<P> A tip pool cannot be allocated to employers, or to employees who do not customarily and regularly receive tips . These non-eligible employees include dishwashers, cooks, chefs, and janitors . </P> <P> There is only limited information available on levels of tipping . A study at Iowa State University provided data for a suburban restaurant surveyed in the early 1990s . The mean tip was $3.00 on a mean bill of $19.78 . As such, the mean tip rate was 16.1%, and the median tip rate was about 15% . In a 2003 research study at Brigham Young University, the sample restaurants had an average tip percentage ranging from 13.57 to 14.69% between 1999 and 2002 . </P> <P> According to the National Restaurant Association, only a handful of restaurants in the United States have adopted a no - tipping model and some restaurants who have adopted this model returned to tipping due to loss of employees to competitors . </P> <P> Service charges are mandatory payments, typically added by caterers and banqueters . A service charge is not to be confused with a tip or gratuity which is optional and at the discretion of the customer . Restaurants commonly add it to checks for large parties . Some bars have decided to include service charge as well, for example in Manhattan, New York . Disclosure of service charge is required by law in some places, such as in State of Florida A standard predetermined percent, often ~ 18%, is sometimes labeled as a "service charge". </P>

Who gets paid the most in a restaurant