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Incorporated, a worldwide network of science museums and related institutions.
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Accepting gratuities, in my mind, is a real no-no.  I STRONGLY suggest that staff be straightforward but friendly about letting patrons know that: "although we are very pleased that you are happy with our service, we cannot accept tips in any form, however we encourage you to donate it to the institution instead" (or something to that effect).
Beryl Rosenthal

-----Original Message-----
>From: Craig Blower <[log in to unmask]>
>Sent: Jul 22, 2009 10:58 AM
>To: [log in to unmask]
>Subject: Gratuities in Museum
>
>ISEN-ASTC-L is a service of the Association of Science-Technology Centers
>Incorporated, a worldwide network of science museums and related institutions.
>*****************************************************************************
>
>We are running into a situation that can get a bit sticky. Occasionally
>we (or a specific  employee) are offered a gratuity by a patron. This
>may be during a special rental event or now that we are doing a bit more
>catering with our small cafe, the customer often expects (and we are
>glad) to add the standard 18% gratuity to the cost. A buck or two here
>and there is one thing but with this 18% deal, you can easily get into 3
>figures. So what's the problem you say? 
>
> 
>
>Who gets it and how is it dispersed? It may seem simple but the more I
>look into it, it can be a Pandora's Box of moral/legal/payroll/fairness
>issues that gets muddier by the day. What if a front line employee
>pitches in for 15 minutes to help set up? What about the phone rep who
>booked the event but wasn't even in the building on the day of? I have a
>list of about 20 "what if's" that seemingly make this a much more
>complicated issue than I initially thought it would be. My HR Manager
>has downloaded about a virtual inch-thick stack of documents about how
>to handle tips in California. Yikes.
>
> 
>
>How do you handle this type of (good) problem?
>
> 
>
>Thanks. 
>
> 
>
>Craig Blower
>
>Chief Operating Officer
>
>Reuben H. Fleet Science Center
>
>619-238-1233 (main)
>
>619-685-5701 (direct)
>
>[log in to unmask]
>
> 
>
>
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For information about the Association of Science-Technology Centers and the Informal Science Education Network please visit www.astc.org.

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