New law to protect staff tips

The UK government has announced plans to legislate to make it illegal for employers to withhold tips from workers. The UK Government estimates that this new legislation will help around 2 million people working in one of the 190,000 businesses across the hospitality, leisure and services sectors, where tipping is common place and can make up a large part of their income.

Plans to ban employers from retaining staff tips were first mooted in May 2016 when they first consulted on the matter, following this an intention to legislate was announced as part of the UK Government's 'Good Work Plan' back in December 2018.

The recent announcement details that the supporting legislation will form part of a new Employment Bill, which will require Employers to distribute tips to staff without deduction, distribute tips in a fair and transparent way, have a written policy on tips and keep records on how tips will be dealt with.

Alongside the legislation the UK Government has announced that a Statutory Code of Practice on tipping will also be introduced. Under the changes, if an employer breaks the rules they can be taken to an Employment Tribunal, where employers can be forced to compensate workers, often in addition to fines.

Currently there is no timeline for when draft legislation will be brought to parliament, however it is recommended that Employers within the sector consider the implications of this announcement on their business and whether or not they will have to make changes to their current practices.