Restaurants: Billing

(asked on 19th June 2019) - View Source

Question to the Department for Business, Energy and Industrial Strategy:

To ask the Secretary of State for Business, Energy and Industrial Strategy, if he will bring forward legislative proposals to ban the practice of employers requiring waiting staff to pay for clients' unpaid bills.


Answered by
Kelly Tolhurst Portrait
Kelly Tolhurst
This question was answered on 26th June 2019

The 1996 Employment Rights Act already defines the limited circumstances in which it is allowable for deductions to be made from pay to cover cash shortages.

The Government is committed to ensuring fair remuneration for lower-paid workers across the economy. In April 2019, the National Living Wage rate was increased to £8.21 per hour, a rise of 4.9 percent. It is estimated that 230,000 workers in the hospitality sector benefitted directly from this increase.

In order to further support fairness for workers in the hospitality sector, through the Good Work Plan, the Government will shortly bring forward legislation to ensure that all tips left to workers will go to them in full. New rules will benefit over a million workers, many of whom are in low-paid jobs.

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