Florida Bill dismisses the automatic gratification in restaurants. What it means for guests

Tallahassee, Fla. – A proposal by a legislator in Florida to take automatic gratifications and service fees in restaurants is now part of a legislative template that runs through the State House.

HB 535 adopted his first time of committee on Wednesday. The invoice should make it easier for the restaurants or public accommodation companies such as hotels to remove someone who does not pay their bill.

However, the members of the committee have also taken on a change in the legislation that prohibits the automatic drinking money and service fees for parties from fewer than six guests in restaurants, cafes and other food facilities.

[RELATED: How to find, contact your Florida state senators or representatives]

For parties with six or more guests, the amendment application says that guests may not have to pay for the drinking money or the service fee if someone at a manager complains about the quality of service at the party.

Information on the service fee or automatic drinking money must also be clearly presented for menus, and the business must also explain to the income who receives the gratification or the service fee and how much of this they receive.

MP Demi Busatta, R-Coral Gables, proposed the change after receiving an invoice in a restaurant in Miami at the beginning of this month that had both a service fee and a preset bonus.

“In Miami we have seen a growing circumstance in which all restaurants automatically give a drink of 20% including gratification or service fee or service fee or tips, not only at regular sitdown meals, but also with take-out in fast casual facilities,” said Busatta.

The change should proceed against a growing and controversial trend in the food service world.

According to an article from 2024 of the Square payment system, 3.7% of restaurant transactions were a service fee. This rose from only 1.27% in early 2022.

Square also published a November report in which tips 21% of the average income of the restaurant employee in Florida. The average tip for restaurant tests was 15.66%.

[RELATED: These are the bills Central Florida state representatives are pushing during the legislative session]

The Florida Restaurant and the Lodging Association supported HB 535 before the change was added. A spokesman informs News 6 that the change would harm companies to ensure that their servers and employees are paid, especially in cities with a large number of visitors from countries where the tip is not a common practice for a meal.

“While we understand consumer fatigue in relation to employee fees at companies in which it does not make sense that there are tips, many restaurants in Florida and the USA use service fees as a key instrument to ensure service and success,” said Samantha Padgett, Vice President of FrLA for government relationships and General Counsel. “Florida statutes already require that a service fee notification is displayed in the menu and on the receipt of the customer. We believe that there are important and effective ways to build on the current notification requirements that are currently in a law that leads to better customer communication. We believe that a customer deserves to have the information required to make his own decisions about where to dine. “

HB 535 now goes next to the criminal justice under committee.

In the meantime, a similar invoice in the Senate in Florida, SB 606, does not have the change. In order for it to survive, the legislators must use the proposal in both invoices.

[RELATED: These are the bills Central Florida state senators are pushing during the legislative session]

SB 606 also passed his first committee stop on Wednesday and is now moving to the Senate's criminal judicial committee.

The original intention for HB 535 and SB 606 is to clarify the rules and definitions between a guest and a tenant in such a way that someone who runs a restaurant or a public accommodation business can remove a guest because they do not pay an invoice or check them out properly.

The claim is also eliminated that a law enforcement officer has to arrest a guest who refuses to leave the business in the presence of the officer. The officer can easily remove them.

In this report, information from the Florida news service was used.