McGuinty says tips for servers should not go to restaurant managers or owners

TORONTO – Premier Dalton McGuinty says Ontario needs a law to make sure tips left in restaurants and bars go to staff, not managers or owners.

New Democrat Michael Prue introduced a private members’ bill to outlaw the practice called tip outs, where management takes a percentage of tips meant for servers and kitchen staff.

The government was initially cool to the idea, but McGuinty says no customers who leave a tip expect the owners to take a percentage.

He says that’s the implicit understanding we have as consumers, and the law should reflect that.

McGuinty says not only do full-time servers rely on tips as part of their income, but so do tens of thousands of young people working part-time in restaurants and bars while going to school.

The premier told Labour Minister Linda Jeffrey to take a close look at the NDP bill, after she suggested the law didn’t need to be changed to ban tip outs.