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14.08.2024 / News /

Bosses: Get your hands off our tips! UVW members: Know your rights!

On 1 October 2024, a new law and code will make it unlawful for bosses to steal our tips. Here’s what you need to know 👇🏾 (slide show)

What is the law? The Employment (Allocation of Tips) Act 2023

What is the Code? Code of practice on fair and transparent distribution of tips

So what does the law say?

Bosses must ensure workers, including agency workers and zero-hour workers, receive 100% of all tips (including service charge) whether left voluntarily or automatically, whether paid in cash, card or app or whether monetary or non-monetary (e.g. vouchers, stamps, tokens, or casino chips).

Tips must be paid by the end of the month following the month the tips were left e.g. if a tip is paid on 23 June, it must be paid by 31 July at the latest.

Bosses must have a written policy available to all workers which includes how tips are to be allocated, maintain a record of every tip left for three years after it was left, and how they were distributed, and provide a worker with a copy of that record within four weeks of a written request (only one written request can be made in any three month period).

But bosses can distribute tips differently between workers and use an independent ‘tronc’ operator, responsible for distributing the tips. But they should use clear and objective criteria to decide how to distribute them.

Criteria can include: type of role/work e.g. front of house vs back of house, hours worked during period tips are left, iIndividual / team performance, seniority/level of responsibility, length of time served with employer and customer intention when leaving the tip.

Bosses must not DISCRIMINATE directly or indirectly in the distribution of tips e.g if part time workers receive fewer tips than full time workers, then this could be indirect sex discrimination as 38% of women in employment work part-time, compared with 14% of men. They can’t DEDUCT from the tips received e.g. deductions for admin, breakages, till shortages, walk-outs, etc.

Workers can SUE AN EMPLOYER FOR: 1) failure to to distribute tips fully, fairly and on time; and/or 2) failure to have and share a written tipping policy and maintain a tipping record; and/or 3) failure to address an independent ‘tronc’ operator acting unfairly.

Workers can also still keep cash tips directly given to them by customers, if the policy or existing practice permits it. The new law doesn’t change this. And they can bring a legal claim up to 12 months after an employer fails to distribute tips fully, fairly and on time, and up three months after an employer fails in respect of any policy or record keeping requirements.

You can also RECEIVE up to to £5,000 in compensation for any financial loss resulting from the bosses’ failure to pay the tips complained of

Finally, workers should ORGANISE to ensure they decide the tipping policy and strike if the bosses refuse!

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