Co-op bans holiday tipping
Wednesday, November 4, 2009
Bonuses may be back on Wall Street, but in a shot that will no doubt be heard around the city, one co-op board has apparently banned holiday tipping this year.
Here’s the celebratory post that appeared on UrbanBaby.com yesterday afternoon:
“SANTA CLAUS CAME EARLY!!! Just got a notice from our co-op board: ‘In response to past complaints about favoritism, and in light of the current recession that has dealt a significant blow to many of our shareholders, the board of directors of (XYZ Building) has implemented a strict "no tipping" policy for the building staff.’THANK YOU SANTA!!!”
Of course, as one commenter points out, favoritism can be prevented if residents contribute to a tip pool instead of doling out tips individually.
So rather than stamping out special treatment, the primary motivation here seems to have been leaving more money in residents' pockets -- which in large buildings can easily be in the $1,000-$3,000 range per apartment.
Is this the beginning of a trend?
UPDATE: We asked Lynn Whiting, director of management at The Argo Corporation, to weigh in on the no-tipping policy. She did not mince words:
"This is very uncommon and I am not aware of any building that instituted a policy such as this. I totally disagree with this policy. The staff looks forward to receiving holiday tips each year and residents enjoy recognizing their building staff for their service throughout the year. Holiday tips are a boost to the morale and as well as the pocket and it would be very demoralizing to take this away. Also, from a practical standpoint, this is not a policy that Board can enforce. If someone wants to tip the staff…… they will do it."
Read the complete post here.
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I'm still around and pressing my book hard to anyone willing to pick it up. Situation is this, regarding whatever co-op board decided to implement this rule....... BIG NO NO! A member of the staff be it handyman, porter, doorman or super really do look forward to the holidays. We would much rather not recieve any tips during the year so that one tenant can bunch it all up and give us a nice tip during the holidays. To us it shows that they are appreciative of what we do for them. Lynn is right, if a tenant wants to give a person a tip, it doesn't matter what kind of notice gets put out, that person will do so. As far as the whole favoritism, tough. If one person gets more than another, deal with it. The key thing is getting something at all. To recieve zilch is more like a slap to our face. I know times are rough and the economy is still suffering but here's the reality check. We don't want to see the expensive tv's that make it through the lobby, hear about the vacations one person took over the summer, or the ridiculous amounts of money spent on dry cleaning, then have to hear about the economy being bad, and that's the reason we're only getting twenty dollars. Beware! The holidays are soon upon us. The service one gets is truly a reflection of what's been given to us.