{"id":6708,"date":"2015-11-10T16:15:11","date_gmt":"2015-11-10T16:15:11","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/unitelive.org\/?p=6708"},"modified":"2015-11-10T16:15:11","modified_gmt":"2015-11-10T16:15:11","slug":"stop-tipping-rip-off","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/unitelive.test.igniteamt.com\/?p=6708","title":{"rendered":"Stop tipping rip-off"},"content":{"rendered":"
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Restaurant workers need \u00e2\u20ac\u0098decisive government action\u00e2\u20ac\u2122 to stop employers creaming off their tips, Unite has said in response to the government\u00e2\u20ac\u2122s investigation into abuse of tipping which closes today (November 10).<\/p>\n

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Responding to the business secretary Sajid Javid\u00e2\u20ac\u2122s call for evidence, launched in the wake of this summer\u00e2\u20ac\u2122s 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.<\/p>\n

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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.<\/p>\n

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The union also firmly rejects proposals to cap \u00e2\u20ac\u0098admin fees\u00e2\u20ac\u2122 – the amount a restaurant can deduct from tips paid on a card \u00e2\u20ac\u201c describing the move as legalising the raid on workers\u00e2\u20ac\u2122 wages.<\/p>\n

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\u00e2\u20ac\u015bWe welcome this long overdue investigation into abuse of tipping and urge the minister to take decisive action to bring fairness to the UK\u00e2\u20ac\u2122s low-paid hospitality workforce,\u00e2\u20ac\u0165 said Unite national officer Rhys McCarthy.<\/p>\n

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\u00e2\u20ac\u015bCustomers and staff alike are crying out for justice after this summer\u00e2\u20ac\u2122s media investigations lifted the lid on the murky world of tipping. They were outraged to discover that some of the country\u00e2\u20ac\u2122s best known high street chains were skimming off the tips from their minimum-waged workers.<\/p>\n

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McCarthy added that there can be \u00e2\u20ac\u015bno tinkering around the edges\u00e2\u20ac\u0165.<\/p>\n

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\u00e2\u20ac\u015bRestaurant workers should get 100 per cent of tips with control over how they are shared out to stop employers creaming them off,\u00e2\u20ac\u0165 he said.<\/p>\n

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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.<\/p>\n

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\u00e2\u20ac\u015bMany firms have simply ignored the voluntary code leading to them ripping off tips with impunity from staff,\u00e2\u20ac\u0165 he noted.<\/p>\n

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Currently, tips paid on a card and service charges are the legal property of the employer, not the waiter.<\/p>\n

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\u00e2\u20ac\u015bIt 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 \u00e2\u20ac\u0098admin fee\u00e2\u20ac\u2122 – however ethically dubious these practices may be,\u00e2\u20ac\u0165 McCarthy argued.<\/p>\n

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\u00e2\u20ac\u015bThe 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.\u00e2\u20ac\u0165<\/p>\n

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 <\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Restaurant workers need \u00e2\u20ac\u0098decisive government action\u00e2\u20ac\u2122 to stop employers creaming off their tips, Unite has said in response to the government\u00e2\u20ac\u2122s investigation into abuse of tipping which closes today (November 10).   Responding to the business secretary Sajid Javid\u00e2\u20ac\u2122s call for evidence, launched in the wake of this summer\u00e2\u20ac\u2122s row over big name restaurants skimming […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":5492,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":[],"categories":[1],"tags":[302],"wps_subtitle":"Call for action as gov't investigation ends","_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/unitelive.test.igniteamt.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/6708"}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/unitelive.test.igniteamt.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/unitelive.test.igniteamt.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/unitelive.test.igniteamt.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/unitelive.test.igniteamt.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcomments&post=6708"}],"version-history":[{"count":3,"href":"https:\/\/unitelive.test.igniteamt.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/6708\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":6711,"href":"https:\/\/unitelive.test.igniteamt.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/6708\/revisions\/6711"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/unitelive.test.igniteamt.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/media\/5492"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/unitelive.test.igniteamt.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fmedia&parent=6708"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/unitelive.test.igniteamt.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcategories&post=6708"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/unitelive.test.igniteamt.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Ftags&post=6708"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}