Service industry employees are paid minimally by the company they work for and so their pay is

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Service industry employees are paid minimally by the company they work for and so their pay is largely determined by the tips they receive from customers. Bartenders have to deal with peoples’ needs as well as employee competition and standard operating procedures set forth by management. Every time they pour a drink, they must decide whether to follow company standards or give away extra alcohol in order to receive a larger tip.

When first being promoted to bartender at an established golf resort, I witnessed firsthand the different factors that can affect a "pour." A pour can be defined as how much liquor is added to a customer’s drink. The three factors that affect a pour are comparisons to other employees’ pours, the requests of customers for extra pours with promise of a larger tip, or what the company designates as a pour.

When working as a team or having repeat customers, bartenders are compared based on their pour. If one bartender uses two pours and another uses one pour (the latter is the standard for the company), the rule-following bartender is not viewed as favorably as the one using the larger pour. This is clearly reflected in tips from customers. Similarly, the customer might say, “Put a little extra in there and I’ll take care of you.” The employee is put on the spot to choose between the company and him or herself.

The bartender with the heavier pour or who gives away drinks for free may receive more money in their tip cup, but the company suffers from lost revenues. If a bartender makes an average of 100 drinks a night and uses two pours instead of one for each drink, that bartender is giving away 100 drinks worth of alcohol each night which reduces nightly revenues, and has a huge effect on yearly liquor revenues.

In this highly competitive and profitable industry, over pouring is a practice that can cripple a business. New bartenders want to fit in with the others and earn as much money as possible. Which is more important, filling their own tip cup, or maximizing the house’s profits, which does not directly benefit the bartender?

1. Is it ethical to over pour customers’ drinks in order to develop better customer relations to earn more tips at the expense of company revenues? Are the bartenders using the “entitlement mentality” here to justify their self-serving actions? Do bartenders have a “right” to take care of their own cups?

2. If the customer wants or expects over pouring, should the companies allow over pouring in order to satisfy the customers’ wants and desires?

3. Is it ethical to witness and not report over pouring on the part of fellow bartenders who have been there longer? Should the over pouring bartenders be reported to management?