Hospitality work

Working in a bar or restaurant tends to be hard graft. But the atmosphere, flexibility and pay can all add up to a pretty great way to earn a living. Add to this renewed efforts by authorities to help regulate the ways tips and service charges are distributed to staff, and things are looking up for those working in hospitality.

Tipping point for workers in hospitality

We’ve all heard stories about hospitality staff either not receiving tips or companies using tips to pay their staff. The good news is that legislation that came into force on October 1 bans all tips, service charges, gratuities and cover charges from being used to make up the National Minimum Wage. In an effort to make things more clear for both customers and employees, the British Hospitality Association (BHA) has published a voluntary code of practice on service charges, and urges restaurants, including those inside hotels, to disclose to customers exactly how they manage their discretionary service charges and non-cash tips.

What’s at stake?

The BHA says there’s been too little information in the past about the way service charges are collected, what they’re for and who gets them. This has led to widespread criticism, which in turn has damaged the industry’s reputation. The code will ensure that restaurants make crystal clear how they distribute the proceeds of the charge, who gets what and what percentage, if any, is kept by the restaurant owners to cover legitimate costs.

What about pay for hospitality workers?

There is a minimum wage for hospitality workers in the UK. The adult rate, which applies to those aged 22 and over, rose by 7 pence an hour from October 1 to £5.80, while the rate for 18- to 21-year-olds rose by 6 pence to £4.83. The adult minimum wage rate is due to be extended to 21-year-olds from October 2010.