Should gratuities be expected? My contract , as does many others I have seen, states that gratuties are not included and at the clients discretion. Should gratuities be expected, and how does one NICELY get a client to pay them. I have tried many times to rethink this issue, some people tip, some don't!

By Catergreat (Catergreat) on Thursday, October 05, 2006 - 08:02 am: Edit

No, they can't be expected, you told them in your contract that they are at the client's discretiion.

how do one "NICELY" get a client to pay them?

Do you charge a service charge? It's not a gratuity nor does it have to be paid to the staff. We pay our staff based upon their 'rank'. The more skill and knowledge they have, the more they make. They are paid well for what they do.

The client might see a 'service charge' as a gratuity.

My contract says nothing about the gratuity. The contact is signed months in advance and only comes into play if there is a problem to address.

On our INVOICE are these words:
"Gratuities are not required, but if you believe the staff went beyond what you expected, a gratuity is appreciated."

The client usually asks what is appropriate. I tell them their party was a great success for many reasons which involved many people who were not seen, so 'tip' the event and we will distribute to the staff based upon their contributions to the event. Under no circumstance will we take any of the tip. It goes to the staff.

and yes, you can withhold from some and pay more to others based upon YOUR discretion. You can't simply keep it.

Remember this. a "service charge" belongs to the business. a gratuity belongs to the staff.

cater on,

carl jones