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Question: When is a “fee” a “tip”? Answer: When you’re in Massachusetts. Here’s the story, as reported by the Boston Herald: it involves that $2 per-bag curbside-handling fee that American Airlines began slapping on luggage awhile back, to bring in some extra revenue. Well, a Boston jury has ruled (to the delight of a lot of skycaps) the $2 fee IS a tip, at least under Massachusetts law, and that all of that money should go to the curbside bag wranglers. But what about the signs that say, “Fee Does Not Include Gratuity”? So is this right? Keep reading… |
Yesterday, jurors ordered American Airlines to give nine Logan Airport skycaps about $325,000 because American violated the state’s tip laws (which requires employers to give their workers “service fees” paid by customers).
American, of course, saw the $2 fee as, well, a fee, hence those “Gratuity Not Included” signs, but it seems lot of people don’t add a tip to the $2 fee, or they think that $2 is the tip, or something like that. And the skycaps say their tips are way down thanks to all the confusion, and that they need their tips, to augment their less-than-minimum-wage pay. Got that?
The Boston Herald quoted a traveler who criticized the skycaps’ pay scale. “That’s ridiculous,” he said. “This is America. Nobody should get less than minimum wage.”
Obviously, this is a fellow who’s never worked in a restaurant, taking diners’ orders and serving up the food.
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