Almost 7 in 10 UK Hospitality Staff Don’t Trust They Are Paid Correct Tips  

• 84% of staff worry they are not getting their fair share of credit/debit card tips and service charges   
• 66% of staff say they have knowingly had tips held back or had deductions taken from their tips  
• 92% of staff believe there needs to be more transparency surrounding tips and how they are shared 

• Almost 90% of staff say that the tip process/fairness influences where they work and how long they stay in a role for 

Despite, the government’s initial promises to overhaul unfair tipping practices Boris Johnson is now binning plans to let workers keep 100% of tips. With many hospitality employees relying on tipping to top up their income and the cost of living increasing change needs to occur or the already pressured industry could face further shortages.

According to new research of more than 700 Brits from KAM media commissioned by TiPJAR, a leading UK hospitality fintech platform transforming the cashless tipping process, over two-thirds of the UK’s hospitality staff have questioned tips on their payslip because they did not trust it was accurate. The research clearly flags issues with lack of confidence in tipping processes with 92% of staff believing there needs to be more transparency surrounding tips and how they are shared.

The survey demonstrates the concerning views of contactless tipping in the hospitality industry. Only a mere 16% of staff don’t fret about tips, whereas the majority (84%) worry they are not getting their fair share of credit/debit card tips and service charges. In addition, their concerns are likely exacerbated through experiencing malpractice with findings revealing an alarming two thirds (66%) of staff say they have knowingly had tips held back or had deductions taken from their tips, with almost three quarters (74%) of them claiming that they were never told the reasons for this. 
 
Despite, HMRC having recently changed their guidance providing best practice advice there is still a great need for actual legal protection for workers.

James Brown Founder of TiPJAR says: “I am deeply disappointed legislation designed to protect workers’ tips is reportedly being shelved. I believe most UK hospitality operators aim to do their best in this area however there are still too many unfairly administered tip/tronc schemes in existence where large portions of tips do not go to the staff. As tipping becomes increasingly digital improved legal protection for workers is becoming a necessity. TiPJAR is about transparency and fairness for staff tips, we won’t shy away from continuing to fight for this in the years to come.”

 
The industry is already facing huge labour shortages so they should be doing everything they can to retain and attract staff. Therefore, you’d think looking after staff should be top of mind especially as tipping fairness plays a significant role in influencing job retention, with 88% of staff saying that the fairness of the tip process influences where they work and how long they stay in a role. 

Ben Thomas CEO of TiPJAR says: “In today’s cashless society, although more convenient, tips fall into a ‘black hole’ where staff simply have to trust that it has been fairly calculated by the time it appears on their pay slips at the end of the month. Both staff and customers really have no transparency or understanding of how tips are handled.” 
 
“Our research has shown strong sentiments that a fairer, more transparent tipping process will not only alleviate feelings of mistrust but improve satisfaction and retention for staff. TiPJAR was built to enable workers to have total ownership of their tips, so that when a customer decides to leave a tip – 100% goes directly to staff and doesn’t touch the business.” 

Staff aren’t the only ones concerned about cashless tips, customers are too. In fact, 2 in 3 consumers don’t understand where tips go despite a large majority (87%) expressing concerns for where their card tips or service charges end up. Providing this transparency could increase tips as 43% of consumers say that knowing their tip goes directly to the staff would prompt them to leave one. Providing fairer tips could also improve footfall for businesses with 1 in 2 customers being more likely to visit a venue if they knew ‘non-cash’ tips were being shared fairly. 

For the full research findings check out the ‘Non-cash tipping in hospitality – the customer and staff view report’ on TiPJAR