Does the delay change anything we have to do now?

No. The duties in force since October 2024 are unaffected — tips passed on in full, fair and transparent allocation, a written policy where tips are more than occasional, and three years of records available to workers on request. Only the new consultation requirement has moved.

Who do we consult if we have no union?

The duty runs to elected worker representatives where they exist, and to affected workers directly where they do not. Consulting a workforce directly is slower than it sounds, particularly across multiple sites or shift patterns, which is the main reason to work out the mechanism before the duty lands.

When will it actually come into force?

Government has said by the end of 2026 and has not given a date. The revised Code was withdrawn in July after criticism from Unite, and a further consultation on it has since been announced. Depending on when that consultation runs, implementation before January may not be achievable. The timeline was also published under the previous administration and has not been reissued since. Any specific date reported before a commencement order appears is speculation.

Tipping consultation duty misses October

If you took tips and had October in the diary, take it out.

The Employment Rights Act adds three requirements to the existing tipping regime: consult workers, or their union or elected representatives, before you write a tipping policy; review that policy at least every three years, consulting again each time; and make an anonymised summary of the consultation feedback available to workers.

These were expected on 1 October 2026. On 16 July the government confirmed they will instead arrive by the end of the year. The revised statutory Code of Practice was criticised by unions and pulled back from the Parliamentary process, which reopens the drafting — and reopens it for everyone, not only the sector.

What has not changed

Everything already in force still applies, and this is the part worth repeating to anyone treating the delay as a reprieve. Since October 2024 you must pass on qualifying tips in full, allocate them fairly and transparently, hold a written tipping policy where tips are more than occasional, and keep tipping records for three years that workers can ask to see.

None of that is affected. The delay concerns the new consultation duty only.

What to do with the extra time

Map how tips actually move through your business — collected, pooled, allocated, paid — and write down the reasoning behind the split. When the consultation duty lands, you will be asked to justify an arrangement, and the businesses that struggle will be the ones who have never articulated why the kitchen gets what it gets.

Then work out who you would consult. If you have no union and no elected representatives, the duty falls to consulting affected workers directly, which takes longer than a notice on the wall.

"By the end of the year" is not a commencement date, and it may not hold. The government has since announced a further consultation on the Code, and depending on when that runs, implementation before January is not guaranteed. The timeline itself was published on 16 July under the previous administration — gov.uk now carries a banner saying so. Treat any specific date you see reported as a guess. We will publish a full guide when the Code is laid.

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