I once work at a bar/restaurant in the UK. I actually worked there entirely for free on JobSeekers allowance until I convinced them to hire me, or I'd leave. Jobseekers was not enough to pay rent and neither was the pay/hours there.
Once I was getting paid I started recording my hours on my phone. We were also required to record them on a board outside the manager’s office. Most people only recoded them in that one place.
Low and behold the hours on my payslip where different to the hours I had written on my phone and therefor that board. Which would be wiped clean before payslips went out. So let’s say I had worked and recorded 17 hours I was only paid for 15. The payslips printed the hours and pay.
So each 2 weeks I go to my manager and ask for it to be correct and it was no problem. It was consistently short up until I quit for a better job.
I was subtle but asked around and told my co-workers to check their hours. No one listened except one KP who had been working there ages and just said to me “yep every payslip is always short”.
This can only mean one thing, that restaurants was systematically underpaying people routinely and most of them never noticed. Was it that one restaurant or all of them in the UK chain, I don’t know?
Over crummy shit they did:
- Not paying me at all whilst I was on jobseekers even though I was doing the same work.
- Come in for few hours then back home then back again for more work. Obviously not paid in between.
- Only one person manning the bar that also served drinks for tables.
- Handed in my two weeks notice and willing to work that but they just let me go.