{"id":14344,"date":"2018-01-12T15:22:16","date_gmt":"2018-01-12T15:22:16","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/unitelive.org\/?p=14344"},"modified":"2020-11-12T12:59:13","modified_gmt":"2020-11-12T12:59:13","slug":"paying-to-work-2","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/unitelive.test.igniteamt.com\/?p=14344","title":{"rendered":"Paying to work"},"content":{"rendered":"
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In the latest example of shocking tipping practices at UK restaurants, it has been revealed that a chain of Italian restaurants operating in Bristol, Bath, Milton Keynes, Portishead, Worthing, and Lewes has been in effect forcing waiters to \u00e2\u20ac\u0098pay to work\u00e2\u20ac\u2122.<\/p>\n

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\nThe Bristol Post<\/em> blew the lid off <\/a>two local Aqua Italia restaurants whose policy is to charge waiters 3 per cent on their total table sales each night.<\/p>\n

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\nThis is generally taken from tips that they earn, but if waiters do not earn enough in tips to pay the three per cent levy, they must fork over the cash from their own pay packets.<\/p>\n

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\nThe money taken from waiters, staff say, are used to subsidise wages.<\/p>\n

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\nWorkers at Aqua Italia claim that they lose a minimum of \u00c2\u014120 to \u00c2\u014130 each and every night from their tips.<\/p>\n

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\nOne waiter the Post spoke to said on a busy night she can lose as much as \u00c2\u014150.<\/p>\n

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\n\u00e2\u20ac\u015bGoing into Christmas I just thought I would lose hundreds if not thousands of pounds in tips,\u00e2\u20ac\u0165 another waiter, who decided to resign over the restaurant\u00e2\u20ac\u2122s policy, told the Post<\/em>.<\/p>\n

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\nHe recounts covering a shift at another branch of the restaurant chain in Milton Keynes, where he witnessed a waitress finishing her shift in tears because she hadn\u00e2\u20ac\u2122t earned enough in tips to pay the three per cent, so would have to pay the levy from her wages. He said that a manager forced her to go to a cashpoint to withdraw money to pay the three per cent.<\/p>\n

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‘Has to stop’<\/strong><\/em>
\nUnite regional officer Dave Turnbull said reports of this story in particular were \u00e2\u20ac\u015bshocking and it must stop\u00e2\u20ac\u0165.<\/p>\n

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\n\u00e2\u20ac\u015bThe\u00c2\u00a0company\u00c2\u00a0needs to clarify whether this is a policy across the board or a local incident,\u00e2\u20ac\u0165 he said. \u00e2\u20ac\u015bEither way it has to stop.<\/p>\n

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\u00e2\u20ac\u015bI am sure that thousands of diners enjoyed a Christmas meal at one of this group\u00e2\u20ac\u2122s\u00c2\u00a0seven\u00c2\u00a0UK-wide restaurants totally unaware that some staff were \u00e2\u20ac\u0098paying to work\u00e2\u20ac\u2122,\u00e2\u20ac\u0165 he added.<\/p>\n

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\nEmployment contracts revealed by the Post<\/em> indicate that this policy may operate at all Aqua Italia branches although this has not been confirmed.<\/p>\n

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\nSpeaking to the Caterer<\/em><\/a>,<\/em> an accountant and adviser to hospitality businesses, Peter Davies, said he believed such a policy could be illegal.<\/p>\n

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\n\u00e2\u20ac\u015bQuite apart from issues of fairness it can potentially result in a breach of the National Minimum Wage Regulations, which has serious consequences including public naming and shaming by HM Revenue & Customs,\u00e2\u20ac\u0165 he said.<\/p>\n

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\nThe Bristol Post\u00e2\u20ac\u2122s revelations prompted a community backlash<\/a>, with protestors leafletting outside one Aqua Italia restaurant today (January 12) and many locals vowing to boycott the restaurant chain<\/a>.<\/p>\n

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\nUnite reiterated its demand for the government to release its long-delayed report into tipping practices.<\/p>\n

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\n\u00e2\u20ac\u015bThis is another reminder of the chronic lack of regulation in this sector, and of the ease with which a predominantly young workforce can be abused,\u00e2\u20ac\u0165 Turnbull noted.<\/p>\n

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\u00e2\u20ac\u015bIt is also an urgent reminder that is has been 500 days and counting that restaurant staff have been waiting for this government to take action.<\/p>\n

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\u00e2\u20ac\u015bFor every day that goes by, yet more abuses come to light. It is now up to this government to crackdown on mistreatment. It can start by publishing its long overdue tipping report.\u00e2\u20ac\u0165<\/p>\n

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As part of Unite’s ongoing campaigns in the hospitality sector, in addition to tipping justice, the union is fighting sexual harassment in the industry. It is currently conducting a survey and is urging workers in hospitality to take part. Find out more here.\u00c2\u00a0<\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

In the latest example of shocking tipping practices at UK restaurants, it has been revealed that a chain of Italian restaurants operating in Bristol, Bath, Milton Keynes, Portishead, Worthing, and Lewes has been in effect forcing waiters to \u00e2\u20ac\u0098pay to work\u00e2\u20ac\u2122.     The Bristol Post blew the lid off two local Aqua Italia restaurants […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":1857,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":[],"categories":[1],"tags":[303,846,853],"wps_subtitle":"Shocking tips theft at Aqua Italia chain","_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/unitelive.test.igniteamt.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/14344"}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/unitelive.test.igniteamt.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/unitelive.test.igniteamt.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/unitelive.test.igniteamt.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/unitelive.test.igniteamt.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcomments&post=14344"}],"version-history":[{"count":3,"href":"https:\/\/unitelive.test.igniteamt.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/14344\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":26489,"href":"https:\/\/unitelive.test.igniteamt.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/14344\/revisions\/26489"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/unitelive.test.igniteamt.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/media\/1857"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/unitelive.test.igniteamt.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fmedia&parent=14344"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/unitelive.test.igniteamt.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcategories&post=14344"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/unitelive.test.igniteamt.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Ftags&post=14344"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}