Employers support a minimum wage level

Staff in the contract catering industry are poorly paid and should be protected by a minimum wage, admit their employers.

Almost 80% of contract catering bosses say basic pay rates in the industry are too low, according to research published this week by recruitment consultancy Mayday Staff Services called The Future of Catering in the Balance.

A minimum wage is seen as a potential solution by 80% of those interviewed, with its compulsory imposition favoured by 34%, and 46% preferring a voluntary regime.

Speaking this week at a seminar to discuss the results of the survey, Mayday managing director Jane Sunley urged employers to formulate long-term strategies to raise wages so they were ready if a statutory minimum wage was introduced by a new government.

Speaking to Caterer she added: "Caterers only have themselves to blame for staff shortages. They all say clients won't pay higher rates, but those same clients will easily pay £10 an hour for a junior secretary - why not for a silver service waiter or waitress?"

She also urged delegates to consider working together to produce an industry-wide marketing programme for attracting staff, showing that catering was more interesting than "chips with everything".

The survey was based on interviews with 80 top and middle managers in the contract catering industry.