PizzaExpress hikes staff minimum pay

PizzaExpress has announced immediate plans to boost minimum staff pay to £3.70 an hour and increase holiday entitlement to 23 days in a new package of benefits to be brought in over the next 18 months.

It follows last year's furore when the company had to hand out £250,000 in back pay to waiting staff after breaking minimum wage legislation by continuing to pay the hourly rate of £3.10 instead of £3.60 (Caterer, 15 July 1999, page 10).

The 250-strong chain had argued that it thought its pay levels were within the law because cash tips brought wages above the legal limit.

PizzaExpress's human resources director Nick Taylor denied that the new deal, which introduces the £3.70 hourly rate three months before it becomes law, was a result of last year's problems.

He said he had been anxious to iron out "anomalies" under the minimum wage rules whereby staff aged 18-21 received the lower rate of £3.20 an hour.

"This did not sit easy with me and I did not think it was fair," he said. "We hope that our actions in introducing increased pay way ahead of when we have to will silence our critics."

Around 40% of PizzaExpress's 6,000 employees are under the age of 22.

Taylor said the pay increase was the start of a programme of employee benefits including maternity and paternity leave, career breaks non-job-related training and share schemes that would be introduced next year.

by Sara Macefield

Source: Caterer & Hotelkeeper magazine, 6-12 July 2000