Everyone wants to feel appreciated, especially during the holiday season. You can spread Christmas cheer by tipping your domestic professionals this year. If you don't know exactly how much to tip, you're in luck. Zagat recently released its annual holiday tipping survey, which asked Americans about their generosity.
According to the survey, nannies average the highest tips, edging out the amount of money given to housekeepers.
"But the nanny still gets the best tip — $331 on average, even though that's the smallest payout in at least three years, according to Zagat. The housekeeper will score $132 in tips this Christmas, while the school superintendent will land $111," states LATimes.com.
Other key findings from the survey include:
- Show me the money: Giving cash is still the preferred tipping method. Seventy percent of those surveyed give cash, while 26 percent give a gift certificate and 25 percent gift a bottle of wine or liquor.
- Who do you plan on tipping?: Nearly half of Americans surveyed (47 percent) plan on tipping their housekeeper or maid. Forty-seven percent also plan on tipping their mailman and 41 percent will tip their hairdresser.
- Wine and dine: When dining at a restaurant, attentiveness of the server is the number one factor that affects the amount of the tip, followed by friendliness. Quality of work tends to have a big influence on the tip amount given to domestic service professionals as well.
We at Colonial Domestic Agency wish you a happy holiday season! If you are looking to hire a domestic service professional for your holiday parties, or for the upcoming year, be sure to use our Los Angeles nanny agency!