You wont have to tip your server at Calgary’s newest Earls location.

That’s because a 16 per cent “hospitality charge” is already included in the price.

Since it re-opened last Friday after renovations, the 67th Earls Restaurant location in North America – located on Stephen Avenue in Calgary – is a “prototype concept” where new ideas for the chain will be tested.

This includes a shake-up in the compensation model to ditch the long-held practice of tipping.

Management believes the move could become more common in the future.

In a departure from the previous model, where servers keep most of the tips they receive, the 16 per cent hospitality charge will be divided among all the hourly staff – from cooks to bussers and servers – in what will amount to a higher hourly wage.

As a former part-time server, it can have both positive and negative ramifications for waitstaff and bartenders. Servers no longer have to compete with their coworkers for tables – or pray for the money-making section on the way to work. It also ensures a higher, more consistent wage (you could jump through every hoop and still get tipped like garbage).

At the same time, 16 per cent may be on the lower end of what some of the more seasoned and charismatic servers make in tips during a given shift.

As a customer, the plus side is that you don’t have to worry about the math if you pay with cash. Not to mention, as the tip standard now hovers around 18-20 per cent, the hospitality charge is actually quite modest.

On the negative, of course, is that there’s no incentive to actually be a decent server. If the service is totally horrible, you’ll have no choice but to commit 18 per cent of your meal cost to “hospitality.” The move doesn’t do anything to address what most people loath about the tip model: that the customer essentially picks up the slack for restaurants underpaying their staff.

According to CBC, the restaurant will wait six months to determine whether the program was a success. Probably not the type of experiment you want to pull off during the Stampede.

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