Tipping at NJ Banquet Halls
(I am hopeful that the admins will keep this on the NJ Board as my question is unique to our local market)
Question for those that have thrown events (weddings, parties, etc.) at NJ Banquet Halls. What is the customary tipping practice? Who do you tip and at what level or percent? Can I assume that some portion of a tip to the Banquet Host will trickle down to the servers and bartenders? I'm also at a complete loss as to how much to tip. Any advice is appreciated.
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Gratuities can be mandatory or suggested......there is no absolute rule. It all depends on what is on the contract by line item. Gratuities are often disguised as Labor charges for staff, i.e., in reality they go directly to the house to cover expenses. Suggested Staff Gratuities of 8-10%, on top of listed Labor Charges, may very well be the commission to the Booking Catering Manager, who works the party.
Any additional gratuities given to the Catering Manager for the staff in the form of cash are usually stuffed from my experience.......If you would like the serving staff to receive your largess, give it to them directly to be sure. Others may deem this as inappropriate, but I guarantee you the staff will appreciate it greatly.
Most larger catering facilities pay their staff for the evening, or job, with a set wage for six hours work, and overtime pay for anything thereafter. ... Unless the workers are members of a union with different guidelines set forth by contract in their bargaining agreement.
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re: fourunder
Be careful between what is listed as a service charge vs. gratuity, A service charge is taxable, while a gratuity is not. A service charge goes to cover expenses and hourly wage of the banquet servers and does not get distributed among the staff. A gratuity should be handed to the server/maitre'd to be sure it is distributed properly.
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In my vast experience the 20% gratuity is the norm. The Maitre'd can range from a percentage to a fixed price per person for the event. I can relate to many of the comments on this post. The riddle of knowing if any "extra" tipping actually passed down to the staff. Unfortunately, there really is no way to know. I have seen people tip extra person to person to a staff member who they felt delivered super service.
Theorectically I agree that "included tip" is presumptious, however you would be surprised by what many people feel is a "good" tip. Especially at restaurants or halls with many levels of staff. Last night at our restaurant we had a European couple that raved about food and service and left zero in the tip department. The server was crushed. So for a large event I think that many owners and or managers are merely supporting their staff. Of course there is no excuse for bad service and if any paying customer feels that they were given less than satisfactory service they should really bring it to the attention of management, This information is invaluble in assuring that they can fix any issues.
Another hot button issue is tipping on cocktails and most especially bottles of wine.›1 Reply-
re: foodislove1958
sockii
Jun 23, 2011 04:16 PM
Yes, well, in a lot of countries in Europe gratuity is included in the bill as a cover/bread & water charge, so they probably had no idea that's not the norm here, if they didn't examine the bill closely. Stinks for the server, but perhaps he/she could have made this clear it wasn't in the total, if it was so clear the diners were from Europe?
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I just got married with past November and the price included 18% gratuity for the staff. Not included was a separate charge of 5% for maitre'd, who was also the catering manager. I'd say 20% is basically the benchmark.
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re: legendarystarbolt
Tapas52
Jun 22, 2011 05:59 PM
Included tip ..IMO is a bad presumptuous policy, what happens if you have a bad experience and the affair is not to your liking ?..... I say fist show me a great job then we'll see about a gratuity at the end of the evening... which depending could be MORE or LESS then 20%. A tip is something to be earned not taken for granted.
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re: Tapas52
Paying for large private functions is not handled the same way as when one goes out for dinner. The food and, if you have one, open bar are paid for in advance. Would you not pay for those in advance since there could be a problem? So, however, you may feel about it, the norm is for the gratuity to be included as part of the package.
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So, are you saying all NJ banquet halls do not include gratuities in the cost of the package? Or is it just the one you are using. In any case, that's ridiculous! What do they expect you to do? Go around handing out cash tips to everyone involved in working at your event? We've never done an event here, but we did one in NYC, and the gratuity was included at the normal 20%.
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re: jsfein
Yes, 20% is the norm.
I don't think the banquet manager should receive a portion of the tip since one presumes he is well-compensated via salary. However, there is the question of how to split the 20% among among the servers. Evenly seems fair. So, you need to know how many there will be, including behind the bar, if you are having one. But do you distribute it to them in cash in envelopes? Hmmm....
Seems to me a crazy and difficult way to handle gratuities. But since they're not included at this particular place, perhaps, you should ask the banquet manager you are dealing with how others who've done events there have handled it.
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