Tipping law dropped after Employment Bill excluded from Queen's Speech

A bill that would have banned hospitality businesses from taking a cut of staff tips or service charge has been dropped after it was left out of today’s Queen’s Speech.

The speech, delivered to Parliament by Prince Charles, failed to mention the Employment Bill, which had been expected to protect tips as well as rights for flexible working and pregnant women.

The move was expected to benefit around two million people working in the hospitality, leisure, and services sectors.

When announced last year, labour markets minister Paul Scully said the law would reassure customers their money was going to "those who deserve it".

When the abandonment of the bill was hinted at last week, Sharon Graham, Unite general secretary, said tipping misappropriation is "another abuse" in an industry where workers can lose "thousands of pounds a year from their earnings" when the employer refuses to hand over the tips.

"Every year this government promises action to ensure fair tipping – and then does precisely nothing to deliver on that promise,” she added.

The government last year announced plans to move forward with tipping legislation following on from the announcement in 2016 by then business secretary Sajid Javid that a consultation into tops, services and troncs would take place.

It was suggested that workers would be given rights to request information relating to an employer's tipping record and take them to an employment tribunal to seek compensation if they break the rules. Additionally, it was announced that a statutory code of practice would be introduced setting out how tips should be fairly distributed.

Kate Nicholls, chief executive of UKHospitality, added: "Notwithstanding that [plans to scrap tipping legislation] remains speculation ahead of the Queen's Speech, UKHospitality fully supports fair tipping for staff and recognises how important it is that there's complete transparency when it comes to tips, tipping practices, and the fair distribution of them among workers."

She added that the industry has already acted of its own accord to make tipping clearer and fairer, including working closely with unions.

"It's also important to point out that hospitality sector wages rose steadily on average in the three years pre-Covid, and continue to go up. We hope that those increases, coupled with the attraction of tips, will carry on bringing people into the industry."

Photo: Dan Burton/Unsplash