CALGARY — The new Earls.67 concept restaurant in Calgary has opted to eliminate tipping, instead adding a 16-per-cent ‘hospitality charge’ to diners’ bills.
“[We want to] gain some information around maybe a new compensation model that could exist in the restaurant industry,” Craig Blize, VP of Operations at Earls Restaurants told The Financial Post. “The compensation model really hasn’t changed in a long time.”
Blize says the 16-per-cent hospitality charge being tested at Earls.67 will be divided among all hourly staff in what will amount to a higher consistent wage. “What it allows us to do now is redistribute that compensation,” he says. “We believe a cook who makes a burger for a guest is as equally important in the experience as the server delivering the burger.”
Blize says although the 280 staff hired for Earls.67 had a lot of questions at first, they have embraced the new compensation model.