Community | July 30, 2008 | 7 comments

Restaurant tipping law to change

source: http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/business/7533863.stm

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Employers are to be banned from using tips and service charges to "top up" staff pay to meet the minimum wage.

Business Secretary John Hutton said there needed to be more transparency in tipping. He called on employers to clarify how tips were distributed allowing customers to know where their money was going and whether or not the establishment operated a fair tipping policy.

"When people leave a tip, in a restaurant or elsewhere, they expect it to go to service staff and as consumers, we've got a right to know if that actually happens. This is an issue of fairness and common sense, and it's one many people clearly care a lot about."

TUC General Secretary Brendan Barber said that presently "unscrupulous" employers could "cheat" workers out of tips that were meant for them. "The government is right to make sure that workers can keep their tips and that the responsibility to pay the minimum wage rests squarely with employers," he said.

Unions have welcomed the move, saying that not allowing employees to have tips in addition to pay is an "abuse".

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7 comments // Restaurant tipping law to change

  • Owwmykneecap
    • 0
      Owwmykneecap  

    • Brilliant.
      I hate tipping, for various reasons, the chief being that its an excuse to pay people bad wages.

      Where i work, we have to give tips to charity. (i hardly ever get em either way.)

    • 3 years ago
  • currentlyreading
    • 0
      currentlyreading  

    • I never understood why that law was passed anyway. It's truly unfair. People usually cannot even survive on one job these days. That policy has to change not only in the UK but everywhere where this policy is being used. If restaurants can't pay their employees the basic minimum wage then they should find alternatives. Because restaurants that can pay their employees even more then the minimum wage are using this to their advantage.

    • 3 years ago
  • letushavepeace
    • 0
      letushavepeace  

    • I've been a server/bartender for over 5 years and think a lot of patrons would be surprised to learn that the tip they leave does not stay fully in the hands of their waitperson but rather a percentage of it goes to the hosts, bussers, and bartenders of the restaurant as well. Think about that before you decide to tip a measly 10%...or not tip at all, because in doing so you just forced a percentage of your meal to be paid for by your server.

    • 3 years ago
  • AndreaKnoll
    • 0
      AndreaKnoll  

    • Many years ago I worked in a restaurant and bar where I was appalled to find I had to hand my tips over to those above me. I'm sure those I served would have been mighty upset if they'd known about this dishonest policy too. I left after 3 weeks.....

    • 3 years ago
  • MissAmanda
  • RudyRudell
    • 0
      RudyRudell  

    • Didn't Bennigans just file for bankruptcy? The restaurant biz is truly hurting right now. Although I believe in the original American business model of manufacture goods as cheaply as possible without sacrificing quality, sell them for as highly as possible and then in turn pay your workers as high as possible. So I am strongly for this.

      Seeing as wait-staff is one of those last jobs large companies are unable to outsource this is great.

    • 3 years ago
  • torybart
    • 0
      torybart  

    • This is pretty sweet. It's almost impossible to survive on minimum wage so how bad would it be to make less than minimum wage. I say protect all workers so I welcome this just like the unions do. Now let's hope they find a good and fair way to enforce it.

    • 3 years ago
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