WORKERS WILL BE entitled to their tips by law from 1 December, Tánaiste and Enterprise Minister Leo Varadkar has announced.

The new law gives employees a legal entitlement to receive tips and gratuities paid in electronic form – such as through debit, credit cards or smart phones.

Employers will also be banned from describing mandatory charges as “service charges” unless they are treated in the same way as tips or gratuities.

There will be four-week period between now and 1 December to provide employers with a lead-in time to prepare for the changes required by the new law.

In a statement, Varadkar said: “Tips can form a significant percentage of a worker’s take-home pay and these changes go a long way to ensuring those tips are distributed to the people who have earned them.

“This new law is a positive step towards improving the rights and entitlements of lower-paid workers as well as providing transparency for customers.

While most employers treat their staff fairly, this will help to stamp out bad practices where they exist and give customers the confidence that gratuities are paid to staff.

A fair distribution of tips will be context-specific, taking into account factors such as as the seniority or experience of an employee, the value of sales generated by them and the number of hours worked.

The legislation requires the Minister for Enterprise, Trade and Employment to review the law after it has been in effect for one year.