Feeling the heat: Carluccio’s waiters rise up in row over tips
Waiters at Carluccio’s are hitting back at the restaurant chain after a change in tipping policy that has allegedly left them hundreds of pounds worse off per month.
Employees at the Italian eatery have joined the Unite union in a bid to scrap a new policy that siphons off a great proportion of tips to senior managers.
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Some staff said they would suffer lost earnings of up to £400 a month, the Sunday Times reported.
“It’s a massive pay cut for waiters, especially when floor hours are being dropped as well,” one staff member told the newspaper.
Waiting staff previously received 65 per cent of tips paid on credit and debit card, with the rest shared between kitchen and bar staff. Tips are now allocated according to the number of hours worked, and are also shared with managers.
Front-of-house staff have argued that the change unfairly tilts the balance in favour of managers, who may work longer hours. Waiters can still keep any tips left in cash.
Unite’s national officer for hospitality Dave Turnbull said: “Unite is proud to represent staff at Carluccio’s taking a stand against a tipping policy that has been imposed on them without any consultation and which has left them significantly worse off.
“Our members at Carluccio’s are understandably angry and don’t think it’s fair that managers and senior staff earning much higher wages are now getting a sizeable slice of the card and credit card tips, while they on the minimum wage lose out. We think that customers will be outraged too.”
Carluccio’s, which posted a pre-tax loss of £23.7m last year, has been battling against tough conditions in the casual dining sector, as rising costs and fierce competition take their toll.
The firm took a hit of more than £20m after it closed a string of restaurants as part of a company voluntary arrangement designed to keep the business afloat.
Major restaurant chains including Pizza Express and Prezzo faced a backlash last year after it emerged they were taking a cut of tips given to staff, and then Prime Minister Theresa May promised to bring in new legislation that would ban the practice.
However, the government was forced to delay the measures and law has not yet been introduced
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Carluccio’s chief executive Mark Jones told the newspaper: “Our independent… committee has come up with a scheme that I believe to be one of the fairest in the industry, and the company makes no profit from it whatsoever.
“We don’t put a service charge on our food, and our customers are free to leave cash.”
Main image credit: Getty