Paul Murphy: Calls for tougher penalties on tip theft
Paul Murphy spoke on 13 Jul 2022 about penalties in proposed legislation governing tips and gratuities, arguing the government’s proposed class C fine of €2,500 is inadequate and urging harsher sanctions. He proposed class A penalties, including up to 12 months' imprisonment or both fine and imprisonment, and pressed for clearer public notices of tips policy.
Penalty critique
Paul Murphy criticised the proposed class C fine of two and a half thousand euros as “completely inadequate,” saying the risk-reward for employers is skewed and that employers can gain substantially by withholding electronic tips. He cited reporting that in one establishment the employer was taking in three thousand euros a day in electronic tips as an example of the scale of the problem.
Proposed sanctions
Murphy said his proposals would treat the conduct with greater seriousness, calling for a class A fine and a maximum of 12 months imprisonment or both. He framed the withholding of tips as theft, saying workers’ money should not be treated as a small matter and should be punished accordingly.
Legal consistency concerns
He warned that amendment changes to penalties — including a proposal to increase fines to up to €5,000 — would be inconsistent with the Payments of Wages Act 1991, which provides for fines up to €1,000. He noted the Workplace Relations Commission can impose fixed penalty notices of up to €1,500 and argued breaches under this bill should not carry the most severe consequences relative to existing wage law provisions.
Prison sentences and practical issues
Murphy highlighted a practical concern that amendments proposing prison terms could lead to draconian outcomes, for example where an employer who paid all tips but failed to provide paperwork could face up to 12 months’ imprisonment. He argued that such an outcome would not protect employees or be proportionate, and questioned whether criminal larceny provisions have been pursued in relevant cases.
Visibility of tips policy
On amendment 26, Murphy argued that it should not be sufficient for a single notice or a website notice to satisfy transparency requirements. He said tip policies should be clearly visible to customers, including on menus and publicly displayed in premises, so patrons and staff understand how tips and gratuities are handled.
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This section I think is really crucial in terms of the penalty for the breach of this legislation so at the moment the proposal is for a class C fine two and a half thousand euros and that's just completely inadequate I mean the kind of risk reward for employers here the risk isn't very high and the reward can be very high I mean it was reported that in the Ivy restaurant they were taking in three thousand euros a day in tips electronic tips that they were taking as the employer and the maximum that we're saying that the government is saying that employers who continue to engage in that practice against the law can face it's a fine of two and a half thousand euros it's just completely inadequate it's a very soft touch light-handed approach to employers for what is theft robbery workers money shouldn't be treated as a light you know small kind of matter it's a small kind of matter it's a big deal it's a big deal it's the same thing as you go into someone's house and you rob their money it's theft and it should be treated as such with our proposals or my proposals is for a class A fine a maximum of 12 months imprisonment or both i.e. treating it with the seriousness that it deserves um i i just just just would say again i i hear what people are saying in relation to this being theft and this being uh rob money i i i agree with that assessment by the way um if money is intended for somebody and somebody else takes it like that is that is largely in my view um and i don't know the answer my own question but i'd actually be curious to know whether whether any any any any complaints have been taken to the guard or whether there have been any investigations under larceny provisions and what the case law is around that i i don't know if there has been but i will be curious to know um but that but what we're dealing with the course here is is employment law um and with respect to this to this legislation uh the amendment would change the penalties for breaches from a fine of up to 2 500 euros to a fine of up to 5 000 euros this will be out of line and inconsistent with penalties included in the payments of wages act 1991 which this act demand that that act provides for fines up to 1 000. the wrc can also impose fixed penalty notices of up to 1 500 euros if these amendments were accepted then breaches of this bill would have the most serious consequence of any offense under the payment of wages act and that doesn't seem proportionate amendments 17 18 and 19 17 19 and 22 propose the introduction of prison sentences for breaches of the act by way of an example an employer who fails to give an employee statement of their tips and gratuities and the total tips and gratuities received will be liable for up to 12 months imprisonment just to clarify that even if somebody got all their tips every single euro every single cent if the employer didn't for some reason give them the paperwork they could go to prison for 12 months and to me that seems somewhat draconian and it certainly wouldn't protect the employers if their employer had to cease trading because they were sent to prison having paid every cent of the wages every cent of the tip but not provided the right sheet of paper is this amendment being pressed the check they're have not there's going to be this tall and again a nail stolen good butcher and cast it were all dead deputy o'reilly already discussed with 17 is this amendment being pressed the check they're have not there's going to be this tall and again a nail top butcher and cast 19 deputy murphy is this amendment being pressed yes the deputy's in favor of the question the deputies against neil i believe the question is defeated 20 deputy murphy withdrawn 21 deputy o'reilly already discussed with 20 how stands this amendment with drawn 22 already discussed with 17 how stands this there deputy murphy press the check they're have not there's going to be this tall and again a nail is the oil and will butcher in guest questions lost 23 deputy o'reilly withdrawn 24 deputy murphy withdrawn 25 deputy murphy 25 to 27 inclusive related and will be taken together um just very quickly if you would move 25 um yeah these are the there's the last substantial section of of amendments so just very quickly is the the key amendment i think is amendment 26 actually and which is to say that it shouldn't be enough for at least one notice to exist and which is what the act currently refers to in terms of providing what the policy is but that there should be as many as are required to be clearly visible to customers so you shouldn't just be able to put it on the website it should be on menus should be publicly displayed so that it's very clear for and those who are going into an establishment what the tips policy is you you
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