As of: February 20, 2024, 4:45 p.m
By: Vivian Werg
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To show his appreciation, a customer rounds up in the supermarket - this causes a lively discussion online (symbolic image) © Oliver Berg/dpa
A customer rounds up amounts at the supermarket checkout to show his appreciation.
But is the friendly gesture actually allowed?
There is discussion online.
Kassel – Giving a tip is an expression of appreciation and a personal gesture.
Whether in a restaurant, hairdresser or hotel - if you are satisfied with the service, you will often show it by giving a little attention.
However, tipping can also be a tricky thing.
In some countries it is voluntary, in others almost compulsory and in some it is even forbidden.
How much is appropriate to tip and when is it considered stingy?
An American waitress complained on Twitter about meager tips, sparking a debate online.
But what is it like in supermarkets?
Shouldn't the work of employees there also be rewarded?
A customer asked this question on social media and unintentionally sparked a heated discussion.
Tipping in the supermarket: A Reddit user asks online - the majority agrees
They stock shelves on a piecework basis, balance heavy boxes, have to act quickly at the checkouts, clean the branches and try to remain friendly despite all the physical work and time pressure, even if the customers often aren't.
And usually at low wages.
An Austrian customer appreciates the work of the supermarket employees, especially during the Corona pandemic, and has been rounding up his purchases in the supermarket ever since.
“Do you round up in the supermarket?” he asks other Reddit users and adds: “Please under no circumstances should it be understood as “virtue signaling”.
I'm just really interested to know if this is at least a little common.
I started doing it myself in the first lockdown because I just wanted to express appreciation.
A global epidemic is practically declared and of course they have to continue working for low wages.
I have kept it to this day."
The majority of Reddit users agree: tips are not given in the supermarket
The answers don't take long to arrive.
“Totally pointless in the supermarket because the money doesn't go to the staff, but to the company.
And no, I don’t round anything up,” writes one.
Given the increased food prices, two other users wouldn't even think of rounding up at the checkout and commented: "Why should I round up when they're already exploiting me anyway?"
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“So after shopping you feel like you've been taken hostage in a bank robbery and robbed.
I wouldn't voluntarily throw anything at the robbers now.
The employees are actually the ones who suffer because they can't do anything about the prices, but they have to be used as scapegoats because good staff is expensive."
Tipping in the supermarket: Why customers should avoid it
While the majority do not round up when paying or often pay by card, some users point out that the rounded up money usually does not end up with the employees.
Some confirm this from their own experience: “According to mom, it is mostly used to make up for shortfalls,” writes one user.
“I also worked in retail and can confirm that,” agrees another.
In Germany, does the tipping understood by the customer benefit the employees or not?
According to
Haufe.de
, employees who work at the cash register must ensure that the cash management is correct in the final billing.
They are obliged to do this according to their employment contract.
According to the online portal
Yahoo Finance,
discrepancies are handled as follows:
Shortages:
If there is a difference in the final bill, the shortfall must be reimbursed from the shortfall money.
Shortage allowance is an amount paid in addition to wages.
Positive deficit:
If there is too much money in the cash register, the positive deficit must be handed over to the employer and is listed in the accounting under “Other income, irregular”.
As a result, it is not the employees who receive the tips, but the company.
According to the online portal, it is also legally regulated that cashiers are not allowed to carry private money with them.
Otherwise they could be accused of bribery or incorrect financial management.
As nice as customers may mean it, tips should not be given at the checkout.
Some customers, on the other hand, often annoy cashiers in the supermarket with a few sayings.
(vw)