UK plan to get tips to staff who earned them

Unions have welcomed plans to make sure staff receive tips left by customers in bars and restaurants.

The British government announced a consultation on moves to ensure that additional payments for service should be voluntary to the consumer and received in full by workers.

Plans include updating the current voluntary code of practice and putting it on a statutory footing to increase employer compliance, increasing transparency for consumers to make it clearer that tips are discretionary, and preventing or limiting any employer deduction from tips except for those required under tax law.

Unite has been campaigning for Government action after complaining that some companies were counting tips as part of a worker’s pay.

Business Secretary Sajid Javid said: “We want workers who earn a tip to be able to keep it. That’s why I, like many others, was disappointed by the tipping practices of some of our well-known chains. This has to change.”

Dave Turnbull, Unite’s officer for the hospitality sector, said: “This is fantastic news. It has taken us eight months to get this report to conclude but at long last it has come down on the side of the waiting staff.

“It is a massive victory for all those waiting staff who have worked tirelessly to expose sharp practices in the hospitality industry.”