Stop tipping rip-off

Restaurant workers need ‘decisive government action’ to stop employers creaming off their tips, Unite has said in response to the government’s investigation into abuse of tipping which closes today (November 10).

Responding to the business secretary Sajid Javid’s call for evidence, launched in the wake of this summer’s row over big name restaurants skimming off tips and service charges, Unite wants primary legislation introduced to give restaurant workers 100 per cent ownership rights over tips to stamp out rip-off practices.

Unite further calls on Javid to conduct an immediate and urgent review of the 2009 voluntary Code of Best Practice which has been widely ignored by industry bosses.

The union also firmly rejects proposals to cap ‘admin fees’ – the amount a restaurant can deduct from tips paid on a card – describing the move as legalising the raid on workers’ wages.

“We welcome this long overdue investigation into abuse of tipping and urge the minister to take decisive action to bring fairness to the UK’s low-paid hospitality workforce,” said Unite national officer Rhys McCarthy.

“Customers and staff alike are crying out for justice after this summer’s media investigations lifted the lid on the murky world of tipping. They were outraged to discover that some of the country’s best known high street chains were skimming off the tips from their minimum-waged workers.

McCarthy added that there can be “no tinkering around the edges”.

“Restaurant workers should get 100 per cent of tips with control over how they are shared out to stop employers creaming them off,” he said.

McCarthy explained that there would be no tipping abuse scandal had the government been true to its word in the last parliament and carried out the promised review of the 2009 code, agreed with employers, consumer groups and trade unions.

“Many firms have simply ignored the voluntary code leading to them ripping off tips with impunity from staff,” he noted.

Currently, tips paid on a card and service charges are the legal property of the employer, not the waiter.

“It is this which makes it perfectly legal for employers to dip into to tips to cover everything from breakages, till shortages and customers who walk out without paying, as well as charging an ‘admin fee’ – however ethically dubious these practices may be,” McCarthy argued.

“The minster needs to understand that until there are clear and mandatory rules giving staff 100 per cent ownership rights over tips with control over how they are shared out, rogue bosses will continue to find ways to dip into tips.”