Last update - 00:00 25/02/2007
Ministers okays bill to ensure tips, minimum wage for waiters
By Ruth Sinai, Haaretz Correspondent
The Ministerial Legislative Committee on Sunday approved a bill which would forbid employers to include within base salaries employees' tips.
If approved by Knesset, the new law would apply to employers of restaurants, cafes, hotels, courier services, salons, entertainment business and other fields.
The support of the cabinet for this bill, which was proposed by MKs Shelly Yachimovich (Labor), Yoel Hasson (Kadima) and Gilad Erdan (Likud), guarantees Knesset approval.
The law would prohibit employers from taking any part of the employees' tips for themselves and would obligate them to give them to workers on top of their base salary. "The law will put an end to the exploitation of waiters and couriers whose employers are not giving them their salaries and social rights," said Yachimovich.
Similar bills have been submitted in the past to the Knesset, but have not been advanced beyond the level of proposal. Despite court rulings prohibiting this behavior, employers continue to pay their workers less than minimum wage using the argument that the tips they receive make up the difference.