Tips, tronc and service charge: how to check you're getting yours

A guest leaves 12.5% on the card machine and says "make sure that goes to the team". Does it? Most of the time, yes. But plenty of people in hospitality couldn't tell you how much they made in tips last month, or how it was worked out. This guide is here to fix that.

None of this is about accusing your employer. It's about knowing the rules well enough to read your own payslip.

What the law says, in plain English

The Employment (Allocation of Tips) Act 2023, often called the Tipping Act, applies in England, Scotland and Wales (not Northern Ireland). It covers tips, gratuities and service charges that your employer has control or significant influence over. That includes card tips and service charges added to the bill. According to Acas, your employer must:

• Pass on all of those tips to workers, without deductions apart from the usual tax and National Insurance
• Share them fairly and transparently, following the statutory code of practice
• Have a written tipping policy that workers can see
• Keep records of how tips were handled
• Pay them out by the end of the month after the one the guest paid them in

Two other things worth knowing. Tips don't count towards the minimum wage: your hourly pay has to reach at least the legal rate (£12.71 an hour if you're 21 or over, from April 2026) before any tips. And tips are taxable. GOV.UK says you pay Income Tax on tips and may have to pay National Insurance too, depending on how they're paid.

Cash, card, tronc and service charge: what's the difference?

• Cash tips handed straight to you are yours. If your workplace pools cash, the policy should say how.
• Card tips and service charge go to the business first, then have to be passed on to staff under the law above.
• A tronc is a system for pooling tips and sharing them out, run by a "troncmaster". Acas explains it can be separate from the employer, or set up by the employer but run by a worker. Tronc payments usually show up as a separate line on your payslip.

How the pot is split is up to the policy, as long as it's fair. Some venues split by hours worked, some use points by role, and some include the kitchen. Ask to see the policy so you know which one yours uses.

Worked example: checking a month

An illustrative example, not a real venue. Your venue's policy splits the card tips and service charge pot by hours worked, across front and back of house.

• In September, the pot was £4,000 and the team worked 1,600 hours in total.
• That's £4,000 ÷ 1,600 = £2.50 per hour worked.
• You worked 96 hours, so your share should be 96 × £2.50 = £240 before tax.
• Under the law, it should be on your payslip by the end of October.

If your payslip shows £180, that doesn't match the policy. Maybe the policy has changed, or it's a mistake. Either way, you're allowed to ask.

Your rights at a glance

Your rights if something's wrong

The code of practice sets out how disputes should be handled, including escalation to an employment tribunal if they can't be sorted out at work. Acas offers free advice and is the place to start if a chat with your manager doesn't fix it. Your employer must also give you a payslip, which GOV.UK lists as a right for employees and workers. If you don't get one, that's the first thing to raise.

There's another change coming. The Employment Rights Act 2025 will require employers to consult workers, or their representatives, before writing a tipping policy, review it at least every three years, and share an anonymised summary of what staff said. When it comes in, you'll get a say in how your venue's pot is shared.

Questions it's fair to ask

• Can I see the written tipping policy?
• How is the pot split, and does it include the kitchen?
• Which month's tips are on this payslip?
• Is the tronc run by the business or by a troncmaster?
• Is anything taken off before the pot is split, such as card fees or an admin charge? Acas is clear that the only deductions allowed are the usual tax and National Insurance.

If you're a shift leader, learn the answers before your team asks you. Knowing how the money works and explaining it clearly is part of the job.

Watch

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The short version

Tips are yours, on top of at least the minimum wage, shared under a written policy and paid by the end of the following month. Keep your own shift record, read your payslip, and ask if the numbers don't add up. It's your money. Make sure it arrives.