Call For Employers To Stop 'Creaming Off' Restaurant Workers Tips

Restaurant workers need 'decisive government action' to stop employers creaming off their tips, Unite the union has said in response to the government's investigation into abuse of tipping.

Responding to the business secretary Sajid Javid’s call for evidence, launched in the wake of this summer's row over big name restaurants skimming off tips and service charges, Unite wants primary legislation introduced to give restaurant workers 100 per cent ownership rights over tips to stamp out rip off practices.

Unite further calls on Javid to conduct an immediate and urgent review of the 2009 voluntary Code of Best Practice which has been widely ignored by industry bosses.

The union also firmly rejects proposals to cap 'admin fees' - the amount a restaurant can deduct from tips paid on a card – describing the move as legalising the raid on workers' wages.

Rhys McCarthy, Unite national officer, said: "We welcome this long overdue investigation into abuse of tipping and urge the minister to take decisive action to bring fairness to the UK's low-paid hospitality workforce.

"Customers and staff alike are crying out for justice after this summer's media investigations lifted the lid on the murky world of tipping. They were outraged to discover that some of the country’s best known high street chains were skimming off the tips from their minimum-waged workers.

"There can be no tinkering around the edges, restaurant workers should get 100 per cent of tips with control over how they are shared out to stop employers creaming them off."

(CD)