tips-written-policy

---
name: tips-written-policy
description: Writes the tipping policy the Employment (Allocation of Tips) Act 2023 requires, in plain language, covers whether a policy is even needed yet, and flags the consultation duty that becomes law on 1 January 2027 so a policy written today does not need rewriting twice. It works from how the venue actually handles tips now, not from a generic template with the venue's name dropped in, and it checks the result against the government's own model clauses rather than a law firm's paraphrase of them. Use before you open with tipping, when a venue has never had a written policy, or before the 2027 consultation duty comes into force.
---

# The tipping policy that matches what you actually do

You give this a description of how tips, service charges and card payments are handled at your site. You get back a plain-language written policy, the trigger that decides whether you need one at all, and a note of the consultation step you will owe from 1 January 2027.

## What it does

1. **Checks the trigger before writing a word.** Section 27I of the Employment Rights Act 1996, as inserted by the Employment (Allocation of Tips) Act 2023, requires a written policy only where qualifying tips are paid "on more than an occasional and exceptional basis." The statutory Code puts the same test at paragraph 34. A site that genuinely never sees a tip does not need a policy; the skill asks for the actual pattern of tips over a recent period before deciding a policy is required at all.
2. **Covers what the law says the policy must cover, nothing invented beyond it.** Section 27I requires the policy to state whether customers are required or encouraged to tip and how tips are dealt with and allocated. The Code's paragraph 37 adds that "the policy must be written in plain language," with accessible formats available on request.
3. **Writes from the government's own model clauses where they fit.** The Department for Business and Trade's non-statutory guidance publishes template wording, including an automatic service charge clause ("applies an automatic service charge of 12.5% to tables of 8 people or more") and a card tip clause ("ensures that 100% of tips received via card payment are distributed to workers"). The skill adapts these clauses to the venue's real figures rather than inventing new wording that drifts from what the government has already tested.
4. **Makes the policy available the way the Code requires, not just writes it.** Section 27I requires the policy to be made available to all workers at the place of business, with updated versions also made available; a document that exists only in a manager's inbox does not meet this.
5. **Flags the 2027 consultation duty as upcoming, not current.** Acas's guidance, updated 27 October 2026, states "from 1 January 2027, employers will need to consult before creating or reviewing a tipping policy," with trade unions or worker representatives where they exist, or directly with workers where they do not, and to "share an anonymised summary of consultation feedback with affected workers," and to update the policy "at least every 3 years" after that. The skill records today's date against that start date so a venue can see whether the duty has started yet.

## Then it checks

1. The tip pattern supplied is either frequent enough to trigger the policy duty, or the skill states plainly that no policy is required and explains why, as the Code requires in that case.
2. The written policy states whether customers are required or encouraged to tip.
3. The written policy states how tips are dealt with and allocated, in plain language.
4. A distribution method is recorded: where the policy will be posted or handed to every worker at the site.
5. The consultation duty's start date, 1 January 2027, is checked against today's date, and the policy's own review date is set no more than three years out once that date has passed.

Any check fails: name it, redo that step once. Failed twice: say what is wrong and stop.

## Rules
- Public information only. Never invent a fact, a number or a quote.
- Anything sent in someone's name says whose name it is.
- Never write a policy clause that states a different split or deduction than the figures the owner actually supplied.
- Never present the 1 January 2027 consultation duty as already in force before that date.
- This is a working document for the owner to check against their own practice and for their solicitor to check before it is issued. It is not legal advice.

## Built from
- Employment Rights Act 1996, Part 2B, section 27I, as inserted by the Employment (Allocation of Tips) Act 2023 c.13, https://www.legislation.gov.uk/ukpga/2023/13, Royal Assent 2 May 2023, read 4 November 2026: the policy trigger and required content, behind steps 1, 2 and 4.
- Department for Business and Trade, "Code of Practice on Fair and Transparent Distribution of Tips", https://www.gov.uk/government/publications/distributing-tips-fairly-statutory-code-of-practice/code-of-practice-on-fair-and-transparent-distribution-of-tips-html-version, published 29 July 2024, in force 1 October 2024, read 4 November 2026: paragraphs 34 and 37 on plain language, behind steps 1 and 2.
- Department for Business and Trade, "Distributing tips fairly: non-statutory guidance for employers", https://www.gov.uk/government/publications/distributing-tips-fairly-non-statutory-guidance-for-employers/distributing-tips-fairly-non-statutory-guidance-for-employers, read 4 November 2026: the model policy clauses, behind step 3.
- Acas, "Tips and service charges: what the law says", https://www.acas.org.uk/tips-and-service-charges, page updated 27 October 2026, read 4 November 2026: the 1 January 2027 consultation duty under the Employment Rights Act 2025, behind step 5.

# tips-written-policy

## You are given
A description of how tips arrive at the site: cash, card, mobile app or QR code, and whether a mandatory or voluntary service charge is added. The actual frequency of tips over a recent period (for example, daily, most shifts, a handful of times a year). Any existing policy text, however informal. The method by which documents are currently shared with workers (noticeboard, staff app, handbook, none). Today's date.

## Produce
Write into a `./tips-written-policy-output/` folder:

1. `trigger-assessment.md` - the supplied tip frequency, the test from section 27I ("more than an occasional and exceptional basis"), and a verdict of `policy required` or `policy not required, explanation needed`.
2. `policy-draft.md` - if a policy is required: a plain-language document stating (a) whether customers are required or encouraged to tip, verbatim from what was supplied, (b) how each payment type (cash, card, mobile, service charge) is dealt with and allocated, using the government's model clause wording adapted to the supplied figures, (c) where the policy will be made available to workers. If no policy is required: a short plain-language statement of that fact and the reason, for workers to see instead.
3. `distribution-record.csv` with columns: `version`, `date_issued`, `distribution_method`, `confirmed_available_to_all_workers`. `confirmed_available_to_all_workers` is `yes` or `no`; `no` is flagged first in `gaps.md`.
4. `consultation-duty-check.md` - today's date compared against 1 January 2027, a verdict of `duty not yet in force` or `duty in force`, and where in force, the consultation method used (trade union/worker representatives, or direct), the date feedback was shared, and the review-by date (no more than 3 years from the policy's issue date).
5. `gaps.md` - a numbered list of: any policy clause not traceable to supplied figures; any missing distribution method; any policy issued on or after 1 January 2027 with no consultation record; any policy older than 3 years with no review date set; any mismatch between the trigger verdict and the existence of a policy draft.

## Rules
- Codex counts, matches and drafts from supplied facts. It never invents a tipping arrangement, a percentage, or a consultation outcome.
- Never state the 1 January 2027 consultation duty is already in force before that date arrives.
- Every clause in `policy-draft.md` must trace to a fact given in the input; mark anything else `not supplied` rather than filling a gap with a plausible guess.
- Use British English, GBP and DD Month YYYY dates. No em dashes in any file you write.
- Every file ends with this line: this is a working document prepared for the owner to check against their own practice and for their solicitor to check before it is issued. It is not legal advice.

## Return
The absolute path of each file written. The trigger verdict and the reasoning behind it. The full text of `policy-draft.md` or the no-policy-required statement. Whether the consultation duty is in force as of today's date, and what was recorded for it if so. The `gaps.md` item count.