Tipping is only a thing because we’ve normalized it. If you pass a law against it, it’s no longer normal, and customers will mostly stop giving them, even without highly intrusive enforcement mechanisms.
The real challenge is getting a government to want to forbid it, because people who receive tips care about them a lot while those that don’t, don’t. Until you solve that nothing else matters. Maybe tipping will go so far that the balance shifts.
Government only cares about the tips as income for additional taxation. This is part of the reason for the push of CBDC and no cash - more taxes.
Forcing businesses to essentially wrap what was the tip into the price, in order to pay the full wage to staff won't solve everything, but that's a major first step! Businesses would then suddenly be able to compete on "NO TIPS HERE! :)" on a little sign by the register. You're also competing on the real price now (bill of materials + full price of labour), not a portion of it. (Bill of materials + labour not paid for by a hidden guilt-enforced fee.)
It's also just kind of shitty morally, service work deserves the respect of any other job and shouldn't be given the weird distinction of "sub-minimum wage" work.
Edit: Sorry, didn't read all of B), agree!
B) businesses have to start paying their staff better wages
Historically we haven't see it go the other way
Tipped employees must receive a minimum wage of $2.13 per hour, known as a cash wage. That cash wage is combined with tips to reach the federal minimum wage of $7.25 per hour. Employers can credit up to $5.12 per hour in tips against a worker's earnings. If an employee’s wages (at least $2.13 per hour) plus tips is less than $7.25 per hour, their employer is required to make up the difference. Tips are considered a “tip credit,” which allows employers to pay employees below the federal minimum wage.
The minimum wage in PA was 2.25 for waitstaff in 2000. Currently its 7.25/hr. I think we can all agree that waiting on a table is a little more complex than bagging groceries esp when you consider this wage law applies to any restaurant in any category.
https://www.nerdwallet.com/article/finance/tipped-minimum-wa...
B) put social and legal pressure on point of sale systems like Block to stop pushing tipping interfaces on merchants. On the legal side regulate the merchant codes and what POS systems can show based on merchant code, create consequences for noncompliance. Mandate disabling it completely even for restaurants when in states where the tipped minimum wage is the same as other minimum wage. Do the same to the payment processor, Visa, Mastercard Amex etc
C) mandate disclosures to consumers when in states where the tipped minimum wage is the same as normal minimum wage
D) use the local alcohol licensing requirements to require all service personnel to discourage tipping. Verbally, on receipts, everywhere - in states with no separate lower tipped minimum wage. Or else no alcohol can be served.
E) deny other discretionary features such as outdoor parklets, if tipping culture is not discouraged
F) disable the ability to e-file payroll taxes for “high risk of tipping“ services, or anyone with many receipts
how to think of stuff like this: regulate the intermediary. this works under any governance system.