A bill forcing restaurants to tip all their staff, including any service charges, will come into effect after winning the support of lawmakers.
The private members’ bill on tips was brought forward by Conservative MP Dean Russell after the delay of a wider employment bill which was supposed to include the new rules.
It will make it illegal for employers to withhold tips and service charges from staff and give them the right to see an employer’s tips file to bring an employment tribunal.
A new regulatory code of practice is also due to be developed to provide businesses and employees with advice on how tips should be distributed.
The government, which formally backed the bill at its second reading in parliament on Friday, where it was passed by MPs, said it would benefit more than 2 million workers.
But the Unite trade union, which has been pushing for legislation to protect restaurant workers, said it was not confident the new rules would be adequate.
The union said proper reform would require scrapping the controversial tronc system, which sees a committee of employees vote on how tips paid by card are allocated. Unions also want tips to be distributed through payroll.
Dave Turnbull, Unite’s national hospitality officer, said: “This bill has been a long time in the making, but it certainly cannot be the last word in protecting tips. As the union has been fighting for reforms for years, it is the pressure from workers that has led to even this first step towards change. It is vital that what is passed as law has the full confidence of the hospitality workforce.
“Unfortunately, we are not confident at this stage that these measures will address the problems with tipping practices in the hospitality industry.”
Kate Nicholls, chief executive of UKHospitality, which represents hundreds of restaurants, bars and pubs, said: “Tipping and service charges provide a significant and welcome boost to the take home money hospitality workers take home. We are therefore pleased to see that this proposed legislation recommends that employers set out a fair staffing policy which means they all benefit.”
The plan to cap restaurant tips for staff was first proposed by the government more than five years ago and promised in September last year.
But hopes had faded that the new rules would be introduced after a second year of delays to the jobs bill, which was first promised in December 2019 after Boris Johnson’s general election victory and was said to be a way to improve rights of workers in the UK after Brexit.
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