More and more places are asking for tips. Hidden cameras reveal who is and isn't getting them

Be it buying a burger and fries or getting your car repaired, enter your credit or debit card into a machine and you might get a not-so-subtle nudge: how much would you like to tip?

But a hidden camera investigation involving 100 businesses by CBC's Marketplace has exposed there's no guarantee the tip you leave is going to the person it was intended for.

CBC journalists went undercover, posing as consumers, to businesses — including sit-down restaurants, fast food, retail, auto service centres and self-serve kiosks — counting up who's asking for a tip, why, and where all that extra money is really going.

While it's illegal for employers in some provinces to pocket tips, front-line employees say it's still happening: the undercover team heard that complaint at six Ontario fast-food establishments, while research found that hundreds of employees have filed complaints of their tips being held back in Ontario and other provinces that have similar tip-protection legislation.

Marketplace is not naming the businesses it visited in an effort to not identify the workers who spoke to undercover journalists.

"Some of those places are actually breaking the [employment standards] law, but it's easy to hide," says Michael von Massow, a professor at the University of Guelph who studies the economy of food and tipping.

The complaints come as Canadians are leaving bigger tips than before.

Square, a technology and payment services company, says the average tip in Canada left on its platform jumped from 16 per cent in 2019 to 20 per cent in 2023.

Tip prompts appeared on payment terminals at 72 out of 100 places visited in the spot check, with suggested tip amounts ranging from five per cent up to 30 per cent. The machines also included options to leave a custom amount or no tip.

And the scope of where people feel pressure to tip is growing, too, says Marc Mentzer, a professor of human resources at University of Saskatchewan's Edwards School of Business who has studied tipping.

"The phenomenon of tipping is spreading to transactions that would never have been considered … five years ago," he said.

Marketplace uncovered tip prompts at places you might not expect — or where it's unclear what the tip is for, including an auto service centre, a wedding dress shop, a jewelry store, online merchants and self-serve kiosks.

Mentzer said it's "utterly ridiculous" to tip for services like these, because they're services that you wouldn't expect to be asked for a gratuity or involve no human interaction.

"Where does this take us? Will we be expected to tip when buying groceries?"