American eateries devise systems to replace tipping

Seattle

RESTAURANT owners, customers and staff have long railed against the tyranny of tipping, but like a love affair gone bad, it has proved difficult to quit. Now, prompted by a spurt of new minimum-wage proposals in major cities, more restaurateurs are experimenting with no-tipping policies to manage rising labour costs.

In Seattle, where the first stage of a US$15-an-hour minimum wage law took effect in April, Ivar's seafood restaurants switched to an all-inclusive menu. By raising prices 21 per cent and ending tipping, Bob C. Donegan, president and co-owner, figured he could raise his workers' wages.

"We saw there was a fundamental inequity in our restaurants, where the people who worked in the kitchen were paid ab…