Daily Mirror (Northern Ireland)
TIPPING POINT.. ULSTER STAFF SET TO MISS OUT
Bosses keep ‘hand in the jar’ Bar workers union hits out
BAR and restaurant bosses will be able to carry on “sticking their hand in the staff tip jar” thanks to Stormont being suspended, it was warned yesterday.
Union Unite spoke out as the Government promised legislation to force hospitality employers to make sure all workers’ tips go in their pockets.
But the legislation, when it is passed, will not be applied in Northern Ireland as the issue is a devolved matter.
Pub and restaurant workers here say managers can take money from staff tips to make up things like breakages and cash registers being short as well as “admin” costs.
It is already illegal, across the UK, to use tips to make up the minimum wage but Unite claimed it is still a “widespread practice” for tips to not all go to workers.
Part of the issue, the union says, is tips and “service charges” being included in the bill or paid by card.
However, they added cash that goes in a jar, or a “tronc” pay system, can also end up lifted by a manager before being divvied up between workers.
Unite’s Neil Moore told the Mirror he is aware of Northern Ireland bars where tips do not all go to staff.
He added: “It’s just expected with a lot of staff that the tips end up being used to make up a shortfall in the till for example.
“You can have people working behind a bar where it’s three, four deep, flat-out all night and at the end the till is 10 or 20 quid short, so a manager will just take the money out of tips.
“I’ve said to people to just stand up and say ‘no’. They’re already on minimum wage so they shouldn’t be reaching into own pockets for a mistake that mightn’t even be theirs.”
The Fair Tips bill was included in Queen’s Speech on Monday.
Mr Moore urged workers in Northern Ireland’s hospitality sector to join a union as the “best way to defend themselves and secure improvements”. He added: “Even if the Tories are going to give in to the pressure built up by Unite and those other unions who have made
YESTERDAY UNITE
an issue of the theft of hospitality workers’ wages, the reality is that since this is a devolved issue – this legislation would not extend to Northern Ireland. Hospitality workers here would continue to be subject to this practice regardless of whether it is made unlawful in England and Wales.
“Last Sunday marked the one thousandth day without any functioning government here – it appears unlikely that hospitality workers can expect any help from local politicians in the near future.
“In any case, the best way to secure decent pay, terms and conditions and to end the theft of tips is for workers in this sector to join a fightback union like Unite and to get organised. The lessons of the last few weeks are clear – when workers organise, everyone wins.” Hospitality Ulster chief Colin Neill said: “Unlike the rest of the UK, Northern Ireland does not have the wide range of big chains which this proposed legislation is targeted towards.
“The majority of the hospitality sector that we represent are SMES and family owned, and in our experience we find that tips go directly to staff.”