Good morning, Mr Speaker. 

I am pleased to introduce in the Honourable House today a Template Tips and Other Gratuities Policy Statement pursuant to the Employment (Protection of Employee Tips and Other Gratuities) Amendment Act 2023 (the “Amendment Act”).

Mr Speaker, as the Members of this Honourable House may recall the Amendment Act, which is due to come into operation on 1 March 2024, provides for the management, protection and fair distribution of employee tips and other gratuities and prohibits employers and their directors and shareholders from sharing in any tips, tip pool or any other gratuities unless provided for by the Amendment Act.

Accordingly, Mr Speaker, every employer whose employees commonly receive tips or other gratuities – or whose business is in an industry or sector within which employees commonly receive tips or other gratuities – shall have a clear written policy statement in place which provides for how tips and other gratuities are to be managed, protected and fairly distributed.

Mr Speaker, to assist employers and aid in compliance with the Amendment Act, the Ministry of Economy and Labour has created a Template Policy Statement which employers can implement. This is particularly aimed at small to medium sized businesses that may not have a robust human resource structure and/or are not unionized. 

Mr Speaker, the Template Policy Statement is compliant with the requirements under Schedule 1A of the Amendment Act and includes provisions such as: 

1. The definitions of tips, other gratuities, tip pool and payment arrangement;

2. Employees’ rights and employers’ responsibilities pursuant to the Amendment Act;

3. Whether the employer encourages customers to pay tips or other gratuities;

4. Whether a tip pool is permitted at the workplace; 

5. How other gratuities are to be collected and redistributed and by whom;

6. When redistribution of other gratuities will be made in the normal course and when and employee is on leave;

7. The persons to whom the redistribution of other gratuities applies;

8. The employer’s criteria for the redistribution of other gratuities; and 

9.    The investigation and resolution process for complaints filed with

   the employer pursuant to the Amendment Act.

Mr. Speaker, this Template Policy Statement along with the Procedural Guidance published pursuant to the Amendment Act will aid in employer adherence to the legislation and will help prevent the misapplication of employees’ tips and other gratuities. 

Mr Speaker, effective 1 March 2024, all employees are to be presented with their employer’s policy statement in relation to employee tips and other gratuities and employers are to put procedures in place that will assist employees in understanding their policy statement. 

Mr Speaker, any employer who contravenes this requirement of the Amendment Act will be liable to a civil penalty which may be imposed by the Department of Labour or the Employment and Labour Relations Tribunal.

Mr Speaker, I am pleased to be able to address this Honourable House again and in such short order as it is a testament to the work taking place within the Ministry to strengthen the rights of employees and safeguard the protections afforded to employees within Bermuda. It has been argued for some time that employees should be able to retain their rightfully earned tips and other gratuities and we have brought this to fruition through robust and sound legislation.

Mr Speaker, I am assured by industry and other relevant employer representatives that this additional level of preparedness is welcomed and will assist with limiting any confusion that may result in any unintended abuses of the legislation. 

Thank you, Mr Speaker.