Commonly used terms
Terms that are used throughout these notes are explained here.
A tip/gratuity is an uncalled for and spontaneous payment offered by a customer either in cash, as part of a cheque payment, or as a specific gratuity on a credit/debit card payment.
A service charge is an amount added to the customer’s bill before it is presented to the customer. A service charge can be voluntary or mandatory.
A tronc or tronc system is a special pay arrangement used to distribute tips, gratuities and service charges.
The tronc operator is the person / persons with the responsibility of operating the tronc.
Tronc members are those workers who are eligible to receive an allocation of tips, gratuities and/or service charges through the tronc.