A new bill from the Seanad named the Protection of Employee Tips Bill looks to amend the National Minimum Wage Act to ensure that staff in restaurants, bars and cafés are permitted to keep the tips paid to them by the public.
As reported by thejournal.ie, if successfully passed into the law, the bill would make it illegal for employers to withhold, deduct or demand the return of a tip from a staff member without a lawful reason. Businesses would also be required to display their tipping policy in a prominent position on their premises.
The bill was put forward by Sinn Féin senator Paul Gavan, who said, "There have been numerous surveys and testimonies highlighting that workers are often denied the right to take home tips they have earned. Good employers have nothing to fear from this Bill, as they will already be passing on their tips to their employees. The Bill will also do nothing to change current tax revenue rules, so there’s no downside to this, unless you happen to be a bad employer."
