An employer may never withhold tips.

In general, tips are intended for serving staff. However, FNV Horeca is of the opinion that tips are intended for everyone who has contributed to or worked on the product.

In the hospitality industry, it is customary for guests to give tips. A tip is an extra payment as a reward for the quality of the service.

Distribution

The staff must arrange the distribution of tips among themselves. In principle, the employer does not share in the tips and does not determine their distribution. Only if the employer actively works on the shop floor can he potentially share. Nowadays, tips are increasingly paid via payment cards. This makes distributing tips more difficult. It is therefore advisable to appoint someone to keep track of the tip jar.

Tax and Customs Administration

Tips are not subject to payroll tax because they do not constitute wages, but they are considered taxable income for income tax purposes. Therefore, you must declare any tips received as income when filing your tax return.

Case law: employer may never withhold tips

The hospitality collective labor agreement contains no provisions regarding tips. There are also no statutory provisions on the matter. However, there are rulings from the Supreme Court (district court), known as case law, which establish that tips received by employees belong to the employees. Therefore, the employer may never withhold tips.

Source: fnvhoreca.nl