Press Release 6 May 2009

DAVID HAMILTON MP WELCOMES FAIR TIPS AND FAIR WAGES FOR ALL

Midlothian MP David Hamilton has welcomed the announcement that from this October it will no longer be legal to use customers' tips to make up the minimum wage and that any tips left for staff will be in addition to basic pay.

The announcement follows a long–term campaign by a group of backbench Labour MPs who have consistently called for a stronger, higher and better enforced minimum wage. The rules will mean that employees will be paid the minimum wage and will then have their tips distributed on top of this sum.

Speaking about the announcement David Hamilton MP said;

“I am delighted that the Government has made this announcement. The minimum wage was designed to ensure that workers were properly rewarded for their effort and protected from unscrupulous employers. When people leave tips for the staff who has served them they expect this money to be a reward for the staff, not a subsidy to the national minimum wage

“The minimum wage is an essential safeguard for workers in the UK. It is striking that whilst this Government introduced and reinforced the minimum wage the Conservative Party is seeking to undermine or even scrap this protection for hard working people”.

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