Florida — A new Florida bill would crack down on how much a restaurant can require a patron to tip.
The bill focuses on restaurants that force automatic gratuity and service charges on guests.
The bill, HB 535, has passed its first committee stop.
Additionally, the bill is meant to make it easier for restaurants or public lodging businesses like hotels to remove a person who refuses to pay their tab.
However, committee members added an amendment that would ban automatic gratuity and service charges for parties of fewer than six guests at restaurants or any other establishment that serves food and beverages.
The bill also states that if a party has six or more guests and a person complains to a manager about the service the guest may not be required to pay the gratuity.
Rep. Demi Busatta, R-Coral Gables, introduced the bill after attending a Florida restaurant that not only enforced a mandatory gratuity but also added a service charge. Neither of which was disclosed on the menu.
This new bill states that gratuity and service charges must also be spelled out clearly on menus and receipts. Furthermore, the establishment must also explain who is receiving the gratuity or service charge.
In a statement, Busatta, said, “In Miami, we’ve seen a growing circumstance where all the restaurants are automatically including a 20% gratuity, or they’re calling it gratuity or service charge or service fee or tip, not just on regular sitdown meals but on take-out as well at fast-casual establishments.”
The amendment is meant to crack down on a growing and controversial trend in the food service world.
According to WalletHub, a nationwide survey showed that more than 90% of Americans feel that “tipping” is getting out of control.
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