New law could force hospitality businesses to hand over all tips to staff

Should this law have been implemented years ago?

While tipping waiters and bartenders may seem like a polite and generous thing to do, it is a sad reality that many hospitality workers don’t receive a certain percentage of their tips – it’s all too common these days for companies to pocket a percentage of staff tips without the customer’s knowledge, despite certain staff members relying on tips to make a reasonable living.

This kind of behaviour is rife at a number of establishments across not only Manchester, but the whole country.

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In recent years, several pledges have been made to stop employers making deductions from money left for their staff by customers, although legislative action has so far failed to make an impact.

A Government consultation launched in 2015 also found that restaurant customers were overwhelmingly in favour of the tips they paid going to the people who served them.

But now, change could finally be on the horizon – a brand new Tips Bill has been brought forward by Conservative MP Dean Russell in a bid to make progress on the issue and put protections in law.

If passed, the bill would prohibit employers from keeping tips intended for staff, as well as enable arrangements to be made about how tips are divided fairly between staff.

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Russell told the PA news agency: “When we look at the role that many people have when working in bars or restaurants and so on, the tips are often seen as part of the salary in a way – rightly or wrongly.

“It’s always felt wrong to me that businesses can take the tips that have been given by the customer directly to that individual or to the staff for businesses to go ‘Well, actually, that’s part of the payment for what they’re getting.’”

Russell added that there is a need to support the hospitality sector given its struggles during the Covid-19 pandemic, and this includes helping staff via a tips guarantee.