The initiative seeks to guarantee the right of workers, although it also imposes conditions on employers.
The Chamber of Deputies approved the bill that contemplates that the workers of Uruguay can receive tips via electronic means, in an initiative presented by the legislator of the Colorado Party (PC), Sebastián Sanguinetti, designed mainly for the gastronomic sector.
In addition to the PC, the text had the votes of the National Party and the Broad Front, but not like that Town meeting, that once again differentiated itself within the ruling party, as occurred with the Social Security Reform, and spoke out against the measure. Now, after a day where Sanguinetti himself spoke, Conrado Rodríguez, Álvaro Perrone, Sebastián Valdomir, Felipe Schipani, Gonzalo Mujica, Juan Rodríguez, Martín Sodano, Cecilia Cairo, Eduardo Antonini and Silvana Pérez, the project was approved and sent to the Senate.
The initiative contemplates the right of the employee to receive tips through electronic means of payment in jobs where it is common, as in the gastronomic sector. Besides, the employer is required to have technology to make sure it can be done.
The only person who can dispose of the tip is the worker, according to the text, which states that the employer may not discount or deduct money that does not result from tax regulations. At the same time, you should not deprive them of the eventual cash tip either.
Tipping with a card opened a discussion in the Multicolor Coalition
The debate in Deputies revived the tensions between the Cabildo Abierto and the rest of the Multicolored Coalition, that a little over a month ago included moments of discomfort and close to breaking. On this occasion, the standard bearer of criticism was the deputy for Canelones, Álvaro Perrone, considering that the measure is “against the workers and in favor of the banks”. In his criticism via social networks, he stated: “They even banked the tips.”
According to Perrone, by banking tips “workers are exposed to being hit by the Personal Income Tax (IRPF).” Therefore, the legislator for Canelones considered: “We continue to punish those who work.”
Meanwhile, Sanguinetti, author of the project, considered that the approval is “great news for the workers, especially for those in the service sector where tips are an important part of their income”, considering that today electronic payments far exceed the use of cash.
Regarding the recitals of the initiative, he said that he seeks “that all companies where their employees regularly receive tips also give the option of doing so electronically.” In addition, the deputy of the PC indicated that it will be the workers “those who have the power to distribute the money from the tips and that the settlement date thereof is mutually agreed between the employee and the employer”.
Source: Ambito
