Citizen's advice question - Is My Friend Being Exploited at Work?
stojio
Posts: 107 Forumite
Hello folks 
I'm posting on behalf of a friend of mine as things have gone too far.
My friend is an EU citizen and has been employed for a year and a half as a chef (in a highly rated upmarket local restaurant).
She is currently receiving £18000 a year as a salary regardless of hours worked (this started at 16500 but changed to 18k in May).
She works between 60 and 70 hours a week, spread over 5 days.
Often she does not get a lunch break and has to eat whilst working.
She has never signed nor been given a contract of employment.
She feels highly pressured at work, they have even called her GP's office when she was there recently to try and get information about her, presumably to see if she really was at the GP. The GP has signed her off for a week with stress and another physical issue which is not being helped by her work situation. This is the second time she has been off sick with them - the first time was a single day off sick over a year ago.
Now for a barrage of questions, apologies in advance! I'm just wondering what sort of situation this may be classed as legally?
Would there be any point in my friend contacting a solicitor about this? If so, what kind of action would you think she could take?
Is there a specific organisation she should contact?
On face value does this sound like a civil issue or is there any way it could be a criminal issue?
Should she contact a union (I have no idea how these things work)
And what would you do if you or a loved one was in this situation?
Most importantly perhaps, is this just part and parcel of the catering industry that she should either accept or move away from?
Many thanks in advance for your help as always folks.
I'm posting on behalf of a friend of mine as things have gone too far.
My friend is an EU citizen and has been employed for a year and a half as a chef (in a highly rated upmarket local restaurant).
She is currently receiving £18000 a year as a salary regardless of hours worked (this started at 16500 but changed to 18k in May).
She works between 60 and 70 hours a week, spread over 5 days.
Often she does not get a lunch break and has to eat whilst working.
She has never signed nor been given a contract of employment.
She feels highly pressured at work, they have even called her GP's office when she was there recently to try and get information about her, presumably to see if she really was at the GP. The GP has signed her off for a week with stress and another physical issue which is not being helped by her work situation. This is the second time she has been off sick with them - the first time was a single day off sick over a year ago.
Now for a barrage of questions, apologies in advance! I'm just wondering what sort of situation this may be classed as legally?
Would there be any point in my friend contacting a solicitor about this? If so, what kind of action would you think she could take?
Is there a specific organisation she should contact?
On face value does this sound like a civil issue or is there any way it could be a criminal issue?
Should she contact a union (I have no idea how these things work)
And what would you do if you or a loved one was in this situation?
Most importantly perhaps, is this just part and parcel of the catering industry that she should either accept or move away from?
Many thanks in advance for your help as always folks.
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Comments
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Hello folks
I'm posting on behalf of a friend of mine as things have gone too far.
My friend is an EU citizen and has been employed for a year and a half as a chef (in a highly rated upmarket local restaurant).
She is currently receiving £18000 a year as a salary regardless of hours worked (this started at 16500 but changed to 18k in May).
She works between 60 and 70 hours a week, spread over 5 days.
Often she does not get a lunch break and has to eat whilst working. Very normal when working as a chef.
She has never signed nor been given a contract of employment.That depends on the type of employment she has - not all employees have a written contract.
She feels highly pressured at work, they have even called her GP's office when she was there recently to try and get information about her, presumably to see if she really was at the GP. The GP has signed her off for a week with stress and another physical issue which is not being helped by her work situation. This is the second time she has been off sick with them - the first time was a single day off sick over a year ago. So she has been off sick, and the employer contacted the GP. Did they ask for your "friend's" permission?
Now for a barrage of questions, apologies in advance! I'm just wondering what sort of situation this may be classed as legally?
Would there be any point in my friend contacting a solicitor about this? If so, what kind of action would you think she could take?
Is there a specific organisation she should contact?
On face value does this sound like a civil issue or is there any way it could be a criminal issue?
Should she contact a union (I have no idea how these things work)
And what would you do if you or a loved one was in this situation?
Most importantly perhaps, is this just part and parcel of the catering industry that she should either accept or move away from?
Many thanks in advance for your help as always folks.
Seems like you've left out a lot of information.
Your friend needs to seek advice from somewhere like the CAB with ALL the material facts. Best to come first hand than through a "friend".0 -
Thanks for your reply, I'm aware that this is sparse on information and that I'm probably confusing the issue with irrelevant info as well. At the moment I'm just looking for some general discussion about it, posting it on this forum as a first step before CAB etc.
Taking out the lunch situation, which admittedly yes is very normal when working as a chef, she is being paid less than minimum wage it seems.
No they didn't ask for permission to contact her GP and the GP didn't give them any information. They called the GPs office while she was sitting in the GPs office waiting for her appointment.
I don't know what kind of employment she has. She has been told on numerous occasions that she has a contract and would get a copy of it but it has never been provided.
This person is actually my friend by the way, not sure what a "friend" is haha! No need for quote marks
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Thanks for your reply! She is from the EU but lives and works in the UK. Her nationality doesn't affect the minimum wage she is entitled to working in the UK. She is on an £18000 a year salary because she has the skills and qualifications for that. It's the 60 -70 hours a week which are the main problem, and her lack of a contract which stops her taking the first step to look into it.
Surprisingly, she does appear to be on the books - she gets payslips which show tax and NI paid but they do not show hours worked.
She is not a member of any union just now or I wouldn't be asking if she should join one :P I know nothing at all about unions, as I am not part of one myself, and wondered if it would be a worthwhile avenue for her to look into.
I'm not asking for a reason to come up with legal action at all, I'm asking if it's something she can consider if she is being paid under minimum wage, and what channels are available to do it if it is the case - and whilst I'm sure you would charge me if you were a solicitor, and I would pay you, this is in fact a free forum about money saving that we're using
As you rightly point out, I do not know the law here, which is why I decided to hit up the trusty MSE forum to see if any advice could be given before going to CAB.
Everyone has to start somewhere when they're trying to find out information about legal or confusing financial situations, and this place is where I start more often than not 0 -
My brother did similar hours as a chef, he also had the chef lifestyle of working at one place for 6 months then moving on up the ladder at the next place.
He started off as a dessert chef, moved up to pastry and ended his career as the second chef in the kitchen (no idea what that's called but head chef if the head is off). He eventually left the profession and went back into education as he felt being a run of the mill chef in a restaurant is a young mans game and unless he was moving into running a restaurant his life would never calm down.
A lot of his shifts "split", in pastry he would be at the restaurant at 5am to prep the doughs and breads, go home when done and then return later to bake them off and prepare afternoon teas. If another chef was in and performing a skill my brother wanted to learn he would hang about and get the other chef to teach him, I understand that this is standard.
On top of the mad hours he was at college doing catering certificates during parts of his training.
Anyway i digress, what you've described seems normal for a chef and your friend needs to talk to other chefs and get recommended for better jobs in other restaurants. Conditions will improve in the middle then get tougher again at the top.0 -
I'm sure it is part and parcel of the industry. It always will be when people accept it. The wage quoted here for these hours is unlawful - well below the living wage. That applies to everyone, including people from the EU, who are covered by the same legislation as UK born people. So the argument that it is " a good wage for someone from the EU " is utter rubbish. It's an unlawful wage for anyone who is routinely working 60+ hours. But the OP also has no employment protection, with only 18 months service.
Breaches of minimum wage laws can be reported anonymously to the hot line, but that doesn't mean that the employer won't guess who reported them, or take it out on everyone.0 -
But the OP also has no employment protection, with only 18 months service.
Breaches of minimum wage laws can be reported anonymously to the hot line, but that doesn't mean that the employer won't guess who reported them, or take it out on everyone.
So is the suggestion the the employee does nothing and therefore the employer continues to flout minimum wage legislation. It seems to suggest that employers can pay what they want to those with less than 2 years employment.0 -
So is the suggestion the the employee does nothing and therefore the employer continues to flout minimum wage legislation. It seems to suggest that employers can pay what they want to those with less than 2 years employment.
No, of course it isn't. And you know that I didn't say or suggest that. What I did was point out the facts. What the OP decides to do with those facts - or, in fact, the OP's friend - is something they must decide. Would you prefer that I say "Report them immediately, there are no consequences"?
If you want to have a go at someone, why not pick on those saying that they should be grateful to have such a good (unlawful) wage because they come from the EU? Instead of someone actually trying to offer balanced advice?
And your advice is.....??0 -
Thanks for providing the link - I was on the tablet earlier, and I have just never totally mastered the finer art of cutting and pasting links on it!
TBH if the OP's friend is going after back pay (and assuming they have evidence of the hours worked) I would write the strongly worded letter myself (plenty of templates available and people here - or some people here - would help) saving the cost of a solicitor and then go through with the threat of legal action, which will be much cheaper than the solicitor!0 -
...I do not know the law here, which is why I decided to hit up the trusty MSE forum to see if any advice could be given before going to CAB.
CAB will probably signpost you to ACAS.
http://www.acas.org.uk/index.aspx?articleid=14610 -
Thank for all the replies, much appreciated. Feel like I have something to go on.
I do get the argument that it's run of the mill stuff for the industry and I think she would accept that more if it was a staff-wide issue, but she is the only member of the kitchen team made to do these hours. I probably should have mentioned that as well.0
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