New code to make tipping more transparent
September 1, 2009
A new Code of Practice has been drawn up by the British Hospitality Association (BHA) in an attempt to shed some light on how exactly money left as a tip or on a service charge is used in U.K. hotels.
Bob Cotton of the BHA says that a lack of transparency about where that 10 – 12% service charge that is often added to a bill goes has damaged the industry’s reputation. “We’ve had too little information in the past about the way the service charge is collected, what it is for and who receives it,” he said.
At present there is no legislation in place to make sure that a proportion of the service charge goes to the person who actually did the serving. Some of the charge will go towards the credit or debit card handling fee but the rest can be used in anyway the hotel management sees fit.
The BHA’s new code will be introduced this October alongside legislation that will prevent tips from being used by management to top up employees wages to meet minimum wage requirements. The code of practice is purely voluntary and Cotton says that he expects it will take time for everyone to follow it.
He explained that “we don’t want more regulations, so we are relying on public pressure to push the code forward.”
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