The Complexity of Tipping: How Mandatory Service Fees Are Changing Dining

The majority of restaurant owners and guests agree that servers should earn a livable wage. Traditionally, this has been achieved through a combination of a modest hourly rate supplemented by gratuities. Recently, particularly in areas frequented by tourists, mandatory service fees have been imposed to make earnings more predictable. Once reserved for large parties, these fees are now increasingly applied even to small tables. While mandatory service fees aim to create more stable wages for work...