Restaurant staff being stiffed on EFTPOS tips
Tipping is back in the spotlight as a generally cashless society turns away from the practice.
While cost of living pressures have reduced the amount of tips hospitality workers are receiving, so too has the digital payments process.
Former restaurant worker, Arif Levitzke told the ABC that ambiguity around EFTPOS tips has confused customers.
"A [previous] employer, when we put our website up, had a $2.50 or $5 tip added automatically to all online orders, which is pretty significant considering how many orders we had come through," he said.
"Over the course of two years it ended up being about $10,000, which we never saw."
Levitzke said workers never received the tips made on the restaurant's EFTPOS machines, even though customers thought they were tipping staff.
"I feel like people feel it's a bit forced, which is fair enough," he said.
"We don't live in a tipping culture, but when you're a hospitality worker and you're making like $25 an hour and the cost of living has gone up as it has, every little extra dollar counts.
"It's so important … I was skipping meals multiple days a week, so having a little bit of extra money on the side [through tips] to pay for food and groceries meant that I could have a regular diet.
"If the employees know there's money coming in that is intended for them and not being passed on, it creates a really hostile work environment."
According to the Fair Work Ombudsman, tipping is not legislated,
"Employees must be paid at least the minimum rates of pay under any applicable award or enterprise agreement, and there may be additional requirements about rates of pay or dealing with tips in an employee’s contract of employment," a spokesperson said.
Dr Angel Zhong, an expert in cashless economies, said there was little recourse for staff.
"So it's really up to the common practice of the industry and whether there is any agreement in the employment contract," Dr Zhong told the ABC.
"We are moving towards a cashless society where these days only 13 per cent of consumer payments are made in cash, so with the cost-of-living crisis, I totally relate that [workers] are worried about tips not being distributed to them if payments are made by digital payment method.
"To avoid disputes, it's really crucial for employers to establish clear guidelines on how tips are collected, stored, and distributed."
Federal Minister for Employment and Workplace Relations Murray Watt said the Albanese government has introduced a $200-per-week increase in full-time award workers' earnings and a $143-per-week increase in the minimum wage to combat the crisis.
Interestingly, data from point-of-sale provider Lightspeed notes the percentage of EFTPOS payments in Australia that include a tip were higher in 2024 than at any point since 2019.
It stated 0.71 per cent of all transactions have been made with an accompanying tip; higher than 0.6 per cent in 2023, 0.53 per cent in 2022, and 0.45 per cent in 2019.
Beechworth restaurant manager and hospitality veteran Naomi Ingleton takes EFTPOS tips out as cash out each night and divides them between staff, including back-of-house staff.
"I've had my own business for 15 years and it was always between all of the staff at the end of the shift. Everybody has a contribution to the diner's experience, whether they're washing the dishes or serving on the floor," she told the ABC.
"It's not the business's money, that's the staff's money, and that's the cherry on top for working hard and providing service."
Jonathan Jackson, 13th August 2024
