(Rabble) To tip or not to tip?

Tipping culture has become a large conversation in Canada over the past few years, as both customers and service workers across the country struggle to meet the demands of the cost-of-living crisis.

So how would you react to knowing that a portion of the tips you’re giving are not even being collected by the people who are serving you – but rather, upper management.

This is called tip theft, and in one Atlantic province it’s perfectly legal.

(CBC Radio) The Nova Scotia Workers' Compensation Board is adding "gradual onset psychological injury" to their eligible claims starting on Sept. 1. This means workers will be able to file a claim for injury caused by things like workplace bullying and harassment. The CBC's Celina Aalders spoke with legal intern Mina Ali from the Halifax Workers Action Centre about this change.

(NSNDP Press Release) It’s the middle of patio season and Nova Scotians and tourists are filling restaurants across the province.

Summer is a busy time for service industry workers who rely on tips and gratuities to get by, but customers may not know where their tips are going.

(CityNews) Jordi Morgan, Restaurants Canada vice-president for Atlantic Canada, joins Todd to discuss how some restaurant owners work seven days a week to stay afloat. Sydnee Blum, Organizer for the Halifax Workers’ Action Centre, discusses targeting tip theft.

(CTV News) An information session was held on the Halifax waterfront Sunday to raise awareness about tip theft.

“We see this is a very widespread problem. We put out a survey and 73 per cent of respondents said that they had some kind of experience with tip theft,” says Sydnee Blum of the Workers' Action Centre.

(Saltwire) Servers in Halifax protesting tip theft are gathering this weekend to plan the next steps of their Just a Tip campaign.

Led by the Halifax Workers' Action Centre, wait staff have been circulating a petition and survey concerning how gratuities are divided. Nova Scotia is the only Atlantic province where there is no legislation protecting tips left by grateful customers, and none of the East Coast provinces’ employment standards regulations explicitly state that managers cannot dip into the pot at the end of the night.

(Saltwire) Canopies have been pitched over patios, seating has been set up and people have started to go out to enjoy food, drinks and summer cheer; but for some young adults with serving jobs, this is a frustrating sight.  

Aditi Bagla, who used to work at a South Asian food establishment in downtown Halifax, said servers’ tips were collected at the end of the night and paid out to all staff — including managers.

(CBC Radio) When Nova Scotians are faced with record-breaking high temperatures, working can go from uncomfortable to dangerous. So what are your rights as a worker in those conditions? Guest host Jane Sponagle is joined by Noah Enns with the Halifax Workers Action Centre to talk about what responsibilities employers have to ensure their workers are safe.

(Media Co-op) Six Canadian provinces have legislation protecting workers’ tip income, but the three prairie provinces, Nova Scotia and the three northern territories do not because they don't consider them wages. Yet the CRA considers tips taxable income.

The Halifax Workers' Action Centre has made tips a focus of their work, with questionnaires and outreach to try and determine how widespread the problem of tip theft might be.

(Global News) Nova Scotia’s minimum wage is going up by 20 cents this spring, but workers say that’s simply not enough to combat the rising cost of living.
As of April 1, minimum wage will be $15.20 per hour.
“It’s a bit of a slap in the face towards working people,” said Syd Blum, an organizer with Halifax Workers’ Action Centre.

(CBC News) From workplace discrimination to wrongful termination, the Halifax Workers' Action Centre says it's wrapping up its busiest year yet.

The non-profit group, which offers legal advice and support to non-unionized employees, helped 300 people in 2023 alone.

(CTV News) In the service industry, there’s something known as tip theft.

“Tip theft is the practice of employers stealing people’s tips that are meant for employees,” says Sydnee Blum of the Worker’s Action Centre (WAC).

It might not be a well-known thing, but according to WAC, the practice of business owners taking a portion of their employees’ tips is quiet common.

(102.5 The Hawk) Some proposed legislation would protect bartenders and cooks from have their tips snatched away by their employer.

Nova Scotia is the only province in Atlantic Canada without legislation that protects service industry workers against employers taking all or part of tips from customers.

“Most workers in the service industry, such as servers, bartenders, and cooks, make below a living wage and rely on tips to make ends meet,” said Claudia Chender…

(Rabble) Prisons do not work, prisoners do. That was the message of an August 8 webinar hosted by the Halifax Workers’ Action Centre and the East Coast Prison Justice Society ahead of Prisoners’ Justice Day.

The labour done by prisoners is routinely undervalued and incarcerated workers are made more vulnerable by unequal protections. In federal prisons, work programs are voluntary but those who choose to work face difficult conditions.

(Blog) Recently, Cyclesmith’s tires have been pumped. Celebrated for its living wage policy, the Halifax-based bicycle shop has garnered positive media attention and was named Business of the Year by the Halifax Chamber of Commerce.

But Cyclesmith’s pro-worker image contradicts the experience of three former employees…

(Global News) Lisa Cameron is part of the Halifax Worker’s Action Centre, a legal aid clinic specializing in employment law. “Every day we hear complaints ranging from unpaid wages to racial discrimination, gender discrimination, exploitation of migrant workers, sexual harassment and more,” she said.
She added that while Labour Day celebrates the protections workers have fought for over the years, it’s also an opportunity to build on those successes.

(Spring Magazine) On today's episode, we hear from Lisa who is an organizer with the Halifax Workers Action Centre. She talks about the most common issues workers face in Nova Scotia, and the barriers workers face when faced with unfair treatment.

(Rabble) While grocery chain CEOs are touting record profits for shareholders, not only are the employees being undervalued—they’re also being underpaid.

Grocery store workers are among the lowest-wage earners in the country, with many positions starting at minimum wage and without benefits. And while the wages haven’t changed, the work conditions in the pandemic have, and for the worse.

(Global News) A new report from researchers at Acadia University is calling on the Nova Scotia government to implement permanent, paid sick leave legislation for all employees.

While paid sick leave has long been a big discussion in the labour rights movement, the report from the Canadian Centre for Policy Alternatives said COVID-19 has “intensified” the calls for sick leave legislation.

(Our Times) When workers battle back against unfairness on the job, action speaks louder than words. Katrin MacPhee is a lawyer at Pink Larkin in Halifax, Nova Scotia. She’s one of a “healthy base of volunteers” who helped establish the Halifax Workers’ Action Centre, becoming involved through membership in Solidarity Halifax, a local social justice organization. “Halifax’s WAC was founded in the fall of 2017 by Solidarity Halifax and the Halifax-Dartmouth & District Labour Council,” she explains. “There’s a real need for this, because work in Nova Scotia and elsewhere in the country is becoming increasingly precarious.”

(NS Advocate) Earlier this year baristas employed by the Smiling Goat learned the hard way how vulnerable they are.

This summer employees of a coffee shop in Bedford received a similar grim reminder.

To the surprise of both its customers and its employees, The Nook Espresso Bar and Lounge closed its Bedford location in late July of this year. It did so suddenly and without giving any kind of warning to its seven employees.

(Rank and File) In August, the Canadian Centre for Policy Alternatives (CCPA) released their report “A Rising Tide to Lift All Boats”, making several recommendations to improve existing employment legislation in Nova Scotia. This 2019 report is a follow-up to the 2012 CCPA report, and provides and updated and in-depth critique of the laws currently governing employment relationships in the province.

(Saltwire) Mr. MacGregor’s piece is intended to undermine the recent report produced for the Canadian Centre for Policy Alternatives by Acadia sociologist Rebecca Casey. The report compares employment standards in Nova Scotia to those of other provinces and comes to the unsurprising conclusion that we fall far behind…

(The Coast) With low-wage and precarious work on the rise, many workers in Halifax are struggling to maintain decent employment while sustaining themselves and their families. For those without adequate wages and legal protection, addressing workplace inequality can be exhausting, risky and costly with little reward.