A receipt from the Flea Street Cafe in Menlo Park explains how the service charge will be shared with the staff. In most places, restaurants do not have to give money from service charges to workers.

The owner of Che Fico in San Francisco uses a 10% dining-in charge to fund competitive wages and a 401k plan with an employer 4% match for workers.

Of all the restaurant trends that have persisted since 2020, from the QR code menu to parklets, perhaps the stickiest, most controversial thing is the service charge.

They can seem pretty arbitrary: At a recent meal at Z&Y Restaurant in San Francisco’s Chinatown, my bill included an 18% “service fee.” When I stopped at Pacific Heights’ Spruce for a burger a few months ago, there was a 20% service charge and a 3.75% charge for “S.F.-mandated employer expenses.” At the restaurant inside the ritzy Madrona Hotel in Healdsburg, the “employee mandate” was just 2% of my bill.

While tip-like in appearance, however, none of these charges were tips. And without clear rules for how these charges should be used and explained, these fees are causing problems for everyone.

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As the range of percentages and terminologies indicates, the world of restaurant service charges is one of total anarchy. Unlike tips, which must go entirely to service staff, every cent of a service charge technically belongs to........

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