Tipping - is that a place in China?

Tourists give ten percent, but how about Finns?

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By Anna Paljakka
     
      The first contact of a new arrival in Finland is often a taxi driver. If the visitor pays with a credit card, he or she gets a receipt with an empty line marked Extra - that is, a tip.
      If the traveller comes from a country with a culture of giving gratuities, he or she might add some extra to the bill as a matter of routine, even if no extra service has been provided that would call for such a gesture.
      "Many foreigners pay out of habit", admits Lasse Vuori, executive director of the Helsinki Taxi Drivers' Association. He does not see the tip line on the recept as deceptive.
      Vuori emphasises that Finnish legislation forbids taxi drivers from asking for a tip.
      He feels that taxi drivers get very little extra, as the use of credit and debit cards for payment has increased. "All in all, tipping has actually decreased."
     
The Extra line has also infiltrated the receipt software of Finnish restaurants.
      "Tips are on the increase. Almost every table leaves one", says Jussi Reilin, manager of the Yume restaurant in Helsinki, which has operated for two months.
      The Japanese-themed Yume gets many foreign guests, who typically leave a 10 percent tip, he says. Finns have also learned to round up their bills to an even sum.
      Reilin does not think that the use of credit cards is much of an impediment to tipping.
      "If a customer marks a sum separately on the bill, we know how to take it out."
      The money from tips is put in a common recreation fund for the personnel, for instance. Reilin's experiences suggest that routine tipping has increased considerably.
     
Not everybody agrees with this assessment.
      "Waiters used to get more tips", says Jouko Levonen, a lawyer for the Service Union United PAM. Restaurant employees who are members of the union complain that tips have constantly decreased.
      In Levonen's view, a customer who leaves a tip is usually either exceptionally satisfied with the service, or accustomed to using an expense account.
      "With current restaurant prices a routine ten percent gratuity would be a rather steep price hike", Levonen says.
      "Employers naturally hope that customers would express their gratitude to the tune of 10 to 15 percent. However, this would also bring problems with the tax people."
      Levonen has 30 years of work experience in promoting the interests of the service sector.
      "The restaurant business used to be so regulated, and liquor licences were so hard to get that customers were actually eager to offer tips. It was the way to get service then. When the business was deregulated about 20 years ago, customers no longer had to offer cash to get alcohol the next time they showed up", Levonen explains.
     
Until the 1970s, part of the pay of serving staff came from service charges. It was added to the bill, and was not seen as a gratuity. Tips have always been in addition to the bill.
      It was only when the competitive position of restaurants became stronger that the position of personnel improved, and fixed wages became the norm.
      "Nowadays it is unthinkable that a waiter would not have a fixed wage, and the wage is calculated so that it is possible to live on it", Levonen explains.
      It is different in many other countries. "If there is no fixed wage, payment for the service is taken, almost by force", Levonen says.
      In the midst of all of this, the original purpose of tips, as an expression of appreciation for good service, is easily forgotten.
      Finns have learned to measure satisfaction in terms of money. "If you pay the bill and not a cent more, it is seen in the kitchen as a statement that not everything is all right", says a renowned Finnish chef.
     
Helsingin Sanomat / First published in print 26.7.2006


Links:
  Virtual Finland: Finnish customs (scroll down to "Tipping")

ANNA PALJAKKA / Helsingin Sanomat
anna.paljakka@kaapeli.fi