Brighton Restaurant charging waiters to work?

[Westdene Seagull]

Ive worked with quite a few chefs over the years,a small minority of whom the only tips i would give are stop scratching your nuts,cooking brandy is for cooking not drinking and dont sleep in the wheelie bin

I'd add two more tips ( and this is from real happenings ) :

1. Don't get caught shagging the chambermaid in the toilet

2. Don't get caught w@nking in the veg store ( creamed potatoes has a whole different meaning to me nowadays ! )

 

[Sheebo]

Surely £32.50 for a 5hr shift is below minimum wage..?

 

[pastafarian]

I'd add two more tips ( and this is from real happenings ) :

1. Don't get caught shagging the chambermaid in the toilet

2. Don't get caught w@nking in the veg store ( creamed potatoes has a whole different meaning to me nowadays ! )

i would also add if on your break you are going to go to the top floor,lock yourself in a room, strip naked and knock one out whilst oggling those in the high street make sure your actions are not so furious that the whole window frame falls out,resulting in you hanging on to it for dear life until the fire brigade can arrive and save the day

 

[pastafarian]

I often tip in cash but always ask if a company takes the auto tip or not. One issue that concerns me is that no one else gets a share , eg chef, if i pay in cash

quite surprised you make the effort to do this,not many people do.

there is a voluntary code of best practice (How many actually implement this i dont know)

https://www.gov.uk/government/uploa...l-minimum-wage-code-of-best-practice-tips.pdf

included in it is this

"Businesses will have a process in place to deal with requests from customers
about how and to whom all service charges, tips, gratuities and cover charges
are distributed, and the level and purpose of deductions."

The cynic in me says its just a system to aid HMRC to get their grubby hands on cash tips,but im sure thats just me being cynical

 

[Hampster Gull]

quite surprised you make the effort to do this,not many people do.

there is a voluntary code of best practice (How many actually implement this i dont know)

https://www.gov.uk/government/uploa...l-minimum-wage-code-of-best-practice-tips.pdf

included in it is this

"Businesses will have a process in place to deal with requests from customers
about how and to whom all service charges, tips, gratuities and cover charges
are distributed, and the level and purpose of deductions."

The cynic in me says its just a system to aid HMRC to get their grubby hands on cash tips,but im sure thats just me being cynical

Yes, despite my liberal, so me might say right wing, attitude i still have a heart

 

[Birdie Boy]

I have just been told that lad iguanas have changed their contracts but and this is a big BUT, the issue was never what is stipulated on the petition. The issue was that bar staff never got a share of the waiters/ess tips. So they felt aggrieved. The new contract allows for bar staff and waiting staff to share tips.

Don't shoot the messenger.

 

[Bakero]

I've been boycotting the place for about 10 years. Some friends of mine worked there when it first opened in Brighton and I heard lots of stories. If customers did an eat-and-run, the bill would be deducted from the waitresses salary.

It's not a hard place to boycott- I'm not overly tempted by their cooking by numbers fodder.

 

[Lord Bracknell]

Please can a mod change the spelling of resteraunt, it's really annoying me

Me too. Done.

 

[Official Old Man]

Get this then. A food outlet that I know but do not use, employs illegal foreign workers only. Staff must pay £100 to start work. They get £3 an hour paid two weeks in arrears. When they leave, which is generally after a month, they lose all pay due.
So you are going to say 'report him'. But to who? No government body was interested at all.

 

[Machiavelli]

I worked in the industry for almost 10 years and that last issue you raise is normally overcome in one of two ways :

1. Some places I've worked cash tips are pooled and then shared out as a ratio - i.e. waiting staff get a bigger percentage than say chefs because they have the front facing role.

2. Chefs etc get paid more anyway.

And the plongeurs?

 

[Triggaaar]

Just cancelled our reservation there for 5 Friday night and told them why too. Whoever I spoke to said they didn't know if that was true or not...

Perfect.

I might make a reservation, just so I can call back and cancel it.

 

[Machiavelli]

Yes, despite my liberal, so me might say right wing, attitude i still have a heart

Liberals are the right-wingers these days

 

[Machiavelli]

Get this then. A food outlet that I know but do not use, employs illegal foreign workers only. Staff must pay £100 to start work. They get £3 an hour paid two weeks in arrears. When they leave, which is generally after a month, they lose all pay due.
So you are going to say 'report him'. But to who? No government body was interested at all.

Try the media. Lisa Bachelor in The Observer reported the Las Iguanas story, for instance.

 

[Machiavelli]

To take this in a slightly different direction, I've just got back from eating in Pizza Express, who have also been featured in related tipping stories. Their tipping policy, followed by its predecessor is included below. Note that they've shifted their VAT policy to 'Jersey GST', which according to the Jersey government's website is: "The Goods and Services Tax (GST) is a tax on sales of goods and services in Jersey. GST is charged at 5% on the majority of goods and services supplied in Jersey for local use, including imports."

Gratuities and VAT All cash tips go directly to your waiter. For credit card tips and service charges, after a small charge of 8% is deducted to cover the costs of getting these taxed, the remainder is shared amongst the team who helped create your PizzaExpress experience. For more information please visit our website www.pizzaexpress.com. All our prices include VAT (Jersey GST) but no service charge. However, we will ask for a discretionary 12.5% service charge for parties of 7 or more adults (aged 18 years +). Whether you include it or not is entirely up to you. We no longer accept cheques.

Gratuities and VAT. Gratuities are shared amongst the team. PizzaExpress does not profit from this. For further information, please visit our website. All our prices include VAT but no service charge. However, we will ask for a discretionary 12.5% service charge for parties of 7 or more adults. Whether you include it or not is entirely up to you. We no longer accept cheques.

 

[sir albion]

This was being debated on LBC last week...Many people were ringing in with different stories about how the bosses are pocketing the money and from a tip of say £30 for a big group one lady got £2.50 out of it.
It's like this everywhere now where the company's bosses are pocketing the money while the hard working low paid workers get stung...bloody shambles.

When I tip I give the waiter or waitress the cash and tell them to stick it in their pocket....sadly many are to scared to do this.

 

[beorhthelm]

To take this in a slightly different direction,

you have mis-read. in Jersy they charge GST, in UK they charge VAT. you are quoting literature that covers both areas. you pay sales taxes at the point of sale, so you cant have a high street resteraunt and charge VAT rate from another area (unlike mail order/internet, where the point of sale occurs in that other area).

back to topic, this whole debate just shows me how stupid tipping is and how we shouldnt bother. seems this whole palavar is in response to those that tip in cash, in responce to bad practices with card tips, creating a freash new bad practice. though interesting how the original headline and the quoted detail tell different tales (they arent being "charged to work").

 

[Westdene Seagull]

And the plongeurs?

Nope, you're going to have to explain that one I'm afraid - what does diving have to do with this ?

 

[Machiavelli]

Nope, you're going to have to explain that one I'm afraid - what does diving have to do with this ?

Apologies. I came across the term from Orwell's Down and Out in Paris and London. It's the kitchen porter or washer upper. It's a good read. Once you've read it, plongeur will start tapping off the tips of your fingers.

 

[Machiavelli]

you have mis-read. in Jersy they charge GST, in UK they charge VAT. you are quoting literature that covers both areas. you pay sales taxes at the point of sale, so you cant have a high street resteraunt and charge VAT rate from another area (unlike mail order/internet, where the point of sale occurs in that other area).

back to topic, this whole debate just shows me how stupid tipping is and how we shouldnt bother. seems this whole palavar is in response to those that tip in cash, in responce to bad practices with card tips, creating a freash new bad practice. though interesting how the original headline and the quoted detail tell different tales (they arent being "charged to work").

I think it's more that I've misunderstood (although I still find their raising the issue suggests that there might be more to it). I agree with your second point. The whole tipping thing is a license for large companies to exploit ambiguities.

 

[fat old seagull]

No wonder the service is shite in most of these types of places.

Well it best not be shite....if the poor buggers are relying on tips as their salary.