Government plans to make tipping more transparent have been welcomed by The British Hospitality Association (BHA).
Business Secretary Sajid Javid has launched a consultation on tipping amid concerns that restaurants aren’t being clear enough about service charges and are not always passing tips to their staff.
One solution under consideration is to ban restaurants from adding service charges to bills and to make it purely ‘opt-in’ for customers.
The BHA said it supports the main thrust of the proposals but said it’s a complex area, so it will be holding meetings with UK hospitality business leaders to discuss the proposals and to do its own impact assessment.
In an earlier ‘call for evidence’ the BHA urged UK Government to make it a legal requirement for restaurants to tell customers how tips and service charges are distributed among staff.
"Transparency is precisely what we asked the government to consider," said CEO Ufi Ibrahim.
"Many restaurant customers struggle to understand the difference between a tip and a service charge. What’s more they aren’t always told what happens to the extra money they leave at the end of a meal. We believe restaurants should have to provide a written notice explaining exactly what happens to service charges and tips."
She added: "It is important that reasonable account is taken of administration and credit card processing charges, however, the principle of tips and service charges being received by employees is the right one."
