Yea I didn’t correct Will on that because I wasn’t sure if there’s a retail bank called Bank of Canada as well (we have a lot of things that sounds like a reserve but aren’t: US Bank, Bank of America, etc).
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Fair.
Also we tip about the same as Americans, but there is no special wage rate for people in tippable positions, just the same minimum wage as everywhere else. A good waiter can make some seriously good money.
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I like our banks. Imma invest in them
In my province we have a lower minimum wage for liquor servers, but it’s 1.20/h lower. So you literally just need to get one tip on a drink per hour. And our minimum is near livable. Actually livable if you are somewhere with okay housing
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Australia has recently brought in positive credit reporting, my credit score went up a bit because of it.
in regards to tipping, I just find it a bit weird that you dont pay people a proper wage for doing a job, and also the different types of people that get tipped (hairdressers, tattoo artists ect) I had always assumed it was just servers and stuff.
Do you have tap credit cards, so you just tap them instead of inserting them in with the chip and you dont need a pin, just kinda tap and go. It wasnt there when I was in the USA 3 years ago, but maybe its come in now?
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We have the tap now. Sometimes!
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Not all tipped positions get a tipped minimum wage. I agree it’s a shit system. In my state, all workers, even tipped staff, get the same minimum wage. In my state the minimum wage is pretty high, soon it will be at $15/hr in the cities, $14/hr in rural areas. That is not true for most of the US states though. States and cities can set higher minimum wages, but the federal gov’t sets the bare minimum.
We still tip the same though.
yea, we tip like nearly all service positions, but varying amounts. We’re tip-crazy here. Tips are standard for:
People who usually get a “tipped minimum wage” (lower than regular minimum wage)
- Anyone in food service (servers/baristas/bartenders - 10-25% or $1-2 a drink)
- Performers and Gogo dancers at bars or clubs (this depends on the club tho)
- Delivery people - food, floral, grocery, etc (10-15%)
- Nail technicians (5-15%)
People who are usually (but not always) independent contractors, meaning they get no hourly wage or employment protections and pay self-employment taxes, and sometime fees pay to work (kitty/stage fees/booth rental fees)
- Taxi or ridehailing drivers (5-10%)
- House Cleaners (5-10%)
- Massage therapists (10-20%)
- Karaoke Jockeys ($1 per song)
- Hairdressers (10-15%)
- Exotic Dancers ($1-5 per song if you sit at the rail, $20-100 for a table dance, more for a private) - they share their tips with the DJ/bartender/security
- Tattoo Artists (10-15% of the total cost of the tattoo)
- Piercers (10-15%)
- Gardeners/lanscapers (10-25%)
- Handypeople (depends on the job)
People who usually get a regular (non-tipped) minimum wage or higher than minimum
- Bellhops in hotel ($5 a bag) - usually minimum wage
- Movers (depends on how hard the job was)
- Valet attendants ($5-$20 per car, more the nicer your car)
- Daily cleaners in hotels (leave tip on the dresser, $2-$5 per day)
Generally, if the product is a service that a person is performing for you or they’re serving you in a way that would’ve only been available to the landed gentry 150 years ago, you tip them here.
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I will try and remember that when in the USA, I didnt tip any hotel cleaners and now I feel bad.
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I am from here and I discovered this only last year and am undoing years of regret lol.
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I probably wont be in the USA any time soon, but I will remember for next time.
I had no idea baristas were in that category! Not the case when I was one thankfully. No coffee shops allowed tips then, though.
At Priceline-purchased chain hotels (Midwest)I always try to tip housekeepers and they say they can’t take tips, it’s part of their wage. Desk confirms.
Yeah this is a nutty system
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Whoa! What coffee shop did you work at that didn’t allow tips? When was that? That’s crazypants. In Ohio 2004-5 I was always tipped minimum, OR doesn’t have tipped minimum so here I got paid minimum.
(Starbucks gets real minimum- and health insurance!)
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Tipping makes me anxious. Probably enough to make me put America lower on the places I want to travel to.
Now that I think about it, many of the places I get coffee from the barista making my coffee owns or part owns the cafe.
We complain that things are expensive in Australia a lot but I am glad that I don’t need to worry about tipping and adding taxes when I pay.
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My partner has an employee credit card that he can use a signature in Australia. Except that it is an annoying card that isn’t accepted everywhere due to high fees.
I always use contactless transactions and now can’t remember the PIN numbers for any of my cards. It’s always an issue if something is over $100. I kind of miss being able to sign on my credit card.
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Til that on the rare occasion I enter the states I either don’t tip or undertip half the people I should tip. Oops
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I am American and have no idea how to balance a checkbook, why we do it, or what it even means.
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I pay for things at tiny markets with contactless, no signature or pin swipes of my card. Having to sign everywhere would suck
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Sometimes (like once a month) the tap on my card won’t work and I have to enter my PIN and I am deeply inconvenienced and offended.
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On the check writing, I still write physical checks for rent. I had been using the bank’s automatic stuff, but then they screwed up and I had a several months fight to get my account balance to where it was supposed to be and had to start all new checking, savings, and business accounts.
Also, how are you suppose to pay people for goods and services when you’re in a place with no electricity and no wireless coverage? There’s only so much cash one can carry. (maybe this is a uniquely American problem with the vast open spaces we have here)
For the people who are uncomfortable with tipping in the US, I feel you. I was HUGELY uncomfortable NOT tipping when I lived in Amsterdam. I couldn’t be convinced that it was polite to not give a little extra to someone who had given exceptional service.
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Admittedly I have not been across the remote parts of my country, but my understanding here is that if there’s enough people for a shop, there’s electricity and some kind of internet available. There are many, many places where there is not enough people for a shop, but then of course you can’t buy anything, cash or not.
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Makes sense. I suppose my main example would be my all-time favorite brewery that doesn’t accept any kind of electronic payment. They’re out in the woods, no cell service, but they get a ton of business. I was pretty surprised that people were willing to go that far and pay cash, but it seems to work.
The other stuff is more along the lines of buying from the local(ish) farms. Heading to the other side of the mountains for 1/2 a cow, there’s nothing there but the farm and their house/butcher shop that’s cash/check only. Weird place, I know, really just highlights some of the things we need to improve here infrastructure-wise.
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