The Government of Jamaica is looking to reform labor-market arrangements in the tourism sector, with a plan to eliminate taxes on tips and ensure that 100 percent of gratuities are paid directly to workers in the hospitality industry, according to Minister of Tourism Edmund Bartlett.
Highlighting the need for a restructuring of the tourism labor market, Bartlett, speaking on the eve of the winter tourist season that began yesterday, stated that these changes would help create a more professional and equitable system for workers in the sector.
“The reform will include professionalizing the industry by training, certifying, and classifying workers, with remuneration tied to their skill levels and qualifications,” Bartlett stated. “This approach mirrors the public sector’s merit-based classification system, ensuring equity and guaranteeing opportunities for qualified workers to access top positions within the industry.”
A key component of the proposed reforms is ensuring that gratuities and tips directly benefit workers. Minister Bartlett emphasized that gratuities, which are currently charged as service fees on rooms, dining, and other services, should be fully allocated to employees in the hospitality sector. This change aims to ensure that workers receive the full benefit of the gratuities intended for them.
“The gratuity, which has been instituted as a service charge exclusively for the workers, we insist, must be paid to the workers, and if this was so, the salary levels within the industry, certainly, the take-home pay of the worker would easily be twice what it is,” Bartlett argued. “We are insisting that the gratuities be paid to the workers, and that we will remove the tips from the taxable income areas so that all tips to the tourism workers will be tax free.”
Bartlett’s announcement follows several months of protest action by tourism workers, which included strikes at various hotels. Employees have consistently voiced concerns over low wages, long working hours, and the lack of formal contracts. Gratuities are typically charged as a percentage on services and are paid to workers, while tips, which are voluntary payments made directly by visitors, are often collected and distributed among employees.
