E V ERY BODY 'S TA L K I N'
JunE 2016 BCBusiness 55
Tradition. Things are done a certain way
because that's the way things are always
done. People don't question it—until one day
someone asks, "Why?" The tradition is chal-
lenged, examined, discussed. Then comes
the tipping point when everything changes.
Unless that tipping point involves tip-
ping. In that case, apparently, the point
refuses to tip. Danny Meyer, who runs over
a dozen popular New York restaurants such
as the Modern at the Museum of Modern Art
and Maialino in the Gramercy Park Hotel,
has referred to tipping as "a demeaning
practice" and plans to phase out tipping in
all his establishments by the end of 2016, but
the process has not been entirely smooth—
his Union Square Hospitality Group was the
target of a class-action lawsuit launched in
December on behalf of back-of-the-house
employees who claim they were underpaid.
In Parksville, B.C., David Jones had a
no-tipping policy when he opened his
Smoke 'N Water Restaurant in May 2014.
Three months later he abandoned the
policy, citing feedback from customers
who wanted a say on the quality of food
and service they receive. It's a factor
cited by the pro-tipping crowd: "Guests
love to be in control," says Ian Tostenson,
president and
CEO of the British
Tipping
Point
W
IllustratIon: KEnnY ParK
W a t e r c o o l e r
Who should control
what restaurant servers
earn: the employer?
Or the customer?
by Steve Burgess
INSIDE
Get out of your "silo" ... Making it in Portland ... Got 45 minutes? Here's a workout ... + more
J U N E 2 0 1 6
"We recently had a group of Nike
lawyers come in who wanted to
build a custom bench for their
cafeteria with a beer cooler in
the middle" –p.57
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