Buying people’s smiles

By Atty. Eduardo T. Reyes III

To tip or not to tip: that is the question.

There is a debate yet to be resolved around the world on whether to give a tip or not, for services rendered.

One school of thought is that tipping is a sign of civility or of being a gentleman or a lady. Yet on the other, it is asserted that tipping should be discouraged as it could result in indolence if a customer fails to give a tip. It could also give the tipper an undue advantage in terms of services rendered by the establishment.

To this columnist, tipping should be left to the personal choice of the customer. It is part of one’s universal freedom of will which the customer can exercise in favor of giving a tip when they are happy with the services rolled-out by the establishment.

Republic Act No. 7349 (13 April 1992) or The Consumer Act of the Philippines defines “services” as follows:

1. bp) “Services” means services that are the subject of a consumer transaction, either together with, or separate from any kind of personal property, whether tangible or intangible.

In turn, a subsequent law was passed governing “service charges”. Republic Act No. 11360 which took effect on 07 August 2019 treats of “service charges”. It states:

“Section 1. Article 96 of the Labor Code is amended to read as follows:

Art. 96. Service Charges. – All service charges collected by hotels, restaurants and similar establishments shall be distributed completely and equally among the covered workers except managerial employees.

In the event that the minimum wage is increased by law or wage order, service charges paid to the covered employees shall not be considered in determining the employer’s compliance with the increased minimum age.

To facilitate resolution of any dispute between the management and the employees on the distribution of service charges, a grievance mechanism shall be established. If no grievance mechanism is established or if inadequate, the grievance shall be referred to the regional office of the Department of Labor and Employment which has jurisdiction over the workplace for conciliation.

For purposes of this Article, managerial employees refer to any person vested with powers or prerogatives to lay down and execute management policies or hire, transfer, suspend, pay-off, recall, discharge, assign or discipline employees or to effectively recommend such managerial actions.”

                “Service charges” are lumped into the final billing in the tab and mostly go unnoticed. But to the keen-eyed customer, this would discourage them from giving an extra tip on top of the “service charges”.

Fair enough.

But to this columnist, tipping on top of the “service charges” should not be discouraged as it is up to the customer to be more generous than what the law provides.   Personal experience has shown that after a long and tiring day that has taken the smile away from the waiter or waitress in a restaurant; or the security guard whose face had been burnt by the sun or robbed of their sleep, to keep watch of everyone, a simple tip could repaint the smile back on their faces.

Even jurisprudence teaches that those who have less in life must have more in law.

Indeed, buying people’s smiles is worth it.

            (The author is the senior partner of ET Reyes III & Associates– a law firm based in Iloilo City. He is a litigation attorney, law professor, MCLE lecturer, bar reviewer and book author. His website is etriiilaw.com).