Self-Checkout Machines Ask for Tips

Some companies are reportedly incorporating a self-serve tipping option.

Considering a self-serve check out means the customer faces minimal to no interaction with any employee, customers reported feeling obligated to tip while questioning who exactly the money is going to, according to The Wall Street Journal.

Consumers have been hit by skyrocketing prices and increased requests for tips, including Starbucks new tipping system, but according to tipping researchers, there is a good reason behind it. The New York Post reported that the new wave of tipping prompts is “a way for companies to put the responsibility of paying employees on the customer rather than increasing employee salaries themselves.”

Others feel differently about these tipping prompts sparking debate. According to The Wall Street Journal, experts have argued that protections to tipped workers in the federal Fair Labor Standards Act don’t extend to machines so tips made from self-checkout devices might never even be received by an actual employee.