I don't really have a horse in the race other than a few friends that are waiters, cooks, and bartenders as their primary income source.<p>One I wish tipping would go away. Employers should have to pay minimum wage to employees even if they get tips. (This will raise the cost of food and services that's all right in my opinion).<p>Second when I write a tip out I'm usually thinking I am tipping the restaurant, not the individual. I know the waiter did not cook the food or mix the drink. Seems like being able to divide that up would be nice.
They are trying to address the fact that cooks can make as little as $12 an hour whereas waiters in many good restaurants make $30+ in some nights.<p>The solution is to pay cooks more, not to take from waiters who can make even less than $3 an hour. Also, depending on the night, waiters may make next to nothing in tips.
This will have the effect of making waiting a minimum-wage job.<p>My wife used to wait at a Pizza Hut during the weekdays. She was lucky if her tips brought her up to minimum wage most days. On a few, she did great, and because she liked the interaction with customers, she stayed with it for years.<p>Whether or not she made enough tips to bring her up to minimum wage, the manager required her (illegally) to report enough tips so her wage met minimum.<p>If she had to split her tips with full-wage staff, I'm sure she would refuse to report tips. Pizza Hut will likely have to pay wait staff full-wage or just not have wait staff anymore. People won't tolerate this.
Why not stop tipping if only a portion goes to the waiter that is serving you? The loss of income argument is no longer valid for your server because you don't have a tipping responsibility to that particular waiter but rather to the entire staff at the restaurant and unless all waiters are ganging up on you they have no argument.
Nice try but this will likely be self defeating. Fewer people willing to work as waiters and a decline in the quality of service equates to fewer customers and less profit.