WRC finds more than 100 breaches of laws on tipping staff

Before December, no law existed obliging employers to pass on tips received by their staff. This left a customer unaware whether or not the tip left would be received by the intended person. The worker, similarly, had no protection if their employer chose to keep some or all of their tips. 

More than 100 breaches of the new laws ensuring workers receive their tips have been detected in the seven months since the powers came into force.

The Workplace Relations Commission (WRC) has carried out 1,300 inspections of pubs, restaurants, hotels, and hairdressers since the legislation was enacted in December. A report compiled by the Department of Enterprise said the early WRC data shows that “compliance is high” with the legislation.

The department noted that the legislation was prompted by anecdotal evidence that some employers used tips or gratuities given by customers and intended for staff as a means of meeting their payroll or other overheads.

Before December, no law existed obliging employers to pass on tips received by their staff. This left a customer unaware whether or not the tip left would be received by the intended person. The worker, similarly, had no protection if their employer chose to keep some or all of their tips. 

Over the first seven months, the WRC had carried out 1,066 inspections in the food and beverage sector, 230 in the hair and beauty sector and 73 in the hotel sector.

A total of 113 contraventions of the act were detected. Most of these (96) related to the failure to display a tips and gratuities notice as required under the legislation. A further 11 related to a failure to provide a written statement to employees in relation to the distribution of tips and gratuities, and six for failing to display a contract workers’ notice.

The legislation

The laws passed by the Oireachtas placed tips and gratuities outside the scope of a person’s contractual wages, obliged employers to display prominently their policy on the distribution of cash and card tips and obliges employers to distribute tips in a fair manner when a customer pays by card.

Furthermore, anything deemed a “service charge” must be distributed to staff as if it was a tip or gratuity.

Staff can make a complaint to the WRC in cases where there are unlawful deductions from tips. When such a complaint is upheld, an employee can be awarded compensation of up to four weeks’ wages.

'More can be done'

Unions welcomed the move as a “good start” in improving the conditions and lives of workers within hospitality but said this measure shouldn’t mark an end to improvements sought within the sector.

“For the lowest-paid workers in our economy, there is a lot more which can be done, starting with a living wage, and better terms, and conditions so that they can build sustainable careers,” ONE Galway’s Clem Shevlin said.

The department said that the objective of the WRC is to seek to achieve compliance in the first instance and avoid recourse to costly and lengthy legal proceedings “where possible”.

The department added that employers are given “all reasonable opportunity” to address failings but the WRC will go so far as to initiate legal proceedings in cases where an employer has failed or is unwilling to be in compliance.