It's not actually an obligation here, either. But, bring up tipping in just about any conversation and there will be a debate about whether it is actually an obligation. Tipping basically supplements a worker's wages, and a lot of people feel an obligation to tip simply because a worker provided a service for them. But other people believe that tipping is reserved only as a reward for good service. The minimum is generally considered to be 10% or 15% of the bill while 20% is just about the maximum if your server did a really excellent job. Many, if not most, (if not all?) restaurants are exempt from the federal minimum wage ($7.25 per hour) because it is accepted that tipping supplements the server's wages. The current debate on that topic is whether increasing the minimum wage will raise food prices, with one side claiming that the servers deserve to earn sufficient income and the other side claiming they don't want to pay $15 for a Big Mac.

We also tip other service providers, such as hair stylists, manicurists, Uber drivers, dog groomers, etc.