CMV: Tipping in the United States is an example of our country's mass exploitation of our workers, and it needs to stop.

I'm currently a tipped employee, which means I get paid minimum wage of $2.83 an hour, with the expectation that my tips will bridge the gap between 2.83 and whatever the minimum wage is ($7.25 currently). We were told this morning that minimum wage is going to be bumped up to $10 Jan 1, so that means I'll be making $5.18 an hour if I make no tips.<br><br>I'm very lucky in that I get to work in a field where tips are fairly common and every client I see is a high paying one. Just about every person in tipped professions doesn't have the advantages I do, especially fast food workers, who are paid the same as me or slightly higher in most cases. Most people don't think about this when they go to eat fast food, because most people believe that fast food employees are paid a minimum wage similar to the national average. Just about everyone I've talked to about tipping in fast food is shocked to find they are paid the same base pay I am.<br><br>Now obviously everyone knows restaurants are tipped, that's just the expectation. But if you thought tipped fast food workers were paid a standard wage, you're not alone. The average fast food worker I've talked to gets tipped 5 - 10 % of their total bill. That's what tipped is for. If someone *does* their *job*, you pay them the minimum wage you have decided they deserve to make and if it's a good experience, you tip them extra.<br><br>If you make someone rely on tips to make a living wage, that's not a tipped employee, that's you exploiting your employees for cheaper labor. You are paying your employees far below the minimum wage you've decided they deserve to make in exchange for giving them the opportunity to make more by pleasing your customers. When you don't pay them the minimum wage and you don't tip them, you are exploiting them for cheaper labor.<br><br>I think tipped employees where tips are expected should be paid a minimum wage based on the job they're doing, and if you think they gave you good service, you should tip them extra. I shouldn't be paid $5 an hour because I have a job where tips are expected. I should be paid $15 an hour and if you think I did a good job, decide whether or not you want to tip me extra. Tipping is not extra money you pay employees because they deserve it, it's extra money you pay because they went above and beyond in their service of you. If you don't think someone deserves to make a living wage when they have a job, that's just your opinion. The federal government currently agrees with you, but they also think they deserve a living wage *plus* a tip to demonstrate that you believe they went above and beyond. Why do people always assume that every fast food worker, every restaurant worker, every service worker doesn't deserve to make a living wage?<br><br>Tipping is something you do to show appreciation for a service. It is not something you do to make sure your service worker can pay rent every month.<br><br>Edit: To those that say "well if I pay them a living wage, prices go up" - every single fast food place, restaurant, coffee shop, or bar you go into, you pay for those employees. That's what overhead is. You pay for the building, the food, the employees, the owners. If you haven't noticed, most owners tend to get a lot of profit, and the prices of food are currently high for the same reasons everything is more expensive right now. If you pay your employees a living wage, you don't need to pay them a living wage in tips. Prices would not go up.<br><br>Edit 2: For those who say this would cause too many problems - the only problem it would cause is owners getting less profit for a short time until they adjusted. It would be nearly impossible for every owner in the U.S. to say "You now get paid $15 an hour, I'm also raising my prices to cover for that so I don't lose profit." There is no possible coordination between every single fast food chain, every single restaurant, every single bar, and every single coffee shop on Earth to all raise their prices at the same time to ensure owners get the same profit they are getting now.<br><br>Edit 3: To those who say tipped employees make a lot more, I have friends that are servers and they make a lot more than me. I have friends in every possible tipped, non-tipped, and commission-only job imaginable for a 22 year old and I know a lot of people in tips of all kinds make a lot more than me. I still have a tipped job, and I still make $5 an hour.