Martin Browne (Tipperary, Sinn Fein) | Oireachtas source

This is an important Bill for workers in the hospitality industry, one third of whom, Sinn Féin found in a 2016 survey, were not being paid their tips. More recent research has suggested that the figure nowadays could be as high as 50%. In 2017 we in Sinn Féin introduced a Bill to address this. Despite Fine Gael's opposition, the Bill passed all Stages of the Seanad. It also prompted a national debate on the way in which a proportion of workers were being let down by their employers. Of course, it has to be noted that many employers are very mindful of their employees and distribute tips fairly. There remains, however, a proportion of employers who do not. It is that part of the sector we have to address through this legislation. Thankfully, Fine Gael and, by extension, the Government, have finally seen sense. The ONE Galway movement, Unite, SIPTU and Mandate have to be recognised for their tireless work on getting this over the line. Sinn Féin's Senator Gavan has to be thanked and commended on his commitment to getting this on the agenda.

Before I get into the specifics of the Bill, I will address the workers across the State who are subject to poor pay and insecure contracts and who, despite their hard work, do not come out of it with a living wage. They are the people who are foremost in our minds. Time and again we hear of cases in the WRC that are labelled in the media as "recovery of unpaid wages" cases. In essence, and truthfully, they would be more accurately described as "stolen wages" cases. Who are those who are targeted in this way? Predominantly, they are women and migrant workers in the food, drinks, hospitality and retail sectors. Some 43% of low-paid workers work in hospitality, retail or wholesale, yet for ten years employer groups in the hospitality sector have shirked the JLC system. Given the supports given to that sector during the pandemic, it is time such employers engaged with and re-established the JLCs.

This Bill ensures that tips cannot be used to top up a worker's wage but, rather, are in addition to a worker's wage. An important amendment the Seanad made was to ensure that service charges are treated the same as tips and gratuities. That is incredibly important to workers.

One issue that needs to be addressed further on Committee Stage, however, is the right to redress in respect of cash tips not passed on. That right applies to electronic tips, but the cash alternative needs to be addressed.

Finally, the WRC is a key player in all this but it needs to be strengthened for the benefit of workers. We have to ask why, for so long, workers have not been afforded the opportunity to look forward to a career in these sectors. Why is their work not considered as having a future? It is because they have been disregarded for too long. This Bill is one step on the way to addressing some of that. However, until the employer groups sit down with the trade unions and re-establish the JLCs, the industry will continue to fail its workers, which would see the industry doing itself a real disservice through high staff turnover and a lack of experienced, valuable workers.

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