Employees at Manchester's Boujee restaurant are 'walking out' of their jobs after claims they are being overworked and underpaid. The all-pink themed venue where champagne ranges from £90 to £750 a bottle, has made headlines since its opening last year - following a brawl between customers, a one-star food hygiene rating, and most recently over unpaid wages.
Staff were reportedly paid just 40 per cent of their wages on a recent pay date, and claimed they had not been paid the full service charge provided by customers.
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Bosses at the £1m restaurant, which also has branches in Liverpool and Chester, said this was due to 'cash flow issues' the business has been experiencing because of 'increasing costs' such as food and utility bills.
But some staff claim the problems with service charge date back as far as last summer, with one former employee claiming they only found out they were owed tips after reading an article in the M.E.N.
And although the restaurant has recently seen its hygiene rating increase to five stars, the chain admitted that staff are continuing to 'walk out' - creating rota issues and long hours for remaining employees.
One former staff member, who asked to remain anonymous, said he quit his front of house job after just two months, following claims he regularly had to work well over his rota'd hours.
He also claims he has fallen into credit card arrears after only receiving a fraction of his pay packet in June - meaning he couldn't keep up with all of his direct debits.
Speaking to the M.E.N, he said: "At first the environment was friendly and welcoming but soon after it felt like it wasn't properly managed. I had no formal training and no health and safety guide - just the fire exits pointed out to me.
"When I started working they just gave me a sheet of paper explaining what I needed to do. I had to speak to other more experienced staff to learn what to do."
'We never knew when we were going to finish'
Responding to the claims, a spokesperson for Boujee said all staff members go through online training via the 'Flow Hospitality' portal and are given training modules to complete relating to their job specification.
The employee said he eventually quit his job after claims he was constantly 'messed around' and had to work hours after his shift was due to finish.
"We would work our eight hours and were supposed to be closing at 12am and then the manager would just tell us they'd decided to open until 1am or 2am," he said. "We never knew when we were going to finish."
A Boujee spokesperson accepted that staff were expected to work long hours, particularly on a Friday, Saturday or Sunday, adding: "that is what happens in the hospitality industry."
The employee claims that he did not receive any service charge in his final pay slip, and was only paid part of his wage, meaning he was unable to pay for all of his outgoing bills.
"I tried to contact Boujee about this but I couldn't get hold of them so I contacted Citizens Advice," he said. "I then got a response from HR the following Monday and that is when I found out about the cash flow problems and that staff weren't being paid in full.
"I had to miss a couple of bills and I now have gone into arrears with a couple of credit cards. The whole situation has put me in a really bad spot with my mental health. I live in Manchester city centre and my rent is £950 before even paying for bills."
Another ex-employee, who asked not to be named, said she started working for the restaurant shortly after it opened last summer, but quickly found she was unable to keep up with the long hours and claims she was frequently expected to work over her shift.
'I never got any tips'
"All of a sudden the shifts started becoming very long and I was working 13 hour days with a 30-minute break," she said. "We would be working from 5pm until 4am the next morning and then we'd be back the next day with little time to rest.
"I was working seven days a week and had to argue to get a day off. Once I requested one or two days off because I wasn't feeling great and the manager just threatened to sack me. The final straw for me was when I was rota'd down to work 11am to 6pm but by the time I got into work someone had changed me to a night shift which meant I was down to work a double shift. That's when I quit."
A spokesperson for Boujee accepted that last-minute rota changes had to be made, due to staff 'walking out' of work. They added that staff were able to say no to shifts if they weren't able to work them and were 'always' given a 12-hour rest period between shifts.
“We employ a lot of young people," they said. "Of course it is long hours - that is what happens in this industry. If people walk out as they have done that means we do have to change the rota at the last minute, but everyone can speak to a manager and say if they can’t work."
The former staff member who complained of long hours also claims she was underpaid and said she wasn't aware she should have been paid service charges until she read an article in the Manchester Evening News . "I never got any tips and didn't even know about them until I saw the article. I worked there for three months and I don't think I was ever paid the right amount," she said.
A Boujee spokesperson accepted that there had been 'service charge issues' and that they would be correcting the payments to ensure staff members who are owed money are repaid.
The former employee added: "It just wasn’t a nice place to work. There was just no support at all. Me and my friend would often have to pay for taxis to get home after finishing at 4am as there was no other way of getting back to where we lived.
"Sometimes we’d have to wait until 5.30am for the first bus as we couldn’t get a taxi. We asked the company if they’d help pay but they just ignored us and said transport was nothing to do with them. Some of the managers worked really hard but others just weren’t very nice at all."
The venue, which opened inside the former historic Freemasons Hall, serves up sushi and small plates and features an array of bar and dining spaces, including an entire champagne room and selfie room complete with pink 'private jet' and Barbie and Ken boxes.
In August last year, the restaurant, which is part-owned by Real Housewives of Cheshire star Lystra Adams, was given a one-star food hygiene and told it required 'major improvement.' Boujee management said at the time the rating was 'due to a facilities issue' and requested a 're-visit and rescore.'
Inspectors who visited the premises in March this year gave the venue an improved food hygiene rating of five, with food handling said to be 'very good' and cleanliness and food safety rated at 'good.'
Police had to be called to the Bridge Street restaurant last year after a terrifying brawl broke out between two men. Female customers could be heard screaming and champagne glasses could be seen thrown across the room in video footage captured and sent to the M.E.N.
And earlier this month, the restaurant was in the spotlight again after staff working at branches in both Manchester and Liverpool reported being paid just 40 per cent of their wages. The business said they had been experiencing 'cash flow' issues due to 'unforeseen costs.'
What Boujee say
A message sent to staff at the end of June, seen by the M.E.N, said: "It is with huge regret and disappointment that we are not able to pay the wages in their entirety today. We have exhausted every avenue and it is at the point where we require the revenue from this weekend and next in order to catch up and make the payments in full.
"Today we will be making a payment to all employees of 40 per cent of their total wage. On Monday we will make a second payment and this will be 30 per cent of their total wage plus 50 per cent of the service charge for the month. The following Monday we will pay the remaining 30 per cent and the remaining 50 per cent of the service charge.
"We are extremely sorry that it has come to this and I assure you we are doing all we can to get back on track and our team are vital in this path to recovery. We fully appreciate this is not acceptable and we thank you for your hard work, support and loyalty through what has been a very challenging time."
In a previous statement, a spokesperson for Boujee said: "The hospitality industry is continuing to face very challenging times with increases in costs such as utilities and food supplies. We have done what we can do as a business to absorb these costs without passing directly onto our customers.
"We experienced unexpected costs last month which created temporary cash flow constraints for the business. Whilst 70 per cent of the staff wages has been paid, the remaining 30 per cent has been deferred by five working days.
"It is an unfortunate position and we do sympathise with our team and appreciate their efforts. As many in the hospitality sector have suffered during the pandemic we have continued to push forward, which has had a detrimental impact on cash reserves.
"We are continuing to liaise with our valued staff members and will do what we can to absorb the increased operational costs moving forward. We are confident that the business will resume as usual and we remain open for business."
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