I think tip jars should have to have the name of the person who is expecting you to tip on it. The fact of the matter is, business owners lobbied our government for a law which allows them to pay a worker $2.13 an hour if the employee receives tips. If there is no name on the tip jar, I am inclined to believe that the employer is simply putting out the jar so he can distribute the tips to all his workers and pay them $2.13 an hour instead of minimum wage, which is $7.25 an hour.
While I have no problem with an employee putting out a tip jar to solicit additional income, I have a poblem with employers putting out a tip jar to solicit additional income. If an employer needs more income, they can simply increase his prices.
Tip jars should allow customer’s to choose who they want to tip so that customers are assured that the business is not simply seeking additional revenues to pay their employees.
If an employee puts out a tip jar and his employer decreases his hourly wages to $2.13 an hour, the employee should have the option of taking down the tip jar which would force his employer to pay him $7.25 an hour. If an employer puts out a tip jar so that he can lower his employee’s hourly wages to $2.13 an hour, the employees are unable to take down the tip jar even if it’s doing them no good.
To insure that employers are not simply using a tip jar to lower their employee’s wages, it must be insured that the tip jar is initiated and controlled by an employee. A tip jar should have a name on it so that we know that an employee is receiving it.