Objections 16. Tips are only for above and beyond the call of duty. This objection seems to confuse pizza drivers with tipped jobs that are well paid before tips. Pizza delivery drivers are not paid very well. Their base pay is less than minimum wage or just the minimum wage. Some other tipped jobs are well paid and their tips are considered a bonus, but for pizza drivers the tip is a necessity. The tip is vital to make the job worth performing. It is the only reason they can deliver. Instead of a mere bonus or afterthought, pizza delivery relies heavily on tips and the tips easily make up 60 percent of their income. It is expected that tipping be normative for performing the basic duties. At least, unless the driver was rude and made the service terrible. Tips are payment for services rendered. If you received a service of delivery to your door, and the driver did the job without being rude, you should tip for it. The driver performed a menial task that you could have done yourself. Although tips are necessary to the driver, there's little variation to what a driver can do in the brief 10 or 20 seconds we spend with you in person. There are some minor things a driver can do to help and that's where the sliding scale might come in. The sliding scale varies in relation to how well you believe the driver performed. The tip should be 10% or less for poor service 15% for normal service ($3 minimum) 20% or more for excellent service Of course, drivers ought to perform well. The sliding scale offers them incentive. They naturally deserve better tips for excellent service but still something for normal service, for covering the basics. They still delivered a pizza to you. We expect tips just for doing our job. That's what a tipping job is all about. A song and a dance is not something a driver is expected to perform and never should do. If that's what you have in mind, it is demeaning. To perform the delivery routine with excellence is enough. Above and beyond the call of duty can almost never happen. The scarcity would cause very little tipping, so it would cause everyone to quit. It can't happen very often because it requires an outside unusual circumstance requiring the driver to do more than the job. We hope no driver will have to do more than an excellent job. The job is enough. Last updated: January 1, 2014 return to top