Damien English (Meath West, Fine Gael) | Oireachtas source

In regard to the new section under 4D it provides that if an employer describes a mandatory charge as a "service charge" or a similar term in a tips and gratuities notice or, for example, on a restaurant menu, the employer must treat the charge as if it was a tip or gratuity received by electronic mode of payment. That means that the service charge must be distributed to staff in a fair and reasonable way. This does not restrict a business from imposing charges which form part of that business's normal revenues. It simply prohibits it from describing it as a service charge. Businesses remain free to impose a cover charge or a table charge, however they wish to describe such additional charges, provided the description does not give rise to a reasonable expectation from customers that the charge concerned is distributed to staff. This is consistent with a key aim of the Bill which is to introduce greater transparency for customers and avoid confusion as to what constitutes a service charge. The clarity for customers and staff is a key aim of the Bill and is a key aim of what Senators want from the initial discussions. All of the other amendments are necessary corrections to internal cross-references if the Seanad agrees to insert this new section.

I will speak in general about what we are trying to achieve here with all the other amendments. I think we are at one in what we are trying to achieve. I will make a brief observation that the Government amendments proposed today and the amendments Senators are proposing are really quite similar in intent. They are just using different methods to achieve the same end result. We want to make sure that customers and workers in the hospitality sector, in particular, are clear on what a service charge is, that is, a charge that benefits staff above and beyond the minimum contractual terms, and that is whether it is discretionary or mandatory - in short, that it is very like a tip or gratuity except that it is not always discretionary. We want to make sure that where something is described as a "service charge" in the sector, customers and staff have a reasonable expectation that staff will receive it.

We do not want to be heavy-handed and require massive amounts of signage apart from anything else that could be an eyesore in some settings, but I understand why people want to make it very clear what this is about so we think changing the definitions is the best way to do it. We want the reasonable expectations of customers and staff to be met and to have a mechanism for complaints to the Workplace Relations Commission.

I hope Senators will look favourably on the Government amendments which are designed to enhance the clarity for everyone. If it is called a "service charge" in any shape or form, then it is expected that it is included in the tips and gratuities. What we are saying is that you can have other charges that are clearly defined, but not related to service.