Welcome change..
Law to stop bosses taking staff tips
GREEDY restaurant owners could finally be banned from pocketing staff tips under a promised new crackdown.
It follows separate campaigns by the Mirror, and Labour MP Stella Creasy with the GMB union, which yesterday welcomed the pledge to bring in tough laws to protect hospitality workers.
Theresa May said yesterday she will force bosses to hand over all gratuities left by customers.
The PM added: “We will introduce tough new legislation to ensure workers get to keep all of their tips, banning employers from making any deductions.”
The Mirror has for years been highlighting the scandal of restaurant chains which take a cut of tips with our Fair Tips campaign.
GMB Regional Officer Perry Phillips said: “I welcome the news that a new law will be introduced banning restaurant employers from taking the tips of their staff.”
Most customers want their tips to go to the people who serve them, found a public consultation on behalf of the Government.
Some abuses have already been banned, such as paying below the legal minimum wage and using tips to make up the difference.
But some restaurants have found other ways to pocket tips. Chains including Cafe Rouge and Bella Italia have taken a 10% “administration fee”, now cut to 2.5%, of tips left by diners who pay by credit or debit card. TGI Fridays has a policy of taking up to 40% of tips left for table staff and giving the money to kitchen staff. The chain says this means “all team members responsible for our guests’ service are rewarded”. But Unite claimed it was a way of topping up low pay among kitchen workers.
Unite says 100% of tips must go to staff to decide how they are distributed. Regional officer Dave Turnbull said: “It’s unclear whether the government’s legislation will address this kind of situation.”