Didn’t want to ressurect and old thread but wanted to follow-up on this. I was so taken aback by some of the responses the other thread got. I brought the matter to the attention of the Long Distance Passenger customer liason committee that Amtrak has established. They wrote back and stated not only would they take it up but they would forward the idea to Amtrak management in the respective areas.
Specifically, the area of concern was Sleeping Car Passengers with comped meals not tipping the Dining Car Staff for the meal…mistakenly thinking the tips were shared or included. It was stated in the response that the Amtrak rep was aware that Cruise ships have such a automatic tipping and tip share scheme and they are aware of the other side of the argument as well that some would argue automatic tipping erodes the motivation for better service. It will be an interesting topic to be discussed internally at Amtrak and I am happy it is going to be reviewed.
I leave a tip for the sleeping car attendant and dining car attndent when the service warrents it. There have been numerous times when the service didn’t warrent a tip.
Recently tipped a female sleeping car attendant $25.00 on the California Zephyr. She went way above and beyond what was expected. The male attendant on the Westbound Zephy was also excellent, and he received $20.00. A dingbat attendant on the Capitol Limited spent all her time in another sleeping car paying more attention to that attendant than her customers received zero tip. She was new to Amtrak and completely ignored the call button. Service on Amtrak has always been a mixed bag.
I like New Zealand where they take a dim view of tipping. I never had a problem with service and on occasions offered tips and was told it is not acceptable in that country. I didn’t ask if they are all paid a reasonable wage to cover the “lost wages” but assume they must be paid ok. I don’t like the fact that in North America tipping is expected regardless of service quality. In some cases the manager scoops these tips or takes a large portion and the workers don’t get paid well enough to live on. I also don’t like the idea of tipping being a self report come income tax time. I suspect a lot goes un -reported and no tax is claimed. So these people benefit form the rest of us paying taxes on “normal” earned income. I suggest paying all service workers an adequate wage and tipping only when exceptional service has been presented. Just my 2 cents.
Amtrak employees are all UNION and therefore get union wages. I would guess their annual wages exceed more than most Amtrak riders. If they feel they are under paid then I suggest they negotiate a new contract or go find a “better” job. As a frequent long distant train rider [Starlight, & Texas Eagle] I see little exceptional service, mostly marginally adequate and we ride in bedrooms.
You two cents is spot-on. I lived in Australia from 1999 to 2004. Tipping is not expected there because service workers are paid a living wage. The same is true in New Zealand, where I traveled frequently on business.
The answer to tipping in the United States, including on-board Amtrak, is to pay service workers a living wage. Come to think about it, according to the BLS, Amtrak’s on-board personnel get a reasonable compensation package.
Here is the question that I raised previously regarding this subject. If it is appropriate to tip Amtrak’s on-board employees, why is it not appropriate to tip airline cabin attendants, intercity bus drivers, etc? Their compensation packages are similar to those for Amtrak’s employees. And their duties are as demanding as those of any on-board Amtrak employee.
Tipping is deeply ingrained in our culture. It is demeaning to the tipper and tippee. Unfortunately, it is not like to change.
Whether a tip is a gratuity or part of a wage payment is ambiguous. While some people do consider tips optional the Internal Revenue Service does not and requires that taxes be paid on them.
There may be a reason for the lack of “exceptional service.” Just as you assess the value of the service so to do service personnel assess the probability that exceptional service will be rewarded. This is true not only on Amtrak but in all areas of life where tipping is customary.
I agree with those who prefer the system in New Zealand and other countries where tips are built into employee salaries. However, that is not the case in the U.S.
Tipping is clearly a cultural (national) custom. At a restaurant in Germany, you generally round up to the closest full euro unless it is an inexpensive bill, so the tip is small (pocket change), since the wait staff is paid a living wage. In the US, it is a very different custom, since the wages are often minimum. Perhaps some customers find tipping demeaning, but few wait staff I have talked with outside a restaurant feel that way about it. Amtrak seems to be a gray area, being similar and yet different from the climate prior to Amtrak. Back in those days, tipping was the correct thing to do, but wages were low. Now it appears they are higher to some degree. Like John WR, I personally prefer the system where tipping is minimal because I can feel certain the wait staff is being decently paid and I am not “stiffing” them by leaving pocket change.
As per IRS 1040 Instructions, as well as IRS Publication 531, wages and tips are separate items, although they are reported on the same line, as is also true for salaries.
Tips, for example, are not restricted to cash. They can be in the form of tickets, passes, etc. Moreover, if the customer puts it on the table or adds it to the bill, it is a tip. If the service provider adds it to the bill, it is part of wages.
The burden of reporting tips falls most heavily on the service person; employers assume the burden of reporting wages and salaries. There are some exceptions. In any case, persons in occupations that depend on tips are saddled with onerous IRS record keeping requirements.
You are right, Sam, that IRS does distinguish between tips and wages.
Generally tips and wages are taxed in the same way; that is they are subject to income tax and payroll taxes (FICA and Medicare). However, there are some exceptions.
If tips are not in cash, check or credit card payments they are not subject to payroll tax. This is for tips in the form of tickets, passes and similar things.
IRS regulations require people with tip income to keep a record of tips and IRS suggests a tip diary. You then regularly report the amount of tips you receive to your employer who withholds the taxes and sends it to IRS. However, your employer is also required to computed “allocated tip income” which is usually your share of 8 per cent of total sales. If your tip income falls below this amount you still have to pay taxes as if you received that amount. With wages you pay taxes only on your wages. With tips you may be required to pay taxes on more income than your actually have. All of this comes from IRS publication 531.
If a person works in an occupation where tips are customary and enough people choose not to tip service providers they may be required to pay extra taxes because some individuals choose not to tip them.
We’re told that on the Auto Train, the First Class accommodation calls for tipping for their awesome sleeping car stewards (or porters) and for food service, but coach does not, and not even in food service. We tip in food service anyway in coach. This is a unique train, though, but I thought I’d share that with you.
I’m not going to quibble over whether my tip is called for, taxable, or whatever. I like to reward service people even when the tip is not called for, and I do so regularly and copiously.
You can go on Amtrak’s website and look at the employment section and see just what the wages are for the jobs that are listed. I can assure you that just because they are union they do not necessarily get great wages.
I agree with another poster who stated he tips based on service received. I have myself tipped car attendants up to 20.00, and leave a tip appropriate to the cost of the meal had it been necessary to pay for it when eating in the diner. In the last several years riding the Builder and CONO we have had some very good crews.
Good recommendation! I looked at the job openings for a lead service attendant and chef.
The beginning pay for a lead service attendant is $18.08 per hour. Presumably there are some subsequent bumps for satisfactory performance. If the person works an average of 2,080 hours per year, which is the standard used by most HR people, his or wages would be $37,606 per year.
Amtrak’s compensation package includes paid vacation, health insurance, pension funding, etc. These can add 30 to 40 per cent to base pay, especially for a government or quasi government organization, ala Amtrak, which tend to offer rich benefits. Splitting the difference at 35 per cent, the total compensation package could be worth $50,768 before any overtime for the lead service attendant. It looks like the compensation package for a chef would be in the neighborhood of $53,800. Presumably the numbers for a service attendant would be slightly lower than those for a lead service attendant. In any case, these numbers square with those shown in the BLS tables.
According to the BLS, the average hourly wage in the United States at the end of October was $23.58. This would include all workers from relatively low skilled to highly skilled. In a sense the number is meaningless, but it is a starting benchmark. Assuming Amtrak’s on-board service personnel get a bump in their wages upon satisfactory performance, it appears that their compensation packages compare favorably with those across the board as a whole.
The compensation for most beginning jobs is 80 per cent of the mid point for the job. If this is true for the Amtrak service attendent job, the mid point would be $22.60 per hour, which would put them very close to the national average. What I don’t know, however, is how many hours an on-board Amtrak employee works per year and how much they earn in overtime. I was told by a Los Angeles crew person that the overtime can be significant.
But Sam, a Lead Service Attendant is s Supervisor. What do management salaries have to do with the wages paid to ordinary workers? Also, since Lead Service Attendants have a long list of responsibilities it is hard to see how they have much time to assist ordinary service attendants in serving passengers. Here is a link to Amtrak’s manual that describes the job:
I ride the Texas Eagle four or five times a year. I eat in the dinning car. The lead service attendant performs many of the duties of a service attendant, albeit with additional duties as per the job description. They are working supervisors. I doubt that they are paid a great deal more than a service attendant.
Let’s say that a service attendant’s compensation package is between $40,000 and $45,000 per year, which is suggested by the BLS numbers. That puts them in range of an over the road truck driver, whose job is a lot more challenging that serving meals and making up beds. We don’t tip truck drivers!
With the exception of Amtrak’s long distance trains, most of the trains don’t have a lead service attendant. If they offer food service, it is in a cafe car or bistro car with one service attendant, who is responsible for inventorying the car, serving food and beverages, taking payment, etc.
Two weeks ago I rode the Cascade from Seattle to Portland and back. I visited the bistro car where I got a snack and coffee. The attendant had a cup for tips sitting on the counter. A few people in line placed money in it but not many. The same situation is extant on the Pennsylvanian, which I rode in August, and the NEC regional trains, which I have ridden five times this year. What is the justification for tipping someone who pulls a cup of coffee or heats up a sandwich in the microwave?
Tipping is not obligatory, Sam. If you decline to tip employees who serve you that is your individual business and I do not question your decision. Neither do I question the decision of an individual who does choose to give an tip for personal service.
However, I do think it is valid to distinguish between labor and management. If you read Amtrak’s manual you will see that the first duty of a Lead Service Attendant is to supervise service attendants. If there is time the Lead Service Assistant also assists in providing actual service. But that assistance should not blur the distinction between labor and management. Certainly in the private sector that distinction is drawn sharply and clearly.
In our country, who gets tipped, and who doesn’t, is a matter of usage … period. Demanding rationality or consistency is futile.
Usage says we tip those who serve us food, so the tipping in the dining car is easy. As for the sleeping-car attendant, I would say that – on an overnight trip, at least – he or she gives us a lot more individual attention than that received by the average bus or airline passenger. Making down the bed at night and restoring seats in the morning, etc.
So we tip that attendant, where coach passengers don’t tip their “attendant,” the conductor.
She is totally guessing at their Salaries and when or how often they get paid. It would be proper to just ask or check into the reports on glass door dot com. Most flight attendents only get paid while they are on the aircraft, a good portion of them are not paid for a full 40 hour week. I would presume the same is true of Amtrak. So the salaries your seeing are more than likely substantially inflated.
