Packhouse Meats is a new restaurant in Newport, Kentucky. It opened in January. And...it has a "no tipping" policy.

Now, I've had friends and family who've worked off and on in the service industry all of my adult life so I tip generously. NOT leaving a tip would never occur to me--and I've never received service so horrible that a tip-free post-meal table was considered necessary.

But before you start to wonder what sort of tyrannical taskmasters are running this place, look closer at exactly what this "no tipping" policy entails.

According to a Louisville Courier-Journal story, Packhouse servers, in lieu of gratuities, earn $10 per hour or 20% of their individual food sales per shift, whichever is larger. More often than not, it's the 20% that's larger.

Packhouse Meats owner Bob Conway admits to the experimental nature of this policy, but feels it's a more just reward than the more common practice of tipping.

Says Conway, "I've heard the horror stories – $3 left on a $100 tab. How much a server makes has nothing to do with how hard they work. Servers had quit because they couldn't make ends meet."

The man's right, I've know several folks who've been stiffed on a huge tab. Nothing makes them angrier, and they're indignation is absolutely righteous.

I like it. If it spreads, the "no tipping" policy will obviously rely upon honest managers and owners to make it work.

And if it does, the service industry will experience something revolutionary.

 

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