Thoughts on Service and Minimum Wage in Europe

One of the questions that always comes up when traveling is the custom of tipping in the country that you are visiting. In the US wait staff rely heavily on tipping, with tips often ranging from 10% to 25% depending on the level of service. Many Americans in Europe are either unsure of how much to tip or follow guidelines that they would follow back home. The theory behind different tipping guidelines is that US workers make next to nothing and therefore rely on tips for their income and in turn provide a high level of service in an attempt to keep the customer happy. In Europe it is believed that wait staff receive a livable wage and do not rely on tips therefore tipping as a custom reflects this premise. Tips in Europe are often rounded up rather then based on a percentage of the total bill with the thought being the tip is essentially already factored into the bill by the price being charged for the meal.

So the question is what was my experience with service in restaurants, cafes, etc. versus similar venues in the US. I had heard stories before I left that service can be extremely poor in Europe because tips are not something that wait staff expects. First, I would have to say service in the US can be hit or miss with a new restaurant and often part of the decision making process about where to dine out is based upon past experience or word of mouth. Overall, if you consider these two factors you generally will have a positive experience in the US. My experience with service in Europe was all over the board ranging from establishments that I would have preferred to walk out of all the way to places that I will remember in a positive way for a long time. I think some of the big contributing factors were the degree of professionalism of the server in other words this was not just a temporary job until the next opportunity came along coupled with the likelihood that you might return as a customer. Both of these factors are present in the US as well, so to answer the question my experience was that if you went to a venue in Europe without a sense of professionalism and the belief that you were a tourist who was not likely to return you are pretty much assured that your service will reflect this because the incentive of the tip has been taking out of the equation.

I did some research to find out exactly how much minimum wage is in Europe and I was surprised that there is no set guideline for Europe to follow and even more surprising was the fact that there is a huge disparity between European countries. Luxembourg provides one of the highest minimum wages in Europe at approximately $13. an hour versus $7.75 an hour in Austria, $2.50 an hour in The Czech Republic, $2.37 an hour in Slovakia respectively. This is a fairly significant range of minimum income rates across different EU members and I think it would be difficult to provide an argument that these are livable wages.

Returning to the subject of waitstaff in Europe clearly many employees are making well above the respective countries minimum wage however this may explain service at some establishments where the employees are making minimum wage and the opportunity to make extra income based on tips has been removed by custom. Look out and avoid these types of establishments because there is little incentive to keep the customer happy. The next question is why is there no standard minimum wage within the European Union? The link provided below lists the range of minimum wages across a variety of EU members. I have also listed a wikipedia site that lists by country what minimum wage is in a global comparison.


http://www.fedee.com/minwage.html

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/List_of_minimum_wages_by_country