Is 'out of control' US tipping culture spreading overseas?

Key developments are emerging from the global stage. Is 'out of control' US tipping culture spreading overseas? 31 minutes ago Share Save Add as preferred on GoogleSuzanne BearneBusiness reporterAFP via Getty ImagesIn many US cities tips of 20% are now expected at restaurantsThe debate about tipping culture in the US has reignited in recent years, with social media posts about waiting staff angry that they haven't been left enough money going viral. Is this increased pressure to tip, and to do so generously, now spreading around the world?

Lillian Price thinks that tipping in the US is "out of control". "It's too much," she says. "You might just be grabbing something to go, and you are expected to tip," says the animal care worker who lives in Philadelphia.

The Details

Price, who says she tips 15% in table-service restaurants, adds: "If somewhere is providing a service, that's fine, but I don't see why you need to tip in other places, or worse still, that they expect one. It's for any little thing… when do we stop giving tips? "Price's policy of tipping 15% in a restaurant might seem generous to many people, but in certain cities in the US it could very well result in a frosty response from a waiter or waitress.

In places like New York, Boston, Los Angeles and Chicago 20% is now more often expected. For Kate Santos, a waitress who works at Sanger Hall, a bar in Queens, New York, tips are an essential part of her income. "Servers in New York make $11 (£8.

18) an hour, so basically I make my salary off tips," she says. "If people don't tip, it's a bad day for me. In New York, there's an unspoken rule that you tip 20% minimum and if the tip is less, then people think it's terrible.

What Experts Say

"Kate SantosWaitress Kate Santos says she works hard for her tipsWhile tipping culture is ingrained in the US, 2,000 miles (3,220km) away in Iceland it was historically unheard of. But things have now changed, led by a big increase in American visitor numbers. In 2010, 50,810 Americans went to Iceland, according to official Icelandic data.

By last year this had soared to 660,114, and many simply wish to tip. A spokeswoman for Efling Union, the second-largest union in Iceland, says this has led to a number of restaurants in the country asking customers if they want to add a gratuity when they pay. She adds that this is antagonising local people.

"Tipping is not customary in Iceland because there has long been a broad social consensus that employers are responsible for paying their staff decent wages. "However, tourists from the United States expect tipping to be customary and often do so to some extent, as do tourists from elsewhere. In addition, some payment terminals are now programmed to prompt customers for tips.

The story has become one of the most prominent items on the global agenda.