Courts / Limerick / Report

Appearance of tips machine in cafe that pulled in €5k unexplained, tribunal notes

Date
2026-07-29

Stage
Charge Or Pretrial

Primary locality
Limerick

Summary

Staff waited nearly two years to get their split of over €5,000 in customer gratuities from a tap-to-tip machine installed at a Limerick City café in unexplained circumstances, a tribunal has heard. At the Workplace Relations Commission (WRC), both the former manager of Esquires Coffee Limerick and the proprietor of the business denied responsibility for the installation of the electronic tip machine. The owner said she did not know it was there at all until the manager came looking for her share of the proceeds. By the time the tips were distributed, a quarter of the money had been eaten up by fees charged by the machine's provider, JustTip, the Workplace Relations Commission (WRC) noted in a decision published today. The tribunal has now ordered Rise and Grind Ltd, trading as Esquires Coffee Limerick on Catherine Street, to pay €100 in compensation to the café's ex-manager, Hueian Hsiao, for a delay in paying her wages.