Restaurants face ban on taking tips from staff
Restaurants will be legally banned from taking tips from staff under new plans announced by Theresa May.
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The Prime Minister Theresa May has revealed plans that restaurants and bars are to be banned from keeping any of the money handed over by diners as tips to waiting staff.
It has been reported that the ‘urgent’ legislation will be implemented to crack down on eliminating the practice of employers making deductions from tips. These proposed changes would affect around two million hospitality workers who are working in 150,000 hotels, pubs and restaurants throughout the UK.
The plans follow a government consultation which revealed that diners are overwhelmingly in favour of the tips they pay going to the people who serve them.
Fred Sirieix, General manager at Galvin at Windows has asked for more clarification on the proposed legislation.
The government announcement about the distribution of tips in restaurants is ambiguous. Do they mean tips or service charge? Do they plan on informing the public about the key difference between the two?
— Fred Sirieix (@fredsirieix1) October 1, 2018
Louise Haigh, MP for Sheffield Heeley said:
I worked as a waitress for 7 years. This is long overdue and congrats to @unitetheunion for leading the campaign.
But we need much more fundamental change to improve the lives of those who work in our low-paid jobs and sectors.https://t.co/7Mo9DAQEwj
— Louise Haigh MP (@LouHaigh) October 1, 2018
Chef Damian Wawrzyniak agreed with the proposed legislation:
Well done on new restaurant tips legislations coming into force soon!
Shame on restaurateurs and chain restaurants who do not share / give service charge to their staff! Service charge should be scrapped off completely and tipping decision left to guests only! #today
— Damian Wawrzyniak (@ChefConsultant) October 1, 2018
However, there have been some people questioning whether money yielded from tips should be allocated out to both front and back of house? One Twitter user said:
@Iromg Personally, I think tips should go to the restaurant and not just the waitering staff, provided it is distributed evenly between ALL the restaurant staff, inc. chefs, kitchen staff, and yes....even the management themselves, because serving good food is a team effort.
— goatsROB (@Goatman501) October 1, 2018
Several chain restaurants including Bella Italia, Cafe Rouge, Giraffe, Prezzo and Strada have faced criticism for making deductions of around an average of 10% of tips with the likes of Zizzi and Ask taking an eight per cent deduction on tips paid by credit or debit card.
TGI Fridays are also a restaurant chain that has come under fire earlier this year. Members of the Unite union who work for the American chain have protested over a decision to redirect revenue from tips paid on credit cards from waiting staff to boost the low wages of kitchen workers.
Speaking to the BBC, Unite regional officer Dave Turnbull said:
“Cracking down on tipping abuses was long overdue and the union would seek assurances that the legislation truly delivered fair tips.
There will be question marks as to whether it will deal with the myriad of scams some restaurants use to pilfer staff tips to boost their profits, in addition to dealing with the unjust situation at TGI Fridays, who use tips left for waiting staff to subsidise the low wages of skilled kitchen staff."
Mrs May said:
“The unemployment rate under this Government is now the lowest since the 1970s, but we want to ensure everyone is treated fairly in the workplace. “That’s why we will introduce tough new legislation to ensure that workers get to keep all their tips, banning employers from making any deductions. “It’s another way we are building an economy that works for everyone.”
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