Waiting staff at popular restaurant chains have told the BBC they were expected to cover the cost of meals when customers left without paying, with one former server describing how she was forced to pay £50 for a table she had not even been present to serve.
Sarah, not her real name, worked for the Filling Station chain from 2012 to 2018. She recounted an occasion when she had left the building 30 minutes before a table walked out, yet her manager ordered her to split the £100 bill with another server. She said the practice was "accepted" across the branches she worked at, adding that servers were responsible for up to 10 tables at once and even made desserts. "You would be in the back making five desserts and then you would go out and a table had left without paying and you would still be expected to pay," she said. This happened to her about five times.
The issue came under the spotlight this week when Wahaca changed its policy following a case in which a waiter was told to pay part of a bill. Co-founder Thomasina Miers said she was "delighted" the matter had been raised, allowing the company to "rectify a mistake". The chain now says servers will not have to pay any element of a bill in such circumstances, though cases of suspected complicity will be investigated. The union Unite called the practice "outrageous", while UK Hospitality said deducting wages was not standard practice, though individual businesses set their own policies.
Liam, who worked at Miller & Carter until 2017, claims he was required to pay between £60 and £80 on several occasions when customers left without paying. He said managers sometimes used a voucher code to reduce the bill by about 30%, but he still lost significant sums while saving for his wedding. Mitchells & Butler, the owner, insisted it is not company policy for staff to pay for walkouts and said any breaches would be investigated.
Jacob, who worked at Turtle Bay until March 2019, said managers frequently told him it was company policy for servers to cover unpaid bills. He also described being held responsible for lost receipts, and was once made to pay £20 for a missing receipt even though he had taken payment from the table. He said he feared losing his job if he complained. Sarah echoed that fear, saying she could not afford to risk her job as a student, and that her manager dismissed her concerns with "I don't care."
