Government Revisits Employment Tips Bill

The Employment (Allocation of Tips) Bill 2022-23, introduced in the House of Commons by Dean Russell MP as a Private Member’s Bill on 15th June, will be listed for a second reading on 15th July.

The Employment (Allocation of Tips) Bill would amend the Employment Rights Act 1996 to insert new legal obligations on employers. These would require employers to ensure that all tips, gratuities and service charges they receive or exercise control over must be paid to workers in full without deductions and by the end of the following month. It would also introduce obligations to ensure the fairness of arrangements to distribute those tips among workers, either when distributed by the employer or via an independent tronc.

Under the Bill, the Secretary of State would be able to introduce a new code of practice about the fair and transparent distribution of qualifying tips, gratuities and service charges which would help to indicate what would count as a fair distribution for the purposes of the new legal obligations.

These provisions would apply both to those working directly for hospitality businesses and to agency workers supplied to work in those businesses.

NCASS comments:

NCASS are in support of the private members bill to ensure staff tips are distributed to staff fairly. Hospitality workers were some of the worst affected by the pandemic and while tips should not be seen as a replacement for a fair wage, they reward dedication and talent and can be an invaluable top up that keeps great staff in the industry.

Both customers and staff have every right to expect that tips go to the staff not to top-up the hospitality businesses’ turnover. The bill has the full support of NCASS and we would be happy to comment on or contribute to efforts to make this law. In order to rebuild hospitality, we need to ensure that people are treated with respect, paid fairly and that hard work and great service is rewarded whether hospitality is a career choice or a stepping stone. Ensuring that tips are given to the correct people would show that the government is backing the growth we all want to see in the sector.

You can read the Bill in full here and stay up to date with other industry news here.