Dublin South West TD, Seán Crowe, has welcomed the agreement of the Seanad on legislation that would make it illegal for an employer to withhold, deduct, or demand the return of a tip from an employee without a lawful excuse, despite opposition from Fine Gael

The Bill, introduced by Crowe’s Sinn Féin colleague, Senator Paul Gavan, now heads to the Dáil with cross-party support, and Sinn Féin are pushing for the Bill to be enacted by Autumn of this year.

Crowe said that the proposed legislation would also require employers to display their tipping policy in a suitable manner so that customers and workers have transparency in the distribution of their tips.

Speaking after the passage of the Protection of Employee Tips Bill, Deputy Seán Crowe said:

“This is a significant victory for workers, especially those in low pay and precarious employment.

“Despite significant opposition and lobbying against the Bill by the Irish Hotels Federation and the Restaurants Association of Ireland, the Protection of Employee Tips Bill has now passed all stages in the Seanad.

“This Bill is a positive example of the fruits of cooperation when left leaning Oireachtas members work together and use their numbers to push through worker friendly legislation.

“The Bill will now move to the Dáil and I am calling on the government to allow this proactive legislation through as quickly as possible.

“The sooner this legislation is enacted in law, the sooner workers will have a legal right to their tips and customers will have transparency in how their tips are actually distributed.”

Crowe continued:

“We must also give credit where credit is due – this Bill could never have made it this far without the tremendous support of the Irish Trade Union movement.

“In particular, I’d like to congratulate the ONE Galway and ONE Cork movement, the Irish Congress of Trade Unions, my trade union SIPTU, and the movement more broadly, who really got behind this Sinn Féin Bill and made it a reality.

“This issue is important, tips theft is widespread by many employers and the public are behind this Bill. People across this island believe tips should go directly to workers, and workers alone.

“It is a disgrace that this is not already the case, and we must right this wrong. I am calling on the government to expedite this Bill through the Dáil so that customers are given the transparency they demand, and that workers in low-pay and precarious work are given the protections they deserve.”

ENDS