Hotel waiter claiming service charge goes to the big bosses

[FleurdeLion]

I am a former trade unionist who has campaigned for fair tips for staff. I've also worked as a kitchen porter who benefitted from the tronc system where the service charge automatically applied to restaurant bills paid by card, was shared among waiting and kitchen staff.

As of October 2024, 100% of any service charge or tip paid by card must be shared via the tronc system.

This evening I ate at a Hilton airport hotel restaurant where a 12.5% service charge was added to the bill. I know that I can ask for this amount to be deducted from the bill, and that I can give a cash tip that will go directly to the waiter.

I don't generally carry cash and I have been happy to pay a service charge, knowing that it goes to the tronc. Personally I think 12.5% is probably a bit much. I would prefer a 10% charge, or for the hospitality industry to pay people properly. But I am willing to pay the service charge, knowing it will be distributed to the kitchen and waiting staff.

This is not about tipping.

This evening, the waiter said that the service charge doesn't go to him but to "the big bosses" and can be removed. We witnessed him saying the same to an American couple at the next table who paid the full bill with the service charge and gave him a cash tip, saying that this was for him. I don't care what Americans do. If they want to give him cash, I'm fine with that.

I asked him if the money went to the tronc and he wouldn't say yes. I pointed out that the law says all the service charge must be shared by the staff and asked him if the company was breaking the law. Again he wouldn't say yes.

Am I being unreasonable in thinking that he wanted to get the full tip for himself and not share it with the rest of the team?

Should I mention his approach to the restaurant manager? I imagine that he might lose his job or at the very least be disciplined for talking to diners in this way?

But it seeds distrust with diners that the law is not being followed and implies that this mega hotel chain is screwing over its staff.

YABU - who cares, give him a cash tip instead of the service charge.
YANBU - mention it to the hotel management, because he's a CF.

Well actually that's the point. Why should i have to worry about who gets the tip when I'm just having dinner when I know the law says it should be shared?

After kicking off - get fired.

I have more faith in the small local restaurants following this law than I'll ever have to Hilton.

For a former trade unionist you seem to have a surprising amount of faith in the management of a big company. Do you really think that no employer ever breaks employment law?

Me too. And getting the waiter fired by grassing him up to the management isn’t going to help the rest of the staff.

And yet there is a service charge automatically added to the bill. I know i can ask to have it removed, but like most of the population, I don't. I like to know that all of that money is going to the staff and by law it must go to the staff so I don't appreciate being told the bosses get it. When I ask directly if hilton is breaking the law he refused to say.

Tbh I would not report, but would have told the waiter at the time that you know he wasn't telling the truth and that he needs to stop giving out misinformation. Yes he is short changing the rest of his team which is pretty low, but I don't think I could deliberately get him sacked on the strength of it.

I like to know that all of that money is going to the staff

So do I. That’s why I give the wait staff cash.

And yet you're commenting on this thread. How's your life going, I'm trying to ensure that all hospitality staff are getting a fair share of service charges. What did you do today to make yourself feel proud?

It may well not be a downright lie op. Hilton may well have a set of gates in place for tips , illegal but common as a pop described, they may have an inequitable way of sharing them, or simply the staff may not get very much and may all believe they are taken by management, in which case he’d be incorrect but believe he’s telling the truth.
these are all obvious options, you only didn’t see them because you jumped straight to having him shot at dawn. (Yes whatever fired not shot, the point is the same. Give people a chance!!)

No you’re not, since you didn’t consider for a second that he might be telling the truth or partial truth and all the staff need support. Like no employer has ever done the wrong thing and short changed their employees before- surely as an ex trade unionist that should CLEARLY be a possibility you are aware of!!

When I worked in hospitality just under 10 years ago it was true that tronc went to the bosses. Bosses being higher up members of the team. Everyone got an hourly rate (minimum wage) and your wage increased as you got more senior from being given a larger cut of the Tronc.
so if your service charge was £10, manager got £3 of that, head chef got £3 and service staff / kitchen porters got about 50p.
Wages never went up being paid from the company, it was always the share of the tronc that bumped up the wage of staff.

And the people washing the dishes and cooking the food dint get any of that, which is why the unions campaigned to get the law changed and won.

Working in finance as I do, I can easily see that businesses would be able to find and exploit loopholes in the system with very little difficulty.

Why are you saying I had him shot at dawn? Where have I said I've reported him?

I asked another member of staff about the tronc system.

You don’t have to worry - either tip or don’t tip and get on with your day 🙄

So many unfounded assumptions.

And the law has changed since then.

But because people like me have worried and campaigned on this, hospitality staff are now getting more of the money that is meant to go to them than before. I'm not apologising fur that.

How has it? The law says a service charge has to be passed on to staff. Does it specify which staff? In what proportions? The scenario suggested by @MeganM3 is presumably still legal.

The whole point of the new law is to stop exactly the kind of exploitation you assume is still happening. Yes, some dodgy operators might try to game it, but Hilton is not likely to be one of them. They have a global brand, big legal teams, and a lot more to lose from bad press or tribunal claims than they’d gain from siphoning off tips.

Assuming that all big companies will dodge the law ignores the fact that these reforms were designed with chains like Hilton in mind, and Hilton will be legally required to have a written tipping policy and show records on request. Honestly it's easier to comply than not.

You might find it repetitive but I find it important. That doesn’t make it any less true.

He was problem dumbstruck with your questions. Take a day off..

I would probably ask the restaurant how they distribute the service charge (I believe they are supposed to have a written policy). If it’s not in accordance with what the waiter told you, I would let them know what he said. I would hope there would be some sort of disciplinary over it, the possibility that he might lose his job when he’s trying to shaft his coworkers would not make me lose any sleep.

You are very naive.

And the real world is that a lot of big compagnies screw the lowest earning workers.