Guide · Ireland

Tips and service charges in Irish restaurants: the 2022 Act in practice

Since 1 December 2022, when S.I. No. 544/2022 brought businesses selling food and drink on the premises under the Act, an Irish restaurant's card tips belong to its staff, shared by a rule they were consulted on, with a service charge counted as a tip and a written statement after every pay-out. The Payment of Wages (Amendment) (Tips and Gratuities) Act 2022 is short; this is what it asks for, in the order a month runs.

Published 4 November 2026 · For restaurants in Ireland, from the Act's text as the Law Reform Commission publishes it. Not legal advice. UK restaurants have a different law: the Tips Act.

Which law, and since when

The 2022 Act was enacted on 20 July 2022. It does its work by inserting new sections, 4A to 4F, into the Payment of Wages Act 1991, so the duties are read there. Sections 4B to 4E apply to the employers prescribed by S.I. No. 544/2022, in operation since 1 December 2022: an employer is covered where an employee's work relates, even in part, to a service on the list in Part 1 of its Schedule, and the first item on that list is the sale of food or drink for consumption on the premises where it is sold (regulation 4). A restaurant is that business; a hotel is on the list too.

The Act also takes tips out of wages. The Department's summary is that tips are outside an employee's contractual pay and cannot be used to make up contractual rates of pay, and section 4C forbids a deduction from an employee's wages in respect of tips left for them.

Card tips: shared fairly, kept by nobody else

Section 4B(1) says tips received by card or another electronic payment are distributed to employees in a manner that is fair in the circumstances. The employer keeps no share (4B(2)), with one exception: an employer who regularly does, to a substantial degree, the same work as the staff may keep a share that is fair and reasonable for that work (4B(3)). An owner who works the floor every Friday can take part in the pot for those Fridays; an owner who does the books cannot.

"Fair" is not defined by a formula. If a dispute reaches an adjudication officer, the Act lists what they look at: seniority or experience, the sales the employee generated, the hours they worked, whether they are full or part time, their role in serving customers, whether staff were consulted on how tips are shared, and any agreement about it (4B(4)). A written rule built from the same factors — hours, role, or points by role — is easier to defend than one decided each week.

Before you set the policy, or change it materially, you consult the staff (4B(7)). Keep a note of when and how, because consultation is one of the things an adjudication officer looks at.

The service charge is a tip

Section 4D(1) closes the old gap. If a mandatory charge is called a "service charge", or described in a way that would lead a customer to think it goes to the staff, every payment of it is treated as an electronic tip and shared under the same rules. Not passing it on is an offence (4D(2)).

VAT is a separate question with its own answer. Revenue treats a service charge included on the bill as part of the price of the meal, at the second reduced rate, while a voluntary tip that does not appear on the bill is outside VAT. Our guide to Irish restaurant VAT covers that side.

What may be deducted

Section 4C allows only two kinds of deduction from tips due to be shared: one that a statute or an instrument under a statute requires, and one that is fair and reasonable to meet costs arising directly from tips being paid electronically. In plain terms, the card fee on the tip itself may be a fair deduction; a contribution to breakages, uniforms or a till shortage is not.

Whatever you deduct, write down what it was and why, and make it part of the policy you consulted on.

The notice, the statement, the record

Put up the notice
Section 4E asks for a tips and gratuities notice saying whether tips are shared, how, and how mandatory charges are treated. It can be shown on your website or another online platform, or at the place of business where your staff work. How cash tips are shared belongs in it too, according to the Department of Enterprise. Not displaying it is an offence (4E(3)).
Share the pot
On your usual cycle, add up the card tips and the service charges taken, apply the rule in the notice, and pay each person their share.
Give each person a statement within 10 days
No later than 10 days after a distribution, each employee gets a written statement of the total tips shared for the period and the amount they received (4B(5)). Missing it is an offence (4B(8)).
Keep the figures behind it
The Department notes that the record from card payments supports inspections by the Workplace Relations Commission. Keep what came in, what was deducted and why, and what each person was given, together.

The tips in Slotina, for an Irish restaurant

A service charge can be set by party size and marked optional or compulsory, so every bill says which it is; VAT is shown by class on the bill.
Every payment is recorded with the tip that came with it, whether the waiter took the card with Tap to Pay on a phone or the guest paid from the table's QR code.
Card payments go to your own Stripe account once it is connected, with no Slotina commission.
The tips ledger adds up the tips and service charges taken and records each hand-out: the period, the named members of staff and how it was split — the figures your notice and statements are made from.
The rota's hours page exports the hours each person worked as CSV, which is the measure many tips policies share by. Hours only: pay stays with your payroll.

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Irish tips law: short answers

Do Irish restaurants have to give service charges to staff?

Yes. Under section 4D of the Payment of Wages Act 1991, inserted by the 2022 Act, a mandatory charge called a service charge, or presented so that customers think it goes to staff, is treated as an electronic tip and shared with employees.

Can an Irish employer keep part of the card tips?

Only an employer who regularly does substantially the same work as the staff, and only a fair and reasonable share for that work. Otherwise the employer keeps no share of electronic tips.

Can card fees be taken off tips in Ireland?

A deduction that is fair and reasonable to meet costs arising directly from tips being paid electronically is allowed, as is one a statute requires. Other deductions from tips are not.

When must staff get a tips statement?

No later than 10 days after each distribution, in writing, showing the total shared for the period and the employee's own amount.

Sources (checked 4 November 2026; not legal or tax advice)

Pay at table, with the tip on every payment · The restaurant EPOS and the tips ledger · Pricing in euro

Slotina in Ireland · Splitting the bill and the service charge · All guides