A Restaurant Charges 10% For 'Employee Health' Before Tip & People Are Fed Up With Extra Fees
"Just raise the prices on the menu."
The reciept posted by the Reddit user. Right: A person paying their bill at a restaurant.
Extra fees and suggested tips are becoming more common on restaurant bills, but one supposed "employee health" charge has people declaring enough is enough.
A Reddit user recently shared an image of their dinner bill on Reddit's r/MildlyInfuriating page, and one item on the receipt is causing plenty of outrage.
The bill lists off all the items from the meal, then adds a 10% charge for "Emp. Health," which ended up being an extra $13.70 on their $137 bill.
To make matters worse, the suggested tip amount listed at the bottom of the bill was 18% instead of the usual 15% most people are accustomed to. The receipt also didn't say what the difference is between the "Emp. Health" charge and the tip, so customers could be paying an extra 28% for their service.
"Just raise the prices on the menu," the Reddit user wrote on the post, which has generated tens of thousands of reactions. "I don’t want to have surprise increases at the end of the meal…”
People in the comment section quickly chimed in to blast vague and unnecessary surcharges, such as the employee health charge on the bill in question.
One person in the comment section wrote, “Looks like you got ripped off. I always feel it is a red flag when the lowest level of the suggested tip on the receipt is not 15%.”
Another person agreed with the commenter and wrote back, “Glad I can do the math. I was somewhere yesterday, and it went 25% -35%. Yeah sorry, my dude. You literally poured me 2 beers.”
“No. Bare minimum for my tipping is table service. No drive-thru windows, no counter staff. If I walk up there and pick up my food, the transaction is over,” wrote another person whose comment received a star award from readers who agreed with their take.
“This patchwork tipping culture and its creeping into everything has gotten me to draw some sharp lines,” continued the comment. “Pay everyone a livable wage and end tipping.”
Another person pointed out that the only thing more absurd than the high tip percentage was the employee health charge.
“It is not the tipping that I object so much, it is the forced health insurance surcharge that gets to me,” wrote the commenter. “I am not opposed to people getting health insurance. I just think that the employer should pay that. I agree with you: Raise prices, pay a living wage that includes health insurance, and stop cheating your customers.”
One person called it a “deceptive business practice for sure.”
The Reddit user didn't say where they went out for dinner, so it's unclear exactly how the extra fee is being handed out.
However, so-called "employee health" charges are starting to appear on some bills in the United States, where restaurant owners are seemingly using the money to pay for staff health insurance.
A TikTok user ignited debate around this in January when she called out another restaurant for a 5% employee health fee, prompting many to tear the idea apart.
@ashnichole_xo Is this normal?? #greenscreen #receipt #employeehealth #restaurant
It looks like people already have issues with tipping at restaurants, and they're not ready to buy into another percentage-based fee for service.
This article's right-hand cover image was used for illustrative purposes only.