Clodagh Finn: Don’t tip? That’s your right but you must never have waited on tables

Tipping is not just about paying for a service; it's about expressing gratitude and showing respect

The Payment of Wages Bill gives waiters a legal right to their tips and is designed to stop employers using tips to make up basic wages.

AS a former pizza waitress, I always tip. And in cash. When I don’t have any, I ask the server — in hushed tones — if the credit card gratuity will go to them. Their reaction tells you all you need to know. If there’s an uncomfortable silence or a backward glance to see who might be listening, it’s a firm ‘no’.

All that will (hopefully) change now thanks to new legislation that ensures your small token of gratitude will reach its intended destination. The Payment of Wages Bill, which passed in the Oireachtas last week, gives pizza waitresses everywhere — and tens, nay, hundreds of thousands more — a legal right to their tips.