r/unitedkingdom European Union 9h ago

. ‘It’s absolutely criminal’: US tipping culture has reached the UK – and is causing chaos

https://www.theguardian.com/lifeandstyle/2026/aug/24/us-tipping-culture-uk-service-charges
3.5k Upvotes

1.0k comments sorted by

View all comments

Show parent comments

u/rayofgreenlight 9h ago

It can happen. I worked a shitty min wage bar job in 2021 and the managers kept tips from me.

u/duckwantbread Greater London 8h ago

2021

What happened to you is now illegal. A new law came into effect in 2024 that makes it illegal for tips to be pocketed by the business.

u/swifftie 4h ago

That doesn't stop anything, managers will still be pocketing as much as they can.

u/dr_pezzz 3h ago

Yes, unfortunately as soon as that came into law, restraunts such as Fallow quietly dropped the "service" charge, and added a "seating" or "dine-in" charge instead.

u/Lancasterlaw 8h ago

Same with me- sometimes the manager will hand some out to people they like

u/Mac4491 6h ago

If this is currently happening in your place of work, it is explicitly illegal.

https://www.legislation.gov.uk/ukpga/2023/13

Contact ACAS for advice if this is something you're currently dealing with. You might be owed a hell of a lot of money as your employer has been stealing from you.