Employment (Allocation of Tips) Act 2023 explained
| Short Title: | Employment (Allocation of Tips) Act 2023 |
| Type: | Act |
| Parliament: | Parliament of the United Kingdom |
| Long Title: | An Act to ensure that tips, gratuities and service charges paid by customers are allocated to workers. |
| Year: | 2023 |
| Citation: | 2023 c. 13 |
| Introduced Commons: | Virginia Crosbie MP |
| Introduced Lords: | Andrew Robathan |
| Royal Assent: | 2 May 2023 |
| Commencement: | 1 October 2024 |
| Status: | current |
| Original Text: | https://www.legislation.gov.uk/ukpga/2023/13/contents/enacted |
| Use New Uk-Leg: | yes |
The Employment (Allocation of Tips) Act 2023 (c. 13) (sometimes known as the Tipping Act) is an act of the Parliament of the United Kingdom designed to ensure tips, gratuities and service charges are allocated to workers.
History
Several employers such as Pizza Express and Giraffe were accused of abusing a voluntary code of conduct.[1] Wahaca was criticised for taking deductions from certain employees' tips, although they had changed the policies by 2024.
Provisions
Under the law, a statutory code of practice will provide guidance on implementation[2]
Agency workers are also included by the legislation.
It is unclear if the legislation will require sharing tips with employees on maternity leave.[3]
Employment law is devolved to the Northern Ireland Assembly, so the act does not apply to Northern Ireland.[4]
Reception
Nisha Katona, owner of Mowgli Street Foods,said the law was necessary because "young people depend on the law to protect them", but also said that some businesses which would be "casualties" because they were unprepared.[5] Harriet Mansell, chef-owner of Lilac in Lyme Regis, acknowledged the need for transparency around tips, but also said that "some relief, independent restaurants like mine won’t have the capacity to buffer this situation forever".[6]
Unite indicated that the trade union had concerns about businesses imposing unelected individuals and senior managers as heads of tip-pooling committees. The fact that Northern Ireland would not have this legal protection, which was also in place in the Republic of Ireland was also criticised by Unite.[7]
External links
Notes and References
- News: Saker-Clark . Henry . 2024-10-01 . What you need to know about the new law banning employers from pocketing staff tips . live . https://web.archive.org/web/20241001003644/https://www.independent.co.uk/news/uk/home-news/uk-tipping-law-staff-share-b2621455.html . 2024-10-01 . 2024-10-01 . The Independent . Independent Digital News and Media Limited.
- News: Thomas . Aimee . 2024-08-24 . New tips law means I can treat my nan at Christmas . live . https://web.archive.org/web/20240824212213/https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/articles/c4glzrj3x55o . 2024-08-24 . 2024-10-01 . BBC News . British Broadcasting Corporation.
- News: Butler . Sarah . Hickey . Shane . 2024-09-28 . Restaurants ponder price increases as new tip-sharing law comes into force . live . https://web.archive.org/web/20240929014446/https://www.theguardian.com/business/2024/sep/28/restaurants-ponder-price-increases-as-new-tip-sharing-law-comes-into-force . 2024-09-29 . 2024-10-01 . The Guardian . Guardian News & Media Limited.
- News: Stewart . Amy . 2022-11-12 . Tipping laws: '100% of service tips should go to staff' . live . https://web.archive.org/web/20221112072314/https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/uk-northern-ireland-63497720 . 2022-11-12 . 2024-10-01 . BBC News . British Broadcasting Corporation.
- News: Labiak . Mitchell . 2024-10-01 . Workers must keep all customer tips under new law . live . https://web.archive.org/web/20241001084053/https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/articles/czj9mxnyezdo . 2024-10-01 . 2024-10-01 . BBC News . British Broadcasting Corporation.
- News: Mansell . Harriet . 2024-09-30 . ‘I understand the need for transparency around tips, but this is why restaurants need to add a service charge’ . live . https://web.archive.org/web/20240930174427/https://www.independent.co.uk/life-style/food-and-drink/features/tipping-legislation-uk-2024-service-charge-b2621307.html . 2024-09-30 . 2024-10-01 . The Indpendent . Independent Digital News and Media Limited.
- News: 2019-10-15 . Tips: Union warns NI workers could be short changed . live . https://web.archive.org/web/20191015150910/https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/uk-northern-ireland-50056555 . 2019-10-15 . 2024-10-01 . BBC News . British Broadcasting Corporation.
