Tip-Shaving in the U.K.

The tip-shaving scandal that nearly brought down a Philadelphia restaurant chain a year ago has popped up in the U.K., where the public has learned of a dozen prominent restaurant chains systematically skimming off as much as two thirds of table servers’ tips. Some of this is legal under current U.K. laws if done correctly, but customers aren’t happy about any of it, and restaurants that get caught out are promising to mend their thieving ways. In the end, the laws will likely change, and at least one restaurant chain will collapse under the weight of customer disapproval, but there won’t be any prosecutions. As in previous tip-shaving cases, that’s because it’s hard for justice officials to imagine that the law is intended to prevent the powerful from preying on the weak.