Another Tipping Question of the Day

Another Tipping Question Of the Day

What if you want to tip for exceptional service but there isn’t a good way to do it?

My mom gave me permission to share this story with The Billfold: she was out shopping for clothes this weekend, and received really excellent service from a sales clerk, whom she wanted to tip—but retail clothing stores are one of the few places that don’t regularly add tip lines to receipts.

So, today’s question of the day: what if you want to tip someone, but the system doesn’t allow you to do it?

Uber drivers are asking the same question, by the way. After recent class action lawsuits in California and Massachusetts clarified that Uber drivers were for sure independent contractors and not employees, those same independent contractors (who, as you might remember from last week, are likely to become licensed small-business owners, at least in certain parts of California) said “okay, if we’re running our own businesses you can’t prevent us from asking for tips.”

As The New York Times reports:

Uber has begun allowing drivers in two states — California and Massachusetts — to post signs in their cars that say tips are appreciated.

These tips don’t yet go through the Uber app; you have to put cash in hand or, I guess, run your card through a driver’s personal Square or Paypal swipe. (You could also Venmo or $Cashtag them directly from your phone. Really, there are dozens of options here.)

My mom could in theory have put cash in her sales clerk’s hand too, but since the clerk is an employee and not an independent contractor there are probably rules about accepting tip money. (In situations like these, I’ve heard that seeking out the retail worker’s manager and praising the worker’s performance is the best choice. Is that the smart move here?)

However, as we tip further towards an independent contractor economy, more and more people might start following the Uber contractors’ examples and saying “Why shouldn’t I ask for tips? I’m running my own business, after all, and I need to earn as much as I can.” You might remember Jamie Varon’s piece on asking for tips as a writer:

I Ask For Tips On All My Creative Work — And I Don’t Feel Bad About It

So. It looks like we have two tipping questions of the day:

1. What do you do if you want to tip someone for exceptional service but the retailer doesn’t provide you with that option?
2. Should independent contractors start soliciting tips for their work? Does it depend on the type of work they do?

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