He restaurant Ping Pong de London could have set a dangerous precedent for Waiters. According to the British newspaper ‘The Guardian‘, this place would have found an alternative way to avoid having to allocate the 100% of tips to its workers, as established by a new law (approved last year) that will come into force next July in United Kingdom. “The law will be introduced after it became known that many companies were using the card based rates to shore up profits instead of to award to the waiters and chefs,” reports the aforementioned media.
In order to –supposedly– avoid the increase in the price of menusthe establishment prohibited tips with card and would be working on what they have called ‘brand fee’. This is an optional extra charge 15% which, according to the aforementioned media, would be allocated to “franchise fees and other brand-related expenses” and would replace a Charge for service of 12.5%, the 90% of which was intended for staff. In this way, the amount would stop going practically entirely to the waiters and would remain in the hands of the management of the restaurant.
Arguments from both sides
Despite everything, the parent company of the chain, AIT Dimsumdefends that this measure comes after having carried out a salary increase of 19% and having surpassed by one pound sterling the barrier of the new established minimum hourly wage. To this, we should add the possibility of earning one or two more pounds per hour thanks to the aforementioned rate.
With everything, Bryan Simpsonfrom the Unite union, has come forward to denounce that placing workers’ salaries one pound above the Minimum to get rid of a “healthy” tip and changing it for another for the benefit of the company is a “slap” for employees: “Denying tips to workers by cynically changing the service charge to a ‘brand charge’ to circumvent new legislation about fair tipping is one of the most egregious examples of tip theft that we have encountered,” he criticized. “It doesn’t matter what do you call it top management, customers will assume that this 15% It is a tip that should reach the workers, but it does not. That’s completely false”he added.
Forecasts
However, from ‘The Guardian’ they affirm that it is likely that the case of Ping Pong be just one of many restaurants that will apply modifications to the payment method to their clients in the face of the imminent change of legislation. A law that, according to the government’s forecast, will allow it to go into the pockets of workers 200 million of pounds more than it did until now; although there is also a certain fear of the possibility of price increases in the offer of these premises.
It is worth remembering that, unlike cities in other countries such as USAleave a tip it’s not mandatory in London, although it is very common to allocate between 10 and 15% from the bill to a tip as a token of appreciation for the service.
2024-04-06 07:22:35
#London #restaurant #scam #brand #fee #waiters #tips
