Service Charges

In the UK, it is common to see a service charge applied to restaurant, café and bar bills. The charge is often 12.5% of the bill amount in London, but can span between 10% and 20% around the country.

Tipping legislation

Restaurant, bar and cafe owners will not be allowed to withhold tips left for staff as the government introduces new legislation. It will become illegal for companies to keep tips for itself, a move that will potentially help two million workers, as part of new plans.

Most hospitality workers – many of whom are earning the National Minimum Wage or National Living Wage – rely on tipping to top up their income. But research shows that many businesses that add a discretionary service charge onto customer’s bills are keeping part or all of these service charges, instead of passing them onto staff.

All tips will go to staff under new plans to overhaul tipping practices set out by the government today (Friday 24 September), providing a financial boost to hospitality workers across the country.

Labour Markets Minister Paul Scully said:

"Unfortunately, some companies choose to withhold cash from hardworking staff who have been tipped by customers as a reward for good service."

"Our plans will make this illegal and ensure tips will go to those who worked for it. This will provide a boost to workers in pubs, cafes and restaurants across the country, while reassuring customers their money is going to those who deserve it."

This new legislation includes a requirement for all employers to pass on tips to workers without any deductions.

Tipping legislation will form part of a package of measures which will provide further protections around workers’ rights. Further detail will be set out in due course.

Tips in RoundTab

Tips are always optional, customers can leave a tip of any amount at their own discretion. The tips feature can be disabled.

Service Charges in RoundTab

In RoundTab you get to choose whether to add a service charge to all purchases at checkout.

You can choose whether to make the Service Charge Compulsory or Discretionary.

• Compulsory: stated to the customer in advance of ordering. The customer can only refuse to pay it if the service was poor.
• Discretionary: Traditionally would be added to the bill receipt at the end, the customer can decide not to pay the service charge.

When you choose Discretionary, during the checkout the customer has the optional whether to include the service charge or not by checking a checkbox.

In the manager's area, we provide the ability to get a separate total of just the service charges for each day, so you can make sure that your hardworking staff get paid the right amount.

Often customers want to know why there's a service charge, so we've provided you with the ability to add a reason for the service charge.

The service charge feature can be disabled.