In a surprising event, a local coffee shop has taken a unique approach to employee compensation by banning tipping and instead raising the hourly wage to $18.
This decision aims to create a fair environment for its staff rather than force them to rely on tipping.
Nick Price, owner of Three Pines Coffee Shop in Salt Lake City decided to ban tipping out of their business.
The store owner said he wants to focus more on providing an attractive source of income for employees instead of having them rely on seasonal tips.
Regarding seasonal tips, the store owner said that the store is usually crowded in the summer so the tips they receive are often quite high. However, the amount of tips drops sharply in winter because of fewer customers.
This up-and-down change has a huge impact on the employee's income source. So Nick Price eliminated the tip culture and gave employees generous raises to help them stabilize their lives.
How can Nick increase his employees' salaries while reducing the impact on his business?
Increasing employee salaries can cause unpredictable consequences for store owners if they do not have a wise business strategy.
According to Price, to be able to pay his employees a generous salary of $18 per hour, he increased the price of store products by $1.
Increasing product prices helps Price not only maintain stable business operations but also create a stable source of income for employees.
Eliminating tips and increasing wages improves employees' lives
While eliminating tips and increasing employee salaries is a great idea, it also met with divided opinions at first.
Everett Hamby, a head barista at Three Pines Coffee store, said that at the beginning of this new policy, he was concerned about his income if tips were eliminated.
However, he realized he could have a higher salary and could improve his quality of life compared to before having to rely on the fluctuation of tips.
Everett happily said he could know how much money he would take home, giving him peace of mind compared to waiting for tips from customers.
The application of this new rule has received a lot of positive feedback from customers and employees of Three Pines Coffee.
However, this is just an initial test that Nick Price applied for a few weeks to evaluate its feasibility before he officially put it into his business.
Nick Price hopes his decision can go well and inspire other small businesses.
The coffee shop owner emphasized that the tipping culture has gotten out of control in the US, making people fed up.
Therefore, considering eliminating tips and increasing salaries for employees can be a bold but potential idea for the service industry.
Not only does it help bring stable pay for employees, but it also helps improve the quality of work for businesses.
