Serving staff will get all their tips thanks to Wirral councillor's campaign

May 13 2009 Birkenhead News

A CHANGE in the law which bans businesses from topping up staff wages with tips has been welcomed.

Wirral Councillor Stuart Kelly raised the unfairness of restaurants taking serving staff’s tips last year, winning all-party support for a change in the law.

The government has decided to ban the use of tips to meet basic wage levels from October.

Cllr Kelly said: “When customers decide to leave a tip it is intended for the benefit of the individual giving good service, not for the benefit of the owner to pay their wages.

“It has been a shameful situation where bad employers have been allowed to effectively deduct tips received from workers’ wages.

“Wirral has a large service industry and unfortunately there were some businesses who took advantage of their employees’ tips. This change will benefit those workers.”