A third of the population has never left a tip dining out at a restaurant in Denmark, a new Wilke survey on behalf of the Ritzau news service found.
The survey showed that 28.9 percent of Danes never add tips to their Dankort bill or leave a few bits of change on the table, as is the custom in many other nations. But it doesn’t mean the Danes are cheap, according to Christoffer Susé, a head of relations for the branding association Horesta.
“It’s simply down to the way we’ve set up out labour market,” said Susé according to Metroxpress newspaper. “The staff are not dependent on guests leaving 10-20 percent.”
“People not leaving tips fits well with the way we pay our staff, so there isn’t a right or wrong thing to do here.”
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1969 wage agreement
The survey showed that 14.3 percent of Danes left a tip every time they dined out, 25.4 percent tipped over half the time, while 31.5 percent tipped under half the time.
When tipping, 32.2 percent of Danes leave 10 percent of the bill, 3.6 percent leave 15 percent of the bill, 23.6 percent leave 10 kroner, 24.4 percent leave 20 kroner, 8.8 percent leave 30 kroner, 3.3 percent leave 40 kroner and 4.1 percent leave 50 kroner.
A wage agreement between waiters and restaurant in 1969 resulted in tips being included in the bill, and prices rose by 15 percent shortly thereafter.
