September 2021
Last week it was confirmed that the government would be bringing forward new legislation to ensure hospitality workers will retain their tips following my campaign. I am delighted that workers’ rights for tips will be included in the upcoming Employment Bill.
My aim was to ensure that workers receive 100% of the tips that they are given by customers by formalising this requirement in law. This would be in the form of an agreement for staff to keep the tips meant directly for them, or to have agreements in place to ensure that tips are divided fairly. For example, staff at restaurants may agree that tips should also be allocated across all staff, including hard working kitchen staff.
I strongly feel that tips given by customers intended for hard-working staff should be passed on to them directly and I am glad that this will now be the case. Hard work deserves recognition and reward, and this also ensures fairness and transparency for both employees and customers.
I am overjoyed that my Tips campaign has been a success and will see workers in Watford and across the UK keep their tips once this legislation passes through Parliament. The Small Business Minister and his team at the Department for Business, Energy and Industrial Strategy have been very supportive of the need to support workers’ rights for tips and assured me they will work with me on this important legislation.
This is a huge win for hospitality workers across the UK and I want to thank the Business Minister and his team for confirming this important legislation, and also the many Watford based businesses which took the time to share their feedback and comments with me.
