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00:00Now it's time for something rather different for you on the programme.
00:03When to tip and how much to tip?
00:05That's a question many of us ask ourselves when we're travelling abroad
00:08or sometimes even in our own countries.
00:11Well, for a bit more on the art of tipping here in France,
00:14Solange Mugin is with me here in the studio.
00:18So, Solange, is there really a French way to tip?
00:21Yes and no.
00:22Tipping is tipping.
00:24It's incredibly personal, but it is also cultural.
00:27So, how good or bad are the French when it comes to tipping?
00:31What laws are around this in France?
00:35How does France compare to other countries?
00:37So many questions.
00:38But first, some linguistics.
00:40The word tip, as in a gratuity, is not an acronym of to ensure promptness.
00:45This is a false urban legend.
00:47The word tip actually dates back to the 1600s and was slang among petty criminals.
00:53Quickly, by the 1700s, it began to be used for what was then called the veils in English,
00:59or a small amount of money and a reward to servants.
01:02Now, in French, a tip is called a pourboire, which literally translates to for drinking.
01:08The first written traces of pourboire are from Molière in 1662.
01:12And interestingly, we see this common meaning of a bit of money to drink in lots of languages,
01:19like the German trinkgeld.
01:20And the same goes for Swedish, Spanish, Hungarian, Polish and Russian.
01:25OK, so that's the etymology, Solange.
01:27What about the actual practice then here in France?
01:30Well, French law says that tipping is permitted in the service industries,
01:34in professions that are in contact with the public.
01:37And people, when they tip, generally tip waiters, hairdressers, delivery people,
01:42and other somewhat low-paying jobs.
01:44Unlike in some countries where a tip helps employees get to the minimum wage,
01:49well, here in France, tipping is on top, generally, of salaries.
01:53There are some exceptions to this.
01:55But as a rule, tipping is voluntary here.
01:57It's that little extra bit of tax-free money to say thank you, for example, for a coffee.
02:03At least a euro.
02:05We always have a little cash or change to give.
02:07I don't think I have anything.
02:09I pay for everything with a card now.
02:12I often have spare change.
02:14I give what I can, but usually not more than a euro.
02:17Now, there's been much debate recently in France about whether tips should stay tax-free,
02:22particularly ones that are given by credit card, which are easier to trace.
02:25And the French National Assembly, they voted in favour of this,
02:29or to prolong until 2028 the tax-free status,
02:31as long as the tips don't go over 1.6 times the minimum wage.
02:36This is actually part of the 2026 budget.
02:38But people are divided on this issue.
02:41Some say that tips should be taxed to help social services,
02:44while others say no, that these are a much-needed bonus in a sector that has a hard time finding workers.
02:50OK. So, Solange, exactly how generous, or perhaps stingy, are the French when it comes to tipping?
02:56Well, again, it is voluntary.
02:58It all comes down to personal choice.
03:01But we do have some numbers for you.
03:02So, Lightspeed, which provides digital tipping software,
03:06it found that the average bank card tip in France was 4 euros and 70 cents,
03:10or a 12% increase since 2023.
03:14Their figures put France just behind Switzerland's 5 euros as the biggest card tippers in Europe.
03:20But it's actually more nuanced than that.
03:22In Germany, for example, people gave smaller sums, but they tipped more people.
03:26For those, figures are just for credit card tips.
03:30And this is actually a practice that is increasing here in France.
03:33And some workers say that cards bring better tips, but others, they don't like it.
03:39Promising a hire that they'll get three times more with card tips makes them want to work here.
03:47With the card machine, after a while, the waiter wouldn't even look down at what was added.
03:52It's the gesture of putting something down.
03:54That's the acknowledgement of the client to the worker.
04:00Now for another poll.
04:01This one by Sunday.
04:02It's a restaurant payment company.
04:04And it found that the national average in France for a tip is 4.8% of the bill.
04:09But that percentage actually goes up to nearly 7% in Paris and in eastern France.
04:13While in the north, it's just around 3.5%.
04:16As for how many French people actually say they tip,
04:20well, here the studies are all over the map.
04:22One by Lyft found that 8 out of 10 people say that they leave tips.
04:27Whereas another from the UK's YouGov polling, they found, two years ago,
04:33they found that 34% of French people say that they tip regularly at restaurants.
04:37So big difference.
04:388 in 10 versus 3 in 10.
04:39All of which is the case in point that knowing what to tip and when is tricky.
04:45And finally then, Solange, during the holiday season, very much coming up here,
04:49is there a particular kind of tipping?
04:51Yes.
04:52In France, there is something called les étrenes.
04:55These are Christmas and New Year's gifts, be they a trinket, a bottle of wine, or envelopes with cash.
05:02Now, les étrenes date back to Roman times when sprigs of verbena plants were given to magistrates.
05:07That morphed into dates and honey and then coins.
05:10And in modern-day France, these étrenes, they were traditionally given to concierges,
05:14or building managers, who would receive 10% of a tenant's rent as a tip.
05:19It was a way to say thank you, but it was also a way to say please be good to me in the coming year.
05:24Nowadays, there are fewer concierges, but the tradition endures,
05:27namely for cleaners, garbage collectors, post office workers, and firefighters.
05:32Of course, it is no longer generally 10% of rent.
05:35However, the practice is outlawed in some places for certain professions.
05:40There is no national law on this.
05:42But, for example, in Paris, garbage collectors are not allowed to ask for these tips
05:46because people were and still do pretend to be city workers.
05:50So you have to be wary.
05:51And with these tips, les étrenes, there is sometimes a mix of sincerity and also strategy,
05:58making them one of the more unique aspects of tipping here in France.
06:00But at the end of the day, it is all about giving thanks and also helping others out,
06:05which is indeed a beautiful thing.
06:07Absolutely.
06:07Solange Mugin, thanks very much.
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