile much.
I think that restaurants should be required to raise their prices to whatever they need to to pay a living (not minimum) wage for all their workers, and tipping should be optional for extraordinary service. Or add a "service fee" or "table rent" to the tab for eat-in guests and a "box fee" for takeout orders. I didn't hire that clerk. I shouldn't have to pay their wages.
It's not right to put the burden of paying the employees onto the customer. Restaurants should pay the employees for the work they are required to do. Tipping should be for the smiles and attention. I don't know why the custom ever started. But I think it's silly to expect tipping at a pickup window, even if it's a sit-down restaurant. You've received no service, just food.
And the MSC should state that tipping is required, how much they expect us to tip, and reimburse for it, if they expect us to tip at a carryout or delivery shop.
I know many will argue with this, especially if they have been waiters before, but they should be upset with their employer for not paying them properly, not with the customer for not wanting to participate in their wages. Other countries require waitstaff to receive a living wage. If you tip a Euro after a meal, it's appreciated, not expected. Keep in mind, a lot of customers don't make much more than minimum wage themselves, and nobody is tipping *them.*
Time to build a bigger bridge.