One of Britain’s best-known luxury restaurant groups has been accused of denying waiters their fair share of tips.
The Unite union claims the Ivy Collection, which has more than 50 restaurants across the UK, has used tips to significantly increase the earnings of chefs at the expense of more junior workers.
It says it has seen evidence of low-paid chefs making about 60 per cent more in tips than waiters on average, stretching to 90 per cent in some cases.
Like many other chains, the Ivy uses a “tronc” system, where all tips are collected together and distributed through the staff.
Unite believes the Ivy’s troncs have allocated tips disproportionately to attract and retain senior workers without having to increase wages. At some other companies, about 70 per cent has gone to waiters, with the rest given to kitchen and other workers.
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While the arrangement is not illegal, it may come as a surprise to many customers under the impression that their tips largely or exclusively benefit waiting staff. Bills at the Ivy advise customers only that an optional service charge of 12.5 per cent has been added.
“It’s classic,” said Bryan Simpson, a Scottish organiser with the union. “They’re just making the customers foot the bill rather than paying the chefs more — and other hospitality workers are disproportionately harmed.”
Simpson said evidence shared with it showed that the upmarket chain has been paying almost everyone, including senior managers, the minimum wage — £8.91 an hour for those aged 23 and over — “and then using hard-earned tips to pay chefs salaries up to £50,000”.
One former employee who did not wish to be identified told how she had worked at a Scottish branch of the Ivy for two years, before quitting recently due to stress. She worked in the kitchen and, rather than making the £5 an hour in tips that many chefs made, said she was rewarded with an extra 9p an hour on top of the minimum wage.
She said: “The company relies almost entirely on tips to top up staff pay and it’s hardly shared fairly. They pay what they can get away with and rely on the tips for the rest.”
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She said the disparity had an impact on staff morale. “It did make you sad. My job was hard and stressful and the company did not reward me with a fair commission to give me an acceptable wage. I’m very glad that I have left.”
Stewart McDonald, an SNP MP who has campaigned for better rights for workers, voiced concern about the arrangements.
He said: “We must ensure that workers are paid a fair and proper wage rather than taking away any tips earned to top up the salaries of others. People must be paid and tipped fairly and properly for the work they do, and I urge the UK government to urgently investigate and constructively engage on such issues.”
The Ivy Collection said: “All gratuities are optional and at the guest’s discretion. As a business, we believe in sharing these across all of the restaurant team as they all contribute towards the guest experience.”
The group is part of Caprice Holdings, owned by Richard Caring, who appeared in this year’s Sunday Times Rich List with a fortune put at £1 billion.
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Bosses in restaurants, cafés and hairdressers will soon be forced under new legislation to ensure that all tips go to staff and not to them. But the change is not expected to stipulate how tips are shared among workers.