Waiting staff at the pizza chain Zizzi have had the amount they earn from tips cut, and workers will have their choice of free meals limited in changes the firm insisted were not related to the government’s “national living wage”.
Since 4 April, waiting staff have received 50% of tips left by customers on credit cards or through the restaurant’s 12.5% service charge, with the other half shared out among kitchen staff and supervisors. Previously the split was 70/30 in favour of the front-of-house workers. Staff who qualify for a free meal have also had their choice reduced. They are now allowed to choose only a margherita pizza or a pasta with tomato sauce rather than select from a wider menu.
The change came days after the implementation of the government’s living wage on 1 April, which pushed up the minimum pay for workers aged over 25 by 50p an hour to £7.20, and months after the restaurant group removed an 8% administration charge from staff tips.
A spokesperson for the firm, which has more than 100 restaurants around the UK, said: “Zizzi has supported the introduction of the national living wage from the outset, underpinned by its belief that its employees are an essential part of its business who should be rewarded fairly.
“As a result, Zizzi went beyond the government’s requirements on 4 April by awarding additional pay rises to many of those who were already above the living wage, including chefs and managers.”
The firm said instead of giving free food allowances to anyone working at least a six-hour shift, it had introduced a cut-price menu for all workers. “This additional benefit results in a fairer and more equitable policy as a subsidised staff food menu with dishes at £1 or £2 is now available to all regardless of the length of their shift,” it said. “We still provide free teas, coffee and squash to all.”
The chain said it was “proud of our policy that ensures 100% of all tips go directly to the restaurant teams”. Tips paid by credit card are distributed via a tronc system, and distribution is decided by the tronc master, who is a manager of a Zizzi restaurant, after consulting staff. The firm said the changes were designed to be “more equitable” to staff. Cash tips still go to individual waiters.
The abolition of the administration charge on tips followed an industry-wide campaign by unions, which resulted in the announcement of a government review into how firms deal with service charges. Dave Turnbull, regional officer at union Unite, said campaigners had been concerned about changes to tips because of the introduction of higher wages for staff. “This is one of the reasons we were pushing the business secretary to publish his report into tips before the living wage came in,” he said.
Businesses had warned that the new minimum wage – announced by the chancellor, George Osborne, last July – could lead to price rises and job cuts. In recent months several big high street names have made changes to staff conditions to offset some of the increase.
The coffee chain Caffè Nero recently cut free food for staff, while Waitrose and B&Q have stopped paying Sunday overtime to some workers. Last week, the chancellor said companies who made changes to staff perks were not acting in “the spirit of the law”.
Cleaners at Nationwide building society have, however, received good news on pay. The GMB union said it had called off a ballot for strike action after Carillion, the firm employing cleaning staff at the society’s headquarters, told them they would not have to adopt new shift patterns that would have resulted in a £40-a-week pay cut. The society pays the hourly rate of £8.25 set by the Living Wage Foundation but proposed changes meant they would have worked fewer hours and at more antisocial times.
