Page 6 - New England Condominium December 2019

6 NEW ENGLAND CONDOMINIUM -DECEMBER 2019 NEWENGLANDCONDO.COM TRENDS Holiday Tipping Etiquette Who Gets How Much? BY COOPER SMITH Whether you live in a suburb or in the maintenance and support workers often live says Glazer. “One person goes around collect- heart of the city, life is expensive. Sometimes it on-site and are essentially on-call 24 hours a ing money from everyone for all of the em- can feel as though everybody from the barista day. Though you may tip your custodian or ployees. Those who contribute get their name These people have a difficult, sometimes un- at your favorite coffee shop to the kid who your doorperson throughout the year for do- bags your groceries is trying to nickel-and- dime you half to death. Tip jars are every- where, sometimes decorated with winsome all they do—to give your building staff a little time to one’s maintenance service requests in point during the year, you owe it to your cus- appeals for change, and sometimes just sitting something extra during the holidays. Accord- there expectantly, waiting for you to pony up. The holiday season compounds the is- sue: there are gifts to be bought, travel to be who have provided service to you throughout stuffing Hallmark cards. booked, parties to attend, relatives to deal the year—letting them know you’re pleased with… and the anxiety that many of us feel with what they have done for you.” when we try to figure out what kind of tip to give the people who make our everyday life a ings, there are no hard-and-fast rules on ex- little easier: our building and HOA staff. Clearly, a reward for work well done is a association’s staff; indeed, it’s next to impos- welcome gift, especially at this time of year. sible to put a price tag on a secure building, an building staff. According to Post’s website much such a task is worth to you, and show Building superintendents, chief engineers, important package collected in a timely man- maintenance persons and handymen often ner, or a happy, tail-wagging dog who your help determine the gifts you give your build- find themselves under sinks or in dark base- ments at odd hours, patching leaky pipes or you were stuck in traffic. coaxing temperamental water heaters back to life. While building staff in colder climates and tipping is on people’s minds: whether it’s shovel snow, scatter salt, and do a score of appropriate—or even legal—to use common other tasks made that much harder by winter funds for tips and bonuses. In one case a few weather, Sunshine State staff members deal years back, an HOA in Boca Raton, Florida more modest building or HOA) with heat, humidity, and the occasional hur- ricane – maybe they've even had to deal with common funds to give the employees of its run-down tenement owned by your absentee building has a contract with a private waste a gator in the swimming pool. Regardless of management firm holiday bonuses. In short, uncle, the issue of tipping is hardly your first management company; $15 to $20 is the cus- the temperature, doormen and lobby atten- dants wait patiently, ready to help you with funds for paying non-HOA employees, and self-sufficient cooperative community that Tipping.org. your shopping bags or sign for your Amazon the condo’s contract with its management composts its own mulch and where every deliveries. At this time of year, it’s not only company made it explicit that management household has a hand in daily maintenance customary to show your appreciation for the company staff were not association employ- work your building or association staff does ees. Therefore, spending common funds on for you and your neighbors—it’s just plain bonuses, nice gesture though it was, repre- good manners. Why Tip? “But,” you may ask, “why tip at all? Open- ing the door and helping residents out is the sociates. P.A., in Fort Lauderdale, Florida, “I gift!—and are averages of suggested figures the value of the gratuity or gift doesn’t exceed doorman’s job—he or she gets a salary al- ready.” A good point, and one that bears clos- er examination. In North America, the word bonuses to association employees. Unfor- “TIPS” in modern parlance is actually an ac- ronym for “To Insure Prompt Service,” and ciation is contractually obligated to pay these the list of people who are commonly tipped employees a gift or year-end bonus, and this Maintenance Personnel: $30-$100. According much you appreciate their work. includes hair and nail salon workers, bellhops, amount is included in the budget, the associa- cab drivers, newspaper delivery people, por- ters, valets, bartenders, and of course, restau- rant wait staff. Recognizing Your Staff With the advent of modern multifamily housing, apartment building and homeowner association staff joined the tip list. As far as your building support staff is concerned, the word “TIPS” could very well stand for “Time- Intensive Perpetual Service,” since many ing various small jobs for you, it’s customary— and an important gesture of appreciation for that translates to quicker or slower response dog committed an indoor indiscretion at any ing to etiquette-master Emily Post, holiday assume you can withdraw a fat stack of bills tipping “is a way to say ‘thank you’ to those from your HOA’s operating fund and start when the amount of your tip is directly pro- When it comes to HOAs or condo build- actly how much to tip each member of your ables to take into consideration when it comes of bed in the dead of night to fish your cat doorman was kind enough to walk because ing staff are: That said, there is one caveat boards must keep in mind when the holidays roll around you’ve known the person was ordered to cease using the association’s the condo’s bylaws forbade using common priority. Same goes if you’re part of a super- sented an improper use of funds. According to attorney Eric Glazer, found- ing partner of the law firm of Glazer & As- always get asked about the board’s right to dip published by Emily Post, the folks at tipping. into the operating account to give Christmas org, and financial advisor Jean Chatzky, finan- tunately, the answer is that unless the asso- tion cannot use the members’ funds for such depending on whether you live in a luxury a purpose.” Glazer is quick to point out that this how much the staff is at your beck-and-call personal trainers, nannies, housekeepers, doesn’t mean that tipping or seasonal bonuses during the year.” are illegal, or somehow improper—they just have to be given properly, in accordance with ping.org’s holiday tipping guidelines page, professionals is wide, and left mostly to per- business law and an association’s own bylaws. “Take into consideration how nice they are to sonal judgment. You need not tip your prop- If you want to gift the staff at your manage- ment company’s home office, “Do what we if they’ve actually opened the door for you al- did in the co-op I grew up in in Brooklyn,” ways. To maintain this level of quality service, on the Christmas card that is given to the pleasant job. If your kid dropped gooey candy staff,” and those who don’t, don’t. (Whether or popcorn all over the lobby carpet, or your the New Year is another matter...) Don’t just todian to remember. By the Numbers So either your documents support the son during the year. If you just greet each giving of tips, or you’ve decided to take up a other in the hall, the lower end of the range separate collection. There are a few basic vari- to deciding how much to gift your HOA or out of the garbage chute … ask yourself how (www.emilypost.com), the main factors that your appreciation accordingly. • How pleased you are with their service • The frequency of the service or how long special care of your vehicle, or have it ready • Your budget • Your regional customs • The type of establishment (a deluxe vs. month’s parking rate to be divided among the Clearly, if you live in the basement unit of a and upkeep. If your building or HOA is like most how- ever, the following suggestions should help ments—prohibit their workers from receiving you figure out who gets what. The figures money as a gift or gratuity, but there’s no law quoted below are guidelines for what each against doing nice things for people at holi- household should contribute – not the total day time, or any other time of year. As long as cial editor for NBC’s Today Show and a finan- cial ambassador for the AARP. Building Superintendents and Building sor is another great way to let them know how to Chatzky, “There’s a pretty wide range here, building or a more run-of-the-mill one, and also want to remember during the holidays— Doormen: $25 and up. According to Tip- you, if you get lots of visitors or deliveries, and erty manager or the outside contractors that you have to pay for it.” Building Custodians/Porters: $20-$30. Handymen: $20-$30. This is an instance portionate to the amount of work you’ve re- quested from your building/HOA handyper- should suffice. If you’ve gotten him or her out Garage Attendants: $10-$25. If you use your car at odd hours, or if the attendants in your association’s garage or parking lot take for you when you get there, an acknowledg- ment of their attention is in order. You may tip each attendant individually, or earmark a half- garage staff. Garbage Collectors: $15-$20. If your tomary amount for holiday tips, according to Mail Carriers: Same as garbage collectors. There is another caveat here, though. Gov- ernment agencies—including the U.S. Postal Service and municipal sanitation depart- $20 or so, there should be no problem. Fresh baked goods or coffee shop gift cards are nev- er a bad idea, and a letter of appreciation to your mail carrier or sanitation team’s supervi- Other Folks There is a host of other people you might babysitters, your hair stylist—and the range of what’s considered an appropriate tip for these work at your property. continued on page 10