Restaurants not giving waitresses tips



Place I work, all the tips from a day get split between all staff, kitchen, front of house, housekeeping etc, then go onto the pay at the end of the month, that gets taxed.
Seems the fairest way to do it and keeps staff motivated.
 
kingmonkey said:
Place I work, all the tips from a day get split between all staff, kitchen, front of house, housekeeping etc, then go onto the pay at the end of the month, that gets taxed.
Seems the fairest way to do it and keeps staff motivated.
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Shan. Why involve the taxman when remunerations are tax-exempt?
 
It’s a twats trick like. I always try pay on my card and tip in cash. I know it doesn’t guarantee the server gets the cash but must make it more likely
 
Karl said:
Shan. Why involve the taxman when remunerations are tax-exempt?
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Its taxable income

www.gov.uk

Tips at work

Tips at work do not count towards the National Minimum Wage - tips and tax, what your employer has to do, advice and help, cash in hand payments
www.gov.uk www.gov.uk

Even have to pay NI if its shared out, as opposed to giving direct.

And if its subject to NI, the employer has to pay 13.8% so as MikeJ says business can cream off. Employee will be lucky to see half of tips after taxes.
 
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Roaring Chubby said:
Well, I think it’s obvious who you are referring to....

If they haven’t mislead her I don’t think they have done anything wrong to be honest. 5 quid for three courses isn’t going to be a gravy train for anyone involved, including the owners who have probably had to take a lot of risk to get the scale to make it worthwhile. Or they are washing dirty money, which I have also heard mentioned.


Devils advocate. The tips going to the owner might be the difference between a place staying open or closing, must be a few hundred a week at a place that isn’t dead. If the tips stop, then nobody has a job.
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Put the prices up then. Tips are meant for staff.
 
tunstallhill said:
A local Italian 'chain' that does extremely cheap happy hours... theres about 10 of them over the north east. We've told her to leave asap. One of the barman has been on 'trial' for 2 years
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So Sambuca then, might as well call them out because that is absolutely shit crack.
 
Roaring Chubby said:
Maybe for a chain. But a local independent place might bank on those tips to balance the books. Naming and shaming a place like that would trash it in absence of all the facts.
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If you can’t run a business without exploiting your staff and misleading your customers then it deserves to be shut down.
 
Mike J said:
Playing devils advocate for a second (as a former restaurant owner) what happens when those tips cost the restaurant money? For example if they are put through the card machine so a % is payable to the processing company and because they have been made in that Manor they need to be distributed via the payroll so attract employers NI & Tax. Is it then reasonable the employer keeps a % to cover their costs or should they lose money on the deal?
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For the payment costs, arguably.

But the employers NI obligation is yours. No way you should deduct that from tips. Either don't take tips in that way or adjust prices accordingly to cope.
 
tunstallhill said:
My lasses daughter works in a well known local restaurant, shes only 17, been there a few months and she just told us that none of the waitresses or bar staff get any of the tips.

Surely that's not legal is it? Apparently they told her its cos they are all on trial periods and when the trial is over they get 'wage boosters' instead.
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there was no minimum wage in the US, thats where tips for the staff came from. people here don't have to tip staff and legality doesn't come into it, morally should though.
 
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Edinburgh Black Cat said:
For the payment costs, arguably.

But the employers NI obligation is yours. No way you should deduct that from tips. Either don't take tips in that way or adjust prices accordingly to cope.
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As the tips add to the wage the amount payable by the employer gets hire, so surly the employer should only pay the NI & Tax on the employees wage, why should the employer have to pay the staff extra because you leave a tip??

I agree by the way the solution is for the house not to be involved but then it’s up to the staff to inform HMRC and file self assessments etc.
 
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If it's not illegal it should be! Is that including cash tips or just the extra you add if paying by card? Would definitely put me off eating there never mind leaving a tip
Somtam said:
Restaurants have different policies. Can you imagine a popular, small, independent restaurant of, say, 24 covers that employ 5 people. Imagine the food is supreme and the average tip is 12%. If the policy is that waiter/waitress keeps all tips and gets £8.50 an hour, he/she is very likely going to earn more than all other members of staff - including the chef. That cannot be right. Restaurants will have different policies dependent on many factors and a bad policy will surely lead to a poorly functioning unhappy establishment.
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Ive worked in a few different places and every where has been the same. The tips are all pooled and given to all the staff depending on the hours they've worked over the month. It's only fair at the end of the day as if it isn't for the kitchen staff then the FOH wouldn't get the tips, or if it wasnt for the cleaners and the place was filthy you wouldn't get the customers.
kingmonkey said:
Place I work, all the tips from a day get split between all staff, kitchen, front of house, housekeeping etc, then go onto the pay at the end of the month, that gets taxed.
Seems the fairest way to do it and keeps staff motivated.
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Same but doesn't go on our pay so it doesn't get taxed
 
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Mike J said:
As the tips add to the wage the amount payable by the employer gets hire, so surly the employer should only pay the NI & Tax on the employees wage, why should the employer have to pay the staff extra because you leave a tip??

I agree by the way the solution is for the house not to be involved but then it’s up to the staff to inform HMRC and file self assessments etc.
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The flippant answer would be, because it's the law and whether we like it or not we all have our tax obligations.

On a more sincere note, you could quite easily argue that the restaurant is benefitting as they get more attentive, higher performing staff without the need to incentivise them themselves. If there were no tips then the restaurant may have to pay more basic wage to attract good staff.
 

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