Withholding tips from staff becomes unlawful as the Tipping Bill achieves Royal Assent, with more than 2 million workers to have their tips protected.
Millions of UK workers will take home an estimated £200 million more of their hard-earned cash, as employers are banned from withholding tips under the Employment (Allocation of Tips) Act 2023, which received Royal Assent on Tuesday 2 May.
Many hospitality workers rely on tips to top up their pay and are often left powerless if businesses don’t pass on service charges from customers to their staff.
This Bill makes it unlawful for businesses to hold back service charges from their employees, ensuring staff receive the tips they have earned. The measures are expected to come into force in 2024, following a consultation and secondary legislation.
This overhaul of tipping practices is set to benefit more than 2 million UK workers across the hospitality, leisure and services sectors helping to ease cost of living pressures and give them peace of mind that they will keep their hard-earned money.
Through the Act, a new statutory Code of Practice will be developed to provide businesses and staff with advice on how tips should be distributed. On top of this, workers will receive a new right to request more information relating to an employer’s tipping record, enabling them to bring forward a credible claim to an employment tribunal.
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