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THE GOVERNMENT IS currently preparing draft legislation which would see restaurants and businesses barred from using tips to subsidise employees’ wages.
The Cabinet will be asked to approve the writing of a new bill in the coming weeks.
Draft laws are currently being prepared on the issue by the Department of Employment and Social Protection, the government announced today, and will be presented to Cabinet for approval in the weeks to come.
It is illegal for companies to use tips as part of an employee’s minimum wage but it is not illegal for them to use tips as part of a stated salary above that.
In a statement, released on the eve of a Private Members’ Bill on the same issue, Doherty said: “I am very open to exploring proposals for effective measures to ensure employees always receive the tips due to them.”
New proposals would see the Payment of Wages Act 1991 amended to add new obligations on employers in relation to tipping, including forcing restaurants and other businesses to publicly display their policies on how tips and service charges are distributed among staff.
In May, the government said it would only consider new legislation to regulate tipping if a “collective agreement” with employers didn’t work.
The proposed measures come following significant criticism of businesses which were not allowing staff to take home the full complement of tips they had received during a shift.
Dublin restaurant The Ivy attracted criticism when it told staff last year that they would not be allowed to process payments from customers after the restaurant management alleged that some waiters were asking patrons to pay tips in cash, rather than on a credit card.
In April, the Irish Times reported that the Hard Rock Cafe in Dublin was among the Irish restaurants in which many of the service charges added to customers’ bills aren’t distributed among staff.
“When a customer provides a tip after satisfactory service, they should know exactly where that money goes. Furthermore, tips should be a gratuity and should not be used to make up the agreed wage of an employee,” Doherty said.
The announcement comes as a Private Members’ Bill, brought by Sinn Feín’s Senator Paul Gavan, returns to the Seanad tomorrow. The Protection of Employee Tips Bill, if passed, would make it illegal for an employer to withhold, deduct or demand the return of a tip from an employee without a lawful excuse.
The government has said it will oppose the bill tomorrow. Speaking in the Dáil earlier today, Doherty said it would have “unintended consequences” for workers.
“The outcome of Sinn Féin’s Bill would be employers managing tips on behalf of their employees. It would therefore result in all tips being taxed, which would in the first instance have a negative outcome for the income earnings of the people who work in that relatively low-paid industry,” she said.
In 2018, the Low Pay Commission recommended against introducing legislation to regulate tips, warning that it could ultimately lead to lower wages for some employees.
Speaking to TheJournal.ie, Sinn Féin’s spokesperson on workers’ rights Senator Paul Gavan called the new government proposals “hugely disappointing”.
“[Doherty] is tackling a side issue while ignoring the elephant in the room,” he said. “Will I support it? Absolutely. But it doesn’t solve the main issue.”
He called for the government to support the measures contained in the Sinn Féin bill.
The Restaurant Association of Ireland welcomed the government proposals.
In a statement, CEO of the Restaurant Association of Ireland, Adrian Cummins, said: “We welcome Minister Doherty’s proposal for an amendment to the Payment of Wages Act 1991. This will provide transparency for; staff, customers and owners, regarding tips.”
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Good.
@Arya: but exactly what does it mean? Very non specific article
If you have to subsidise your employees wages with their own tips then maybe the restaurant business isn’t for you.
Seriously? You pay me out of your own pocket what we agreed on the contract. Tips are extra and should remain extras based on customer’s willing for providing them a service they like. Period.
They should just ban tips. I never appreciated how annoying they are until I went to Japan
@thephantomshit: care to elaborate?
@G Manning: Tipping is not customary in Japan. In fact, it can be considered rude and insulting in many situations
@G Manning: they don’t like tips at all. Seems weird at first but then you appreciate how relaxing every transaction becomes. Just pay the bill and that’s it. No head scratching and trying to determine how good the service was and coming up with a “fair” assessment.
@thephantomshit: Totally agree and failing that, i.e.outlawing tipping, clients should refuse to tip.
Tipping is demeaning for both the tipper (encouraging an ” I’m better than you” attitude) and for the receiver (encouraging “servility” and inter-colleague competition to attract attention).
Furthermore, kitchen/cleaning staff rarely receive tips although no meal would ever be served without their work.
I call for a total boycott of tipping by customers.
And if management doesn’t shape up with fair wages for all staff, a total boycott of that particular establishment.
@thephantomshit: oh ok, thanks
Tips are only for exceptional service… not to be expected as the norm.
Proper order! Not my duty to pay wages on top of already extortionate costs of eating out.
Service charges should be made illegal! It is outrageous that restaurants charge services charges especially just because you are a group of more than 6 or something stupid like that. It’s not as if you have a choice to collect the food yourself. Part of paying restaurant prices is that the food is served! Also tipped is a joke. I just don’t believe in tipping! Iike why should some jobs get tips?
@Dino Manning: Larger tables are much more awkward to serve, to cook for and can slow down the normal service to other tables, so a service charge is definitely fair so long as it’s not excessively large.
In Ireland tipping isn’t expected but it is a nice gesture if you did receive notably good service or the staff went out of their way to meet a request. Minimum wage workers more often than not work as hard as those in higher paid jobs and tipping is acknowledgement of their hard work.
@John Black: the price of food is madness nowadays a table of six is a win for owner without any charge it’s just greed
As long as they are declared to revenue
@Padraig O’Goire: how’s that gonna work?
@G Manning: Dual taxation like anyone else who runs their own business and works in the private or public sector.
@Padraig O’Goire: That’s another very valid point Padraig.Tipping constitutes a stream of “undeclared income” which is not subject to taxes and which increases tax avoidance/evasion. In my view(see above) it’s a despicable custom.
Dare you not tip a taxi driver or hairdresser! Love to have confidence not to tip. I never got tip on my 50 years work
ban practice altogher.
Bus drivers never get tips
@Mary Lyons: I don’t tip taxi drivers or hairdressers,but in a restaurant I always tip for good service and make sure it’s discreet
@Mary Lyons: I have never tipped a hairdresser or barman/barmaid. Never. I have occasionally tipped a taxi-driver if i was in a hurry and couldn’t wait for a few pence change – e.g. fare is 10 euros 30 and i hand him/her 10 euros 50, saying that’s OK
@Pete mc pete: I use MyTaxi for all taxi journeys and the Tip is built into the price. Barbers get €20 no matter what the price is, So the less the charge the better the tip.
Please tell me a restaurant that does this and I’ll put their windows in.
@Adolf Galland: Why would you reward them with new windows?
I always tip a minimum of 10% in Ireland. I’m used to travelling in the States and eating out there where tips are anything from 15% to 25%. 10% here feels like a let off
@Elizabeth Sheehan O’Reilly: in the US the tip is *part* of the waiter’s salary. In Europe la different.
I said it once before the way to stop this from happening is name and shame the establishment. And why would any person in the service industry work for a place like that. Withdraw labour too.
About time
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