You heard right, fares never included tips.

This week a landmark settlement was reached between Uber and drivers in California and Massachusetts.  Maybe you heard about it.  While most people are familiar with the primary claim, that drivers were employees, they may not know other aspects of the class action.  In particular, the item about tips and how Uber mislead every passenger with their "tips aren't necessary" phrasing.

For many drivers the tipping issue is larger than the employee / employer relationship issue. Mainly because as Uber continues to force their rate drops on drivers (as passengers benefit) the drivers have no other way to make up the shortfall than with tips.  Face it, in many cities drivers receive base wages about as attractive as the waitress at your local restaurant.  And since the topic of tipping was tabu in the eyes of Uber, many drivers had no way of actually clarifying their position.

That all changed late Thursday night (4/21/16) when Uber agreed not only to compensate the drivers who were part of the class action, they also agreed that tips were never included in the fare and that drivers have the right to request tips, even put up signage that tips are appreciated.

If you're an Uber driver and you aren't sure how to go about taking advantage of Uber's new tipping position, try putting a few hints in your casual conversations.  Here are suggestions I've used that come from both personal experience and driver suggestions.

1. When passenger asks you if you make good money respond in a way that includes a variation of "I do when I get tips"
   
   
2. When a passenger asks about what interesting, funny story you may have, try to end the story with either "And I didn't even get a tip" or "And he gave me a great tip!"
   
   
3. When you have a new passenger, first time rider, be sure to let them know that the fare will be automatically charged to their account but the tip function isn't included in the app - it's factual and gets them to thinking.
   
   
4.  When a passenger asks you at the end of the ride "So that's it? This is all on my card right?" you say yes, everything but the tip.

Those 4 comments, along with providing 5 star service,  have yielded tips better than 50% of of the time. Tipping has to be a part of the casual conversation. Don't force the issue or ask outright.

I also suggest getting a Square or Paypal triangle card swiping plug in which will allow you to take non cash tips.  And remember to always keep your tips out of sight for personal safety reasons - it has never helped me get more tips by leaving cash in an obvious place.

There is some concern that asking for (or talking about) tips can cause ratings to decline.  I would say that if you currently have good ratings you're already on the right track and by keeping the conversation light and professional you won't see any decline in ratings.

Here's a breakdown of how often people tip:

Click here to contact me with your questions :)