A Mayfair casino is facing legal action from a former waiter who claims he was denied a fair share of tips. The former employee of the Metropolitan Mayfair, part of the Metropolitan Casinos group owned by US investment firm Silver Point Capital, has lodged a complaint with the London employment tribunal. He alleges that cash tips given directly to him were unfairly shared with managers and other staff, and that the distribution of the optional 12.5% service charge added to food and drinks was opaque.
Worker alleges management took larger share of service charge
The waiter, who worked at the casino for five years before being asked to leave, stated that management, including senior management, “appeared to receive a larger share despite not being directly involved in serving customers or working on the frontline.” He said the company “refused to provide any details” of how it allocated the service charge, leaving him unable to verify if it “complied with the principles of fairness and transparency.”
Under UK legislation implemented in October 2024, employers must distribute 100% of service charges and card tips to workers in a “fair and transparent manner,” and employees have the right to know how tips are allocated. The former worker and another ex-employee told the Guardian that the system was very opaque, with no clarity on how or if card tips were shared. Payslips do not break down the service charge calculation and omit card tips entirely. Managers reportedly take an equal share of cash tips, which waiters consider unfair.
Tips and service charge represent substantial earnings
The tips and service charge amount to thousands of pounds daily, forming a significant portion of frontline staff income. The government’s draft guidance on implementing the tips legislation, issued last week, requires companies to consult workers on tipping policy, “ideally achieving broad agreement in the workplace that the system of allocation and distribution of tips is fair, reasonable and clear.”
The Unite union, representing hospitality workers, has called for the draft to be withdrawn, arguing it allows employers to ignore worker concerns as long as they conduct a consultation process. Unite general secretary Sharon Graham said: “Workers should have control over their own tips, pure and simple. Most customers assume they do anyway. Giving managers control, even letting them keep a slice for themselves, is clearly unfair.”
Worker challenges dismissal after questioning tip policies
The former waiter said he was dismissed after asking about the service charge and card tips. A company letter claimed he had personally kept a large cash tip from a customer instead of sharing it, which he denies. He is also pursuing a wrongful dismissal claim. A payslip seen by the Guardian showed he earned £13.50 per hour, received £97 in service charge for a 120-hour month, and an extra hourly “shift premium” of just over £100 for late nights.
The casino’s tips policy states that an independent troncmaster allocates the service charge pot to eligible workers based on “objective criteria such as, but not limited to: hours worked, role, and contribution to service delivery.” It adds that “tronc rules will be accessible and displayed within venues,” but workers said they had not seen them displayed.
Former worker describes cash tip sharing with managers
Another former worker said cash tips were shared weekly by a manager, who typically took home between £150 and £300 from the pot. This came on top of a basic salary of about £28,000 per year, service charge of about £300, and extra pay for late shifts. All waiters complained after learning managers took an equal share despite higher salaries and less customer contact. “Cash tips come from the floor. You build up a rapport with people… We do the groundwork for the tips,” he said.
A spokesperson for the casino declined to comment on specific employees or cases but stated: “We can state categorically that our company does not benefit in any way from tips given to employees, with allocation arrangements determined independently in accordance with the legislation. More broadly, we are confident that all of our policies and procedures… are compliant with all relevant legal and regulatory requirements.”
