The government has unveiled plans to overhaul tipping practices. Most hospitality workers – many of whom are earning the National Minimum Wage or National Living Wage – rely on tipping to top up their income. But research shows that many businesses that add a discretionary service charge onto customer’s bills are keeping part or all of these service charges, instead of passing them onto staff.
The government will make it illegal for employers to withhold tips from workers. The move is set to help around 2 million people working in one of the 190,000 businesses across the hospitality, leisure and services sectors, where tipping is commonplace and can make up a large part of their income.
This will ensure customers know tips are going in full to workers and not businesses, ensuring workers receive a fair day’s pay for a fair day’s work. The legislation will include:
- a requirement for all employers to pass on tips to workers without any deductions
- a Statutory Code of Practice setting out how tips should be distributed to ensure fairness and transparency
- new rights for workers to make a request for information relating to an employer’s tipping record, enabling them to bring forward a credible claim to an employment tribunal
Under the changes, if an employer breaks the rules they can be taken to an Employment Tribunal, where employers can be forced to compensate workers, often in addition to fines.
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