TRENTON - The Assembly Labor Committee this morning passed A-5517, or the so-called "tip transparency" bill. At its core, the bill requires an employer to furnish an employee who "customarily and regularly receives gratuities or tips with a statement for each pay period that includes the total amount of gratuities or tips the employee received during the pay period which were processed in a credit card or other electronic transaction by the employer."

"Everyone deserves pay transparency. That's why we're here today," said Assemblyman Anthony Verrelli (D-15), chair of the Assembly Labor Committee (pictured).

The bill evolved out of the work of Verrelli's intern, Margaret Burns, who managed her hometown ice cream shop where she discovered the hazards for workers of inadequate tip policies.

The bill received unanimous support from committee members.

"Ordinarily, I would vote no," said Assemblyman Brian Bergen (R). "But I'm in a good mood today and I'm going to vote yes."

From the bill:

"This bill requires employers of tipped employees to provide a statement each pay period concerning gratuities and tips received by customers who pay with credit cards. The bill additionally requires employers to provide tipped employees with a written tip policy and certain notice of rights available under State and federal law. ...

"Additionally under the bill, an employer of employees who customarily and regularly receive gratuities or tips is required to establish and distribute to those employees a written gratuity and tip policy that provides information concerning how gratuities and tips are collected and how they are allocated, including, but not limited to, pooling, splitting, and whether the employer takes a tip credit. Further, an employer is required to post in a conspicuous location or locations accessible to employees a notice of the rights available to tipped employees under State and federal law.

"Finally, the bill requires the Commissioner of Labor and Workforce Development to create and publish on the Internet website of the Department of Labor and Workforce Development a printable notice of the rights available under State and federal law for employees who customarily receive gratuities and tips. The notice is to be updated periodically as necessary in the determination of the commissioner. An employer may satisfy the notice requirements established in the bill by using the notice published on the department’s website."