SPRINGFIELD, Ill. – A measure passed by the House and supported by state Rep. Maurice West II, D-Rockford, would ensure that tips given to restaurant workers and other employees cannot be retained by an employer.

“When a customer leaves a tip for service, they do so with the understanding that the person receiving it is the person who helped or served them,” West said. “It makes sense to clarify current law to ensure that employers are unable to keep tips that were not intended for them.”

West cosponsored House Bill 3405, which provides that gratuities from customers to employees are the property of the employee and cannot be retained by an employer. The effort is focused on waiters, waitresses and other service workers who rely on tips to make up for the difference in minimum wage they receive. Under this legislation, if an employer fails to pay out held tips more than 13 days after the end of the pay period in which the tips were earned, the employer would be under violation of state wage payment laws. The proposal does not prohibit tip pooling.

“Individuals in the service industry who earn gratuity work hard for those tips,” West said. “They should never lose income that is rightfully theirs.”