New tipping regulations – are you ready?

Next week new tipping regulations come into effect that require employers to make sure that all tips are shared with staff.

The new Tipping Act requires hospitality businesses to pass on all tips and service charges without deductions at the end of each month following the month they were paid. It also outlines new ‘principles of fairness’ around the allocation of tips to agency workers and those on zero hours contracts.

To untangle the legal obligations on hospitality businesses, on 3 October 2024 The Caterer is holding a free online Tipping Summit, sponsored by Square, which will explain how operators can comply and ensure they are meeting the requirements of the Act and the expectations of their teams. 

The legislation places a legal obligation on businesses to distribute all discretionary tips, sets out a timeframe in which to distribute them and a requirement to implement a business policy ensuring fair and transparent distribution of tips.

Tipping expert Peter Davies from WMT Troncmaster Services will outline exactly what operators should put in place as well as sharing his advice for avoiding legal pitfalls.

He will joined by a panel including chef and restaurateur Adam Handling, Pizza Pilgrims founder Thom Elliot and John Guthrie, employment policy adviser at UKHospitality.

They will discuss the obligations of the act and how operators can meet requirements such as paying employees by the end of the month following their receipt, rather than spreading them over the year, and obligations to share tips with agency workers.

In this summit, you will learn:

• What procedures will be compliant with the new legislation
• How the legislation has been amended since its proposed introduction earlier this year
• What to consider when deciding whether to use troncs or allocate tips directly
• Where you should publish your written policy on tipping 
• How to communicate changes to your workforce
• How to explain your tipping policy to guests

Register for the free Tipping and Payment Summit