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Waiters at a Bristol restaurant chain say they are being made to "pay to work" because the company's tipping policy forces them to hand over their cash to managers at the end of their shift.

Employees of Aqua Italia - who have two restaurants in Bristol - have claimed they are required to pay three per cent of their total table sales back to the company.

They also say although generally this money is meant to be taken out of the waiter’s tips, if they have not earned enough to cover the three per cent levy - they are required to take this amount out of their own hard-earned cash.

The money taken by the company from their staff’s tips are subsequently being used to subsidise their wages, according to staff.

Therefore, if a waiter is responsible for a section of tables which spends £500 on food and drink by the end of a night, the waiter - owing three per cent of that to the company - will have to pay £15.

Employees say the fee does not adjust depending on how full the waiter’s jar of tips is - it has to be paid regardless of what tips, if any, they are given.

According to employees, every night each waiter is paying the company three per cent of every bill on every table they look after, costing the waiter a large proportion if not all of his or her tips.

(Image: Trinity/freelance photographer Jon)

Sam Rimmer, a former waiter at the Aqua Italia on Whiteladies Road, said: “I think the three per cent policy is absolutely shocking. Basically they’re making people rent a section of the restaurant, if you want to work there you have to pay.

“I’ve actually heard Ben (the operations manager) say they should be getting tips and if they don’t that’s their own fault,” he said.

(Image: maximkabb)

The experienced waiter resigned from the restaurant in October - and he says a big factor was because of how much money he was losing paying the restaurant three per cent of his takings.

“Going into Christmas I just thought I would lose hundreds if not thousands of pounds in tips,” said Sam.

“And we were even lucky in Whiteladies because the managers would work with the waiters and not make us pay the three per cent on tables that didn’t tip, cashing it through themselves.

“But I noticed it was much different in the other branches,” Sam added. “I covered a few shifts in Milton Keynes and the waiters would even have to pay three per cent on groups coming in for drinks. A few people having drinks don’t usually tip so a couple of bottles of wine that can add up then you have to pay three per cent of that bill out of your own pocket.

“In Milton Keynes I saw a girl in tears at the end of the shift because she hadn’t made enough in tips to pay her three per cent and the manager was making her walk to the cash point to withdraw money to pay it.”

The 29-year-old claims the restaurant hires young and inexperienced waiting staff as they are less likely to know the industry and how unfair the policy is.

“They have a policy of hiring students straight out of A-levels because they don’t know how the industry works so won’t question things. It’s all geared up to exploit people,” said Sam.

“They try to make out they are a small Bristol family business but they are just people with money exploiting people without, and they are hiring inexperienced youngsters who don’t know any better. It’s all very underhanded.”

Sam said he was told by one of the managers the money from the three per cent goes directly towards paying the staff’s wages.

A senior staff member working at Aqua Italia restaurant who spoke to the Post on condition of anonymity about the three per cent policy, they said: “This has been going on as long as I’ve been there. The operations manager, thinks that if waiters don’t earn enough tips to cover the three percent then they’re not doing a good job.

“But staff should get 100 per cent of their tips regardless, yet they’re made to give three per cent of whatever they take back to the company,” they said.

“Staff are made to sign a piece of paper at the start of their employment to agree to it. But most of the staff we get in are students and they don’t know what it is they are signing until they realise later.

“What we will do sometimes is cash tables off for the waiters to save them paying the three per cent - but we’re not actually allowed to do that and then Ben, the manager, will come to the site and tells us the three per cent is not good enough this week questioning us about the whereabouts of the three per cent on things we have cashed off instead of the waiters to save them paying,” they added.

They estimate that each staff member is losing a minimum of £20-30 of their tips every night – with that money going towards the company’s labour costs.

Although the contract states that 100 per cent of the discretionary service charge placed on tables of six or more goes to the waiter, employees say they have to use money earned from this to pay the 3 per cent tipping charge back to the company.

Another former Aqua staff member said on a busy night she could hand over above £50 in tips to the company.

“In a busy evening I was sometimes handing over £50-55 in cash to the restaurant. I earned £7.50 an hour, so say I worked a six hour shift I’d be earning £45. That night I would be paying the company more than I earned in wages,” she said.

Despite working at the restaurant for several years she recently resigned – saying the three per cent was the main reason she eventually quit.

A former waitress of the Aqua Italia in Bristol’s Harbourside also said she resigned because of the policy.

"Each night I was having to give back £20-40 as one of the highest earning waitresses there and I would have to pay this out of my tips,” she said.

“When I had my interview it was very rushed so I signed something and was told I would understand more when I started.

“When I did, it just seemed absolutely ludicrous that I had to pay back money from my tips to the company plus tip the kitchen and bar. In the end I was giving away 45 per cent of my tips.”

According to the Aqua Italia employment contract seen by the Bristol Post, available to view above, staff are required to pay “3 per cent of (the) key fob sales are given back to the company at the end of every shift once you have cashed up. We also ask that you tip out 10 per cent of your left over tips to our bar and kitchen team”.

The former Harbourside waitress said the three per cent means there is a high turnover of staff. She said: “Once staff realise how much of their tips they are losing every shift they think it’s ridiculous.”

This is not the first time claims involving staff tips have been raised in the media regarding restaurant chains in Bristol.

(Image: Getty)

Two years ago, information came to light about Las Iguanas and Turtle Bay following an Observer investigation which exposed a tipping policy.

During an investigation by the paper the restaurants, which have the same founder, justified the policy by saying it allows them to share tips with non-waiting staff through staff development and reward schemes.

The Bristol Post reported how waiters were “losing out as bosses take share of tips” in the Bristol-based Las Iguanas. Following this, the restaurant chain changed its stance and confirmed staff would now be keeping all of their tips.

However, it is claimed Aqua has not only adopted the policy but is using it to pay the wages of their staff, effectively minimising the restaurants' wage bill with waiters’ tips.

poll loading How much do you tip in a restaurant? 1000+ VOTES SO FAR Less then 5% At least 5% 10% 15% No limit, depending on how good the service and food is I never tip

In 2016, a government report said charges imposed on staff tips by employers should be scrapped or limited. The report was issued after an eight-month review launched by business secretary Sajid Javid following a series of news reports regarding tipping police.

Proprietor of Aqua Richard Smithson now owns a total of seven restaurants across the South West of England including two in Bristol, situated in the Harbourside and on Whiteladies Road in Clifton and one in Bath, Milton Keynes, Portishead, Lewes and Worthing.

On their website under 'Jobs' the restaurant says it offers flexible hours for a good weekly-paid salary with the promise of training and career opportunities.

It does not mention staff will be required to pay three percent of the money they take from their tips, this is stated in the contract they sign if they are offered employment.

The Bristol Post has contacted Aqua for a comment and is waiting for a reply.

Are you a server for a Bristol-based restaurant using the same or a similar tipping policy? We want to shine a light on these unfair practices. To share your story email b.weatherby@localworld.co.uk 07958623066.