Should restaurant owners get a share of the tips?
I was reading an article on the BBC news website and it was explaining how the government are looking to place a ban on restaurant owners taking well earned tips from their staff. When I was working as a waitress we would put all our tips into a jar and they would be evenly split between all the staff members at the end of the month. We would all get an even share of the tips according to the hours and days we worked that month. Often when having large parties in we would split the tips between staff working that particular night. A lot of times the tips are kept by the owner if made by card payment. There is no legal obligation for the employer to give out those tips paid by card and a lot of the time this is where staff are missing out.
Many places add a service charge on to the bottom of a bill often at a rate of 10% or 20%. This leaves the customer often paying for a service they did not enjoy. In places such as America, the national living rate is very low, and many people need their tips to pay bills. Its not compulsory to tip but it is said that the appropriate amount to tip is between 15% and 25% of the bill.
I always tip where necessary as I know how it feels to not receive anything after providing a good service. Depending on where we are dining we often tip between £5-£10 between myself and my partner. I personally feel that tips should be distributed at the end of the night as those who have worked that shift have given the service.
What is your opinion on tipping and do you think there should be a law passed to ensure all large companies give their staff the tips they deserve instead of keeping it for themselves?
Jade Porteous
The availability is a lot tighter this week as you would expect for the week before Easter.
We have 60 chefs out working and 15 confirmed so for the week
We are always registering new relief chef on a daily basis, if you fancy a change and would like to see more of Scotland please email your CV to jojo@chefsinscotland.co.uk with reference details and your hygiene certificate.
We are still keen to meet relief chefs here at our office in Moffat please get in touch to check our availability.
Some chefs we have out working just now
Chris Robertson is at The Mustard Seed Restaurant in Inverness
Ben Robertson is at the Castle Hotel Huntly
Chris Wright is over in Aviemore at the Winking Owl Restaurant
Bobby Bessant is a new relief chef to us and is at the Ben Nevis Hotel in Fort William
Campbell Mclean also another new relief chef is at the Knockderry House Hotel in Helensburgh
Barry Owen is in Skye at the Kinloch Lodge Hotel
Mario Pohlmann is back on the circuit and has made his way from Orkney to Skye for a 3 week job at Ardvasar Hotel
Ionel Rizea is back helping at The Torfin
John Derrick is in Arran at the Pierhead Tavern
Blair Mackay has returned to the Duisdale Hotel after helping short notice at the Mustard Seed Restaurant
Sebastian Luszczynski is working with Scott Bolton again at the Nethy Bridge Hotel
Matthew Moorhead is back at The Airds Hotel
Thanks to everyone on and off this list your all doing a great job to what is going to be another busy season 😊 😊😊
Nearly 20,000 chefs are leaving the hospitality trade every year which is sad to think but we hear of a lot of chefs that are coming away from the trade.
The report discussed that chefs are expected to work long hours with often unpaid overtime. This is one of the reasons we do try to make sure that the positions we look for are paying a decent wage with overtime paid after 48 hours.
There are obviously lots of great aspects when you are working as a chef especially in rural Scotland which has some beautiful places to live and work. We have some of the best produce available locally including fresh game and seafood.
The report is heavily focused on the London restaurant scene which is different to Scotland of course but working in the hospitality trade can be very rewarding work if you have good working terms and conditions which we strive to advise employers about in the best way we can.
What positive advice would you give to a chef who was thinking of leaving the industry?
We have 57 relief chefs currently out working, 28 confirmed this week so far.
There are a few new relief chefs registered and booked out (good luck to you all and thanks for joining Team CIS)
We are still happy to register new relief chefs all you need to do is email your up to date CV to jojo@chefsinscotland.co.uk with your reference details and hygiene certificate, we will give you a call and chase up your references and all being well get you out working 😊
There are lots of interviews being arranges for permanent and seasonal positions.
A few chefs we have booked out just now
Rosie Robertson was at the Fife Arms Hotel in Braemar
Karim Nasri is at The Kingshouse Hotel in Glencoe
Billy Grieg is at Go Glasgow Urban Hotel
Mario Darie was at Loch Nell Hotel near Oban
Lillian Clarkson is at The Ben Mhor Hotel where we placed head chef Jo Fenner
Sarah Pozzi is at Ardanaseig Hotel
Barry Richards is at Baxters Highland Food
Tim Morris is at Loch Leven Seafood Café
David Carroll is at The Station Hotel in Portsoy
Steve Nye is at Inn on the Tay in Perthshire
Thanks to all our relief chefs for your hard work, we really do appreciate it 😊
Is working with your partner a good idea?
Working with your partner in the kitchen can sometimes cause problems in your relationship. I used to work with my partner at his parents hotel and it was not the easiest thing I have to admit. It’s not easy waking up with your partner every morning, and then heading to the same place of work and then going back home together. You don’t really get a moment to yourself. We get quite a lot of couples who enjoy working together and you often find that you will find your partner in the same industry as you.
I personally found it hard as we had nothing to talk about come the end of the day as we both worked in the same hotel and knew how each other’s day went. It can often get heated when the front of house and kitchen dispute. This happened with us quite often. It can often be hard to relay complaints from customers when your partner is the chef. We would often go home after a shift and laugh about some of the arguments we had on that shift.
Working with chefs can be tough sometimes and even more so when they are your partner. It’s hard to leave work at work and not take the problem home with you. From my own personal experience I wouldn’t work with my partner again, hats off to all of you that do! Many couples enjoy working alongside their partners and enjoy being able to share their passion with each other and it can often be a good thing. It can also be difficult when either of the partner shares different views on a subject and it can cause conflict a lot of the time.
What is your view on the subject? Is it something you have ever done or would consider?
Jade Porteous
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