Overview

• What: Proposed amendment to the assessable payroll practice directive to clarify how tips and gratuities are treated for payroll reporting purposes
• Who: All B.C. employers whose workers may receive tips or gratuities, including, but not limited to, foodservice, hospitality, taxi and ride-hail, local delivery, esthetic services including hair salons, and pet grooming
• Why: To ensure fairness for all employers, ensure consistent reporting, and clarify the existing practice directive language
• How: Learn more about providing feedback
• Key topics: Tips, Gratuities, Assessable payroll, Employer, Practice directive

Summary

WorkSafeBC is updating the language in the assessable payroll practice directive to better explain how tips and gratuities should be treated when employers report on payroll. This proposed change does not create new obligations for employers; it seeks to further define the scope and clarify guidance that has been in place since 2010. The proposed change aligns with other jurisdictions throughout Canada, such as Alberta and Ontario. The goals of this update are to:

• Support consistent reporting of tips and gratuities in assessable payroll
• Clarify what makes tips “verifiable”
• Help employers understand their responsibilities more clearly

Consultation sessions on the proposed clarification were held in June. B.C. employers and worker representatives can continue to provide feedback until 4:30 p.m. on July 31, 2025.

We invite you to share your feedback if you are:

• A B.C. employer whose workers receive tips
• A B.C. employer whose workers do not receive tips but are part of the same classification unit as those who do
• A B.C. employer or worker representative who wishes to learn more about the proposed update

The affected groups and classification units are shown in the table below.

To learn more and to provide your feedback, see How you can share your feedback.

Consultation sessions

In June 2025, we held four consultation sessions to share more about the proposed practice directive clarification.

• Hospitality — Food and Beverage: Tuesday, June 17, 1–2 p.m.
• Hospitality — Other: Thursday, June 19, 1–2 p.m.
• Ride-Hail (including app-based) and Local Delivery: Thursday, June 26, 9:30–10:30 a.m.
• Health, Wellness, Beauty, Pets: Thursday, June 26, 1–2 p.m.

A recording of the presentation from the sessions will soon be available. A summary report will be available after the consultation period.

How will this affect you?

If your workers receive tips or gratuities as part of their employment, this update is intended to help you understand how to accurately report them in assessable payroll.

How you can share your feedback

We encourage you to share your insights, and any concerns specific to your industry, to help shape the final guidance of the proposed clarification.

To learn more, please review the material below. To share your feedback, click on the “Share your feedback” button on this page. Feedback will be accepted until 4:30 p.m. on Thursday, July 31, 2025.

How your contributions make a difference

Your input will help ensure the assessable payroll practice directive is clear, consistent, and practical. We want to hear from you so we can improve this directive and support employers across all sectors.

Learn more

Review the proposed amendments and the current practice directive:

• Proposed amendments to Assessment Practice Directive 5-245-2(A). The additional language can be seen highlighted in yellow in Appendix A (page 18) and Appendix B (page 19).
• Current Assessment Practice Directive 5-245-2(A) — Assessable payroll

The following FAQs address commonly asked questions:

• Tips and assessable payroll: Frequently asked questions (General)
• Tips and assessable payroll: Frequently asked questions (Restaurants)