A Panda Express customer expressed his frustration with tipping culture after noticing an employee benefits surcharge on his receipt after a recent trip to the popular fast-food chain. What seemed to be the icing on the cake, however, was the fact that they still asked for a tip.
Posting a picture of the receipt in question to the subreddit “r/EndTipping,” he claimed that it was ridiculous that fast food places were starting to add fees to bills that were coming out of customers’ pockets rather than just raising the price of their menu items.
“Had a lunch at Panda Express [in San Francisco] and they added a 5% Employee Benefits Surcharge. Why not just increase your menu prices by 5%? They even had the audacity to ask for a tip on top of this,” he wrote in his Reddit post.
Posting a photo of the receipt, under the cost of his order, was indeed an “Employee Benefits Surcharge” of 5%, totaling only $1.08 extra he had to pay on top of his meal. However, aggravated by the added cost, he expressed disbelief that he and other Panda Express customers were now being charged to ensure the store’s employees had benefits.
While it may be annoying for customers to pay extra, these surcharges are becoming more common in the restaurant and fast-food industries because they help employees get paid fairly. Whether a restaurant raised its prices or implemented surcharges of 5% to 10%, customers wanting to eat there will still have to pay. If you don’t like it, then just don’t eat out.
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According to a LendingTree survey, even full-time, fast-food workers fall significantly short of earning a living wage and would need to work up to 78 hours a week to cover basic living expenses. Researchers learned that even if they work 40 hours a week for 52 weeks a year, fast food workers can’t cover their basic expenses in any of the 50 largest cities.
For example, a full-time fast food worker in Fresno, California, is earning 23.0% less than the living wage compared to a fast-food worker in Atlanta, who is earning 48.4% less than the living wage, based on an average hourly wage of $15.07, and would need to work 52 to 78 hours a week to make ends meet. Fast food workers also need to work more than twice as long as those earning average wages to buy a typical fast food meal.
San Francisco is one of the most expensive cities in the country. Most people who work corporate 9-to-5 jobs can’t even afford to live in the city, so the same can definitely be said for fast food workers.
Truthfully, an additional $1.08 added to a bill that’s already over $20 isn’t much. As uncomfortable as these surcharges might be, they’re simply the middle ground to help employees make enough to survive.
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Nia Tipton is a staff writer with a bachelor’s degree in creative writing and journalism who covers news and lifestyle topics that focus on psychology, relationships, and the human experience.
