A popular New Jersey restaurant is drawing criticism for a policy making underage customers pay an 18 percent tip for their order, the New York Post reported.
The Wayne Hills Diner in Wayne, New Jersey is reportedly a popular spot for teenagers and children after school, but its management says that children don't always tip. That is why it has enforced a policy adding gratuity to underage customers, but not adults.
"My employees need to get paid. They don't work for free," the restaurant's manager told the Post.
The restaurant says it is not trying to scare off young customers.
"We love the kids. They've been coming for years. We're a family-owned business," the manager told the New York post. "There's too much publicity for nothing.
But some parents think it is unfair to make children tip, while not making adults add gratuity.
"I was angry because I had been there the week before and I had been there with a group of five, some kids and some children, and I was not charged this gratuity," long-time customer Melissa Desch told WABC-TV.
Desch said that her 11-year-old daughter spotted the added gratuity after she got her receipt.
"He said that's policy because the kids run out and he feels that they don't tip well, and they don't know how to tip was the explanation," she told WABC. "I said I could understand that, but again, they're not being given the option, they're being forced to pay them."
