- A bill passed in Colorado would clear the way for all workers to accept cash tips.
- Some businesses, including Walmart and McDonald's, don't allow employees to accept cash gratuity.
Workers at businesses like McDonald's and Walmart could soon be able to accept cash tips under a proposed law before the Colorado legislature.
If enacted, the bill would keep an employer "from taking adverse action against an employee who accepts a cash gratuity offered by a patron of the business," per a summary of the proposal. The bill passed the Colorado state house and senate earlier this month and is now headed to Governor Jared Polis for a signature.
Tipping has become more common at shops and restaurants, with many businesses adding a prompt asking for a tip to digital payment screens. But some businesses, including big names in retail, don't allow their employees to take cash tips from customers.
Walmart, for example, has historically forbidden its employees from accepting cash tips, as has McDonald's. Neither company immediately responded to requests for comment on their policies or the Colorado bill from Insider.
Rep. Alex Valdez, a Democrat representing Denver in the state house, told Colorado Politics in February that the bill is aimed at minimum-wage workers struggling to make ends meet.
"We need to get back to being a society that encourages good service and good work," Valdez said. The bill passed both houses largely along party lines, with most Democrats supporting the measure and most Republicans opposed. Democrats control both houses of the state legislature in Colorado.
Republican State Senator Jim Smallwood, who voted against the measure, told CNN that accepting cash tips should be left to individual business owners.
"We should probably rely on employers to know what is best for their customers and their employees," Smallwood said.
Requests for tips, both cash and digital, have popped up in new places lately, including self-checkout kiosks at airports and sports stadiums.
Some customers describe "tipping fatigue" as requests for tips become typical during more transactions. Higher prices for most goods and services have also weighed on how much customers are willing to tip: US consumers are tipping more frequently than they have in the past, though each tip is smaller than it has been historically, according to data from Toast.
Do you work at a business that forbids tipping or have a story to share? Reach out to Alex Bitter at abitter@insider.com or via the encrypted messaging app Signal at (808) 854-4501.