Catering sector news

Hoteliers routinely paying below minimum wage

19/6/2009
Some hotel operators regularly pay their staff less than the national minimum wage and as a result run the risk of incurring heavy fines, according to the 'Caterer' website.

It has reported an allegation that a group of hotels based in the North of England regularly pays some of is staff rates as low as £4.50 an hour. In addition, staff are working up to 80 hours a week, yet only being paid for the contracted 40 hours.

Most of the employees who are victims of this treatment – largely young or foreign workers – won't speak out because they're afraid of losing their jobs and, in many cases, live-in accommodation. Sources allege that local managers are signing off timesheets detailing all the overtime that has been worked, but that these are not then sent to central company accounts departments.

Peter Davies, a senior manager at business advisory firm Vantis, told the 'Caterer', "This is just plain wrong. Even when an employee is paid a salary, as opposed to being paid by the hour or shift, there is still a requirement to meet the minimum wage."

Under legislation regarding the minimum wage, the idea of "unpaid overtime" does not exist: Every hour that an employee works must be paid. The only way any overtime could ever be unpaid is if an employee takes an equal amount of paid time off in lieu within the same pay reference period as the overtime they worked.

Sources have said that abuse of the minimum wage – currently £5.73 an hour for workers aged 22 and over – is 'rife' in some parts of the country, with salaried hotel staff routinely not getting paid for overtime. Employers who flout the law risk criminal prosecution and fines of up to £5,000. "The hotel group in question will have a major issue if Revenue and Customs comes a-knocking," added Davies.