Year-End Tipping in the United States

As an immigrant, one of the most challenging cultural adjustments for me has been understanding tipping customs in the United States. I’ve spent significant mental effort grappling with two key questions:

  • Should you tip?
  • How much should you tip?

This playbook aims to provide an easy-to-use framework to calculate appropriate year-end tips across different scenarios.

Tipping for a Condo Management Team

In large cities like New York City, it’s common to live in condos or multifamily buildings served by management teams. These teams typically include roles like building managers, supers or handymen, concierges, doormen, porters, and other staff. A general rule of thumb is to allocate about one month of your HOA fee (or common charges) as a total tipping pool for the entire team.

Distributing tips fairly among the team can feel daunting, but you can use a structured approach similar to planning bonuses for direct reports at work. Here’s a three-part framework to simplify the process: Base value, Function multiplier and Individual offset.

Base Value

The base value is the foundational tip amount for each staff member. To calculate it, take 85% of your monthly HOA fee and divide it by the total number of staff.

Example:

  • Monthly HOA fee: $1,000
  • Total staff: 8
  • Base value: $1,000 × 0.85 ÷ 8 = $106 per person

Function Multiplier

Not all roles have the same level of interaction with residents, so you can adjust tips based on the function of each role. These adjustments account for how much you’ve relied on their services throughout the year.

Each building may have a unique staffing structure, so these multipliers can vary:

  • Building A (Doorman-focused):

    • Manager/Super: 1.1
    • Doorman/Concierge: 1.0
    • Porters: 0.6

  • Building B (Team-focused):

    • Manager/Super: 1.1
    • Doorman/Concierge: 1.0
    • Porters: 0.9

For part-time staff, you can prorate their multiplier based on the percentage of time they worked. For instance, if a part-time handyman worked half the time, assign a multiplier of 0.55.

Individual Offset

Finally, adjust tips based on the quality of service received. If someone has gone above and beyond during the year, consider adding an offset to their tip.

Example:

  • Base value: $106
  • Multiplier: 1.1
  • Offset: $100 for exceptional service

Final tip: $106 × 1.1 + $100 = $216

To keep things simple, round to the nearest $20 for easier preparation.

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