<p>How exactly do you tip your postman or the UPS driver who does a lot of deliveries to our house? They are here probably late in the morning or early afternoon, and nobody’s in the house at that time.</p>
<p>We leave it in a card in the mailbox.</p>
<p>" I believe if you are covered by a health care plan, eligible for a pension or 401k match you do not need a tip. "</p>
<p>Exactly !</p>
<p>Also , our carrier sends us a Christmas card , which to me is sending a message that she is fishing for tips</p>
<p>Dad<em>of</em>3–I go to my PO and leave a card for my carrier. If I say where I live, they know my carrier. Small town.</p>
<p>I usually give a little cash in a card. Guess I’m going away to the big house now. But it is good to know and I guess I’ll stop. He didn’t seem to have a problem taking it!</p>
<p>My regular mailman drives down my driveway and tosses my packages toward the garage. I have an idea for a tip for him…</p>
<p>We tip our carrier in cash & have for years. We put it in a card left in the mailbox. He only gives us a card after we leave the tip as a thank you note.</p>
<p>We have always tipped our mailman. He delivers mail in the feezing cold winter and when the scorching sun makes touching the mail slot in my door almost a hazard. I would never think not to tip him. I tip my hair stylist and garbage men too. Why would I not want to thank my mailmen? What does having health insurance or a matching 401k have to do with thanking someone??? That just seemed like a ridiculous statement.</p>
<p>Teachers have health plans and retirement plans and plenty of people give them gifts. We used to collect money from the class and give certificates to malls, etc. which is really not any different than money.</p>
<p>OK, so realize I’m going to start something, but this has always bothered me. Why do we tip people for doing their jobs? </p>
<p>I tip my hairdresser and not sure why I do, as she is self-employed. </p>
<p>We don’t tip the farmworker for slaving in the hot temps in a dirty environment for bringing us our food. We don’t tip the fast food worker who has to stand up all day and work in a hot, greasy environment. We don’t tip the person that works in a slaughter house for slaving in an absolutely disgusting environment. And on and on. . . </p>
<p>Why are tips necessary? Our letter carrier is just doing the job they are paid to do. (As full disclosure, my sister and brother in law were both mail carriers.) It may be in bad temps, etc, but that is what they signed on to do. And, mail carriers make a very fine living, with wonderful benefits. </p>
<p>Same with the paper deliverer. Why do they give us a card and envelope each year, asking for a tip, especially when I don’t know who they are?</p>
<p>I hate giving tips, but I am generous when I do it. 20% is minimum. I strongly feel that people should be paid a living wage and should not have to rely on tips to survive. My tipping them just allows the employer to get away paying them paltry sums.</p>
<p>I may sound like a Scrooge, but I am not. We give generously to our community and causes, and I always generously tip wait staff. I just hate having the expectation that we have to tip someone for doing their job, and that employers reduce people’s wages to factor in tips.</p>
<p>Am I the only one that feels like this?</p>
<p>Agreed, Crizello. This adds to the under the table factor in our economy, too.</p>
<p>I only give holiday tips those I choose to employ year-round-- housekeeper, pool service, gardener, etc. My DH gives a gift card to his barber who he has gone to for 25 years and who will squeeze him in and forgive his work related cancellations. No mail carriers or trash collectors. They aren’t the same people in our neighborhood, anyway, as they get moved around to the various neighborhoods.</p>
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<p>Amen to that.</p>
<p>I dispise tipping. Not too long ago, I went to Europe and we didn’t tip there. It made things much easier. The price on the menu was the price that we paid at the end. So I purchased a meal say for 20 pounds, I paid exactly 20 pounds. (Taxes were also included). It wasn’t like it said 20 euros and then turns into 26 euros by the time you add tax and tip onto the bill. Service was fine as well.</p>
<p>It’s simply a way of making an item looks cheaper than it costs, thereby encouraging people to buy more. You tip your hairdresser $5 because if she raised her prices by $5 and refused tips, you’d think it was too expensive of a haircut.</p>
<p>There are many people in my life who I don’t tip. I don’t tip the captain of an airliner after he lands safely. I don’t tip the captain of a ferry who pilots the boat across the bay. (I do tip the lady who brings me a drink, which is rather pecuilar.) The doctor who delivers a live baby or removes a cancerous tumor receives no tip. The cafeteria workers at my company receive no tips. I don’t tip the bus driver that drives me to work - even though I might tip the shuttle driver that drives me to the airport. And I have never tipped the lifeguard who watched over my kids and ensured none of them drowned in the public pool.</p>
<p>It’s something I wish would go away like in those European restaurants, as it makes things simpler and easier. But it all has to go away at once or life becomes way too confusing.</p>
<p>Union trash collectors in my town make $60,000 or $70,000 a year. They don’t need tips!</p>
<p>I’m a bit confused. The OP title implies its illegal to give a tip. The ‘evidence’ seems to be about postal employees accepting tips. To me those aren’t the same thing- it depends on who could be penalized for the tip transaction.</p>
<p>You are right, Starbright. It is not illegal to give a tip. In the military, people could only accept items with intrinsic value, and that is why we have a wall of plaques.</p>
<p>We don’t tip our mail carrier. We give her a Christmas present. Actually, it’s my wife who gives her a Christmas present. She also gives presents to the landscaper and the trash, yard waste, and recyclable collectors (3 different crews). She likes to give Christmas presents.</p>
<p>It’s generally not illegal to give a low dollar amount to a government employee - but in many cases it is against the federal government employment regulations for that employee to accept the item. </p>
<p>The problem is there is a fine line between giving someone something out of generosity, and giving someone something because you would like something in return.</p>
<p>People who deliver mail usually aren’t usually an issue. However, post office procurement officers as well as hiring managers are. Giving a hiring manager a $5000 diamond necklace for a Christmas present, when your husband is applying for a job at the same time, crosses the line and may be illegal (bribing the government.)</p>
<p>We are also from a smaller town and give our mail carrier a monetary gift at Christmas. We’ve given him $20 in a card for years and he has never said anything except ‘thank you’. Our mail carrier delivers the mail and packages to a large basket that sits inside our back porch. He doesnt have to do this and probably isnt suppose to, but he does and we appreciate it. We never have wet mail and packages, and feel like our mail is protected should we be away from home overnight. He’s been our mail carrier for years, think he’s great and want him to know we are grateful for the job he does. We don’t feel like we have to give him a Christmas gift, we WANT to give him a Christmas gift.</p>
<p>You are right, starbright; it isn’t illegal to make the gift, according to what I read, but for the USPS person to accept the gift. I titled the thread wrongly, but I still find it curious.</p>