Where do your tips go? - 6 Minute English

Hello. This is 6 Minute English

from BBC Learning English.

I’m Sam.

And I’m Neil.

In this programme, we’re talking

all about restaurants –

specifically about tipping.

That’s giving money to waiting

staff for the service

you received.

Yes, while tipping is

discretionary – which means

that someone can decide whether

they want to give money or

not – in most places in the UK

it’s an expected practice.

But have you ever thought where

that money goes or who actually

receives it? Do they have to

pay tax on it – or is it

just a gift?

Some people think that the

person who brought our food

is the one who gets the money,

however that isn’t always the case.

Well, before we find out more

about where our tips go, I have

a question about restaurants.

The highest restaurant in

the world, At.mosphere, is

in Dubai, in the building known

as the Burj Khalifa – but how

high up is that restaurant?

Is it: a) 442 metres,

b) 532 metres, c) 622 metres?

Well, that all sounds really

high up, but I’m going to

say c) 622 metres.

OK, I’ll reveal the answer

towards the end of the show.

But now let’s talk more about

what happens to your tips

once you have given

them to someone.

It seems that different

restaurants and businesses have

different systems in place

across the country.

And sadly, that isn’t always

to the benefit of all waiting

staff – that’s according to

James James, a waiter, who was

speaking with Peter White on

the BBC programme You and Yours.

There’s nothing consistent

about the tipping system

throughout all the different

companies – they all have their

own, and they’re all unfair in

their own equal way. A tip is

not mandatory - I have to

earn it as a reward for the

service I provide. People

don’t tip for good food,

they already paid for it on

the bill. Recently, when I’ve

been given cash, I’ve been

imposed in more than one

company to put it in a jar

and split it – the split

hasn’t exactly been fair

to me. My first week at one

job I did £50 in the jar

for week – that was just

myself and there’s

four other servers.

And at the end of the week, I

was presented with a bag

with £2.45 in it.

So, James James used the word

consistent – which means

acting the same way over

time – however he used it

negatively when talking

about the tipping systems

in most companies.

He also used mandatory –

which is something someone

must do and is the opposite

of the word discretionary.

And he also said imposed,

which means forced

upon someone.

So, it seems that James James

is not impressed by some

businesses’ tipping systems.

However, for many restaurants

there is a special arrangement

with the UK tax body, the HMRC.

Yes – it’s called a tronc

system – which sees all of the

tips collected in one separate

independent bank account and

stops the payments being

charged at the wrong

rate of tax.

Kate Nicholls, a representative

for UK Hospitality, speaking

with Peter White on the

BBC programme You and Yours,

explains more about the

intention of a tronc system.

Well increasingly, as we’re

moving towards a cashless

society – increased use of

credit card, particularly

over the Covid pandemic, more

and more of those tips,

gratuities, service charges are

coming through on a credit card

payment, and a tronc is a

special arrangement organised

with HMRC that lets businesses

pool tips and service charges

and then fairly

distribute them.

Kate Nicholls mentioned that

society is becoming cashless –

which means fewer people

are using paper notes or

coins to pay for

things, preferring to use

credit cards.

She also used the verb

pool – a word which means

collect together or group.

It’s very interesting to

note that payments which

you give to one person may

be distributed equally across

the business, from kitchen

staff to management, depending

on a business’s protocol.

But that brings me back to

today’s question. I asked

you how high up is the

world’s highest restaurant.

You certainly did and they

all sounded exceptionally

high up – I went for option

c) 622 metres in the air – the

tallest option. Was I right?

I’m afraid not – not this

time. At.mosphere is actually

442 metres in the air, so not

quite as high as you thought.

Well, it still sounds pretty

high to me! Now it’s time to

recap some of the vocabulary

we’ve mentioned today. First

off, we had discretionary,

which is something that is

a choice for the person doing

it and is not an obligation.

Consistent describes something

that acts or behaves in the

same way over and over again.

Then we had mandatory – which

describes something a

person must do.

If something is imposed

on you, it is forced on you.

Cashless refers to card or

digital payments, rather than

notes and coins – while pool

is a verb and means group

together all in one place.

Well, that certainly is

food for thought next time

you dine out. That brings

us to end of this week’s

6 Minute English – but

remember that there’s a

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Thanks for listening

and goodbye.

Goodbye.