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Posted at 11:02AM, 09 March 2009 by Carol Wilson - Food writer

Most of us leave a tip for the waiting staff when we eat in a restaurant, cafe or hotel. I've always thought that tips and any service charges were a bonus to the staff as a reward for good service. But I was shocked to discover that some restaurants use gratuities and service charges to make up wages for low paid staff, and even to boost their own profits .

Some popular chains have been paying staff less than the basic minimum wage and using tips to make up their wages. Some establishments deduct a percentage for 'breakages' or as an 'administration' charge. In a few extreme cases, staff don't receive any wages at all - just tips left by customers.

Surely if customers leave gratuities for the staff, they should go in full to the person who served them

The practice includes some well-known names and is apparently perfectly legal, according to the complicated laws that govern the hospitality industry. But is it right? Surely if customers leave gratuities for the staff, they should go in full to the person who served them?

Apparently if a service charge or tip is left by credit card, then it's legally the property of the restaurant, but a cash tip is the property of the waiter, unless a system is in place to pool tips and share them between all the staff.

An increasing number of unhappy waiters and their union representatives are asking the government to bring these unfair practices to an end. February was the last month of a three-month consultation carried out by the Department of Business Enterprise and Regulatory Reform into the use of service charges, tips and cover charges. A report is expected to follow within weeks and after a debate in Parliament, changes could be introduced by autumn. Under the new rules, restaurants will be obliged to inform customers how much of their tips actually go to waiters and waitresses.

Predictably, restaurants and hotels are making a last-minute appeal to the government to back-pedal on plans to stop them using customers' tips to make up wages to the legal minimum.

I think as customers we have a right to know where our money is going. We can do our bit too - we can ask our waiter or waitress what happens to the service charge on the bill, or the money we leave as a tip, and decide accordingly. We are within our rights to request that the service charge is removed from the bill and then give cash directly to the people who serve us. I know I want my money to go to the person who served me - not to top up a meagre wage or increase the restaurant's profits.

Comments

smitty

9 March 2009, 12:04PM
smitty

This is just scandalous and should never have been allowed to happen in the first place. I will be asking in future if my waiter or waitress will actually be getting the tip before I leave one.

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miniminx

9 March 2009, 4:23PM
miniminx

i'm surprised that this comes as a surprise...i've known this for years following countless waitressing jobs. how did you think service staff receive tips from from a credit card (unless the waiter takes visa, its pretty impossible)?? most places 'pool' tips which is actually much fairer than individuals keeping all their tips; since non-customer staff like chefs and dish-washers get their fair share too (important when the food is at least as if not more important than the service).

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Mark

9 March 2009, 5:00PM
Mark

As someone who has been working in the industry for many years there is a simple solution, do not leave your gratuity on the table! Hand it directly to the waiter/ess and say someting like " This is for you". Works every time as it is a personal gift from the customer.

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rozmorgan

9 March 2009, 8:55PM
rozmorgan

Very angry about this. I have always given my tips directly to staff as a cash in hand transaction and have sought them out rather than leave money on the table because I have always worried they wouldn't recieve it. I worried about unscrupulious diners stealing their money, seems I should have been more worried about unscrupulious employers.

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Ellie Reade

11 March 2009, 1:21PM
Ellie Reade

I used to work in a restaurant and very rarely did I receive a tip that customers had told me they had left for me. Tips should go directly to the member of staff the "tipper" wants them to go to. I personally seek out the staff member responsible for the good service and hand them the money directly.

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robert

13 March 2009, 11:42AM
robert

I've worked as a waiter in my student days and now I always make sure I give my tip to the person who served me

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