Service charge

[Benji87]

Hi everyone,

I'm a newbie but just really want somebody's advice.

I work in a restaurant as a waiter whilst I am at uni. The restaurant adds an automatic service charge to bills of tables of 6 or more. Which then goes to the restaurant. They tell us that it goes to staff training and incentives. But I have worked there for 2 years and every training session we have which is usually every 6 weeks when a new menu is put out and we have to come in early on our days off fr an hour and we don't get paid so that contradicts the service going to staff training.

I just feel that this restaurant shouldn't be able to get away with lying to customers as the customers think that when I have waited on them all evening they are leaving me a tip when I fact it's going to the owners profits.

It's soul destroying when I have a table with service charge as I'm waiting on them for nothing.

[des8]

Re: Service charge

Hi and welcome,
Regrettably IMO there are no statutes dealing with your concerns.
There is only a 2009 voluntary code (https://www.gov.uk/government/upload...ctice-tips.pdf) which you might find useful.

[stevemLS]

Re: Service charge

As des has said there is only a voluntary code and restaurants are free, as far as I know, to deal with tips as they see fit.

To be fair, the alternative way of looking at it is that you are not waiting on a table "for nothing", that is what you get paid your wages for.

[des8]

Re: Service charge

Back to your original post:
If you are paid minimum wage, it possibly means that on the weeks you have to attend for unpaid training you are being paid less than the minimum wage.
Others up on employment law will be able to comment in more depth

[wales01man]

Re: Service charge

I would never go anywhere that had a Service charge after all with no service do you go and cook and serve it yourself?
Another rip off charge IMO

[Benji87]

Re: Service charge

Posted half finished

[Benji87]

Re: Service charge

Thank you for replying. It's more about lying to the customers when they ask me if I get the service charge. We have to say that it goes to staff training. When in fact we know that the managers and owners share it out between them. Surely this is not right.

With regards to the waiting on a table for nothing I will use last night for an example. It costs me £13 to get a taxi home at 2am when I finish. I had eight tables last night six were service charge and the other two were tables of two. I received £4 off one table and £8 off the other table total of £12 so last night after paying my £12 cab I was left with £1. The six other tables if I add up the service charges total was £74. So whilst I receive my minimum wage the restaraunt earnt off my 6 tables £74 not taking into account that there are 43 tables in the restaraunt and half of them are service charge every evening. This restaurant is known as the busiest restaurant with the average bill price of £90 for two people in the south of my city so they make a fell of a lot of service charge to "train staff"

It's so annoying. I wish there was a loop hole or something that I can say to the customers the truth.

[des8]

Re: Service charge

Lying to customers is never right.
When asked by customers why not respond "we are instructed to say it goes towards staff training......,none of it comes to the staff"
You might find yourself getting tips beyond the added service charge.

Of course, as Steve points out, you are being paid.
However patrons will be under the impression that the service charge is being split in some way between staff, unless they have specifically asked about it.
To an extent it is the diners who are being misled, hence the insistance of the voluntary code on transparency

[Excel]

Re: Service charge

I wish there was a loop hole or something that I can say to the customers the truth.

Although it's not what you wanted, you could try posting what you've said on restaurant review websites like Tripadvisor and Google Maps

Who owns and runs the restaurant? Is it a family run business or a company?