Browns uses staff tips to hit minimum wage
Browns is the latest restaurant chain to admit to using staff tips to help it pay the minimum wage.
The group, sold to Bass in 1997 for £35m, used to pay its waiters from £1.50 an hour basic pay. But waiting staff now have to pay back part of the money they make in tips each week so that the company can put the money through its books to make up the £3.60 hourly rate that it has to pay by law. The average bill per head in Browns is £17.80.
Restaurant managers have to estimate the average amount paid in gratuities over a week and charge a percentage to waiters.
A spokesman said that tips at the seven restaurants are "significant". "It was accepted that all waiters do earn at least £3.60 when gratuities are taken into account," he said.
Under the new scheme, he added, staff will benefit from increased holiday and sick pay based on the increased rate.
Meanwhile, the Department of Trade and Industry's helpline for employees and employers for enquiries about the minimum wage has received a flood of calls from PizzaExpress staff. Since the introduction of the minimum wage the group has continued to pay waiters an hourly rate of £3.10 and asked staff to use their tips to make up the shortfall (Caterer, 22 April, page 4).
Chief executive Ian Eldridge insisted that the company has acted within the law by adjusting the tax codes of waiting staff to account for an extra 91p per hour worked.
A DTI spokesman confirmed that it is legal to use tips to make up the salary but said that payments must go through the payroll. For minimum wage enquiries call the DTI helpline on 0845 8450 360.
by Christina Golding
