Unite demands Stormont legislate for “fair tips” for Northern Ireland hospitality workers
From tomorrow workers in the hospitality sector in Great Britain will have legal protections to receive 100 per cent of tips paid by customers in restaurants, cafes, hotels or other service industries. The same rights will however not extend to Northern Ireland – meaning workers here are to be denied rights provided elsewhere in the UK.
The new legislation is the direct result of a successful campaign waged by hospitality workers in Unite. The legislation provides workers with a legal entitlement to 100 per cent of all tips received, without deductions or delays, on a monthly basis.
Although the new legislation will apply throughout the UK, no legislation has been introduced by the Stormont Executive meaning hospitality employees here will be denied the same protections.
Unite the union general secretary Sharon Graham said: “It is completely unacceptable that fair tips laws which Unite has fought to win since 2007 have been introduced by Westminster but not by the Stormont executive.
“Hospitality workers in Northern Ireland should have the same rights and entitlement to receive fair tips as do their colleagues in Great Britain. There can be no excuse for the failure to provide workers in Northern Ireland with the same rights.”
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