Unite the union threatens legal action against Premier Inn owner
Unite the union is threatening legal action against hospitality giant Whitbread, which owns Premier Inn, after workers complained they are missing out on breaks.
The union claims two out of three Premier Inn workers told the union they are regularly missing out on their rest breaks and are not getting paid what they are owed.
Of those who work through their rest breaks, 75% are not paid for this time and over half are not given a break later in the day, says Unite.
It says this is in breach of the working time regulations which entitle workers to an uninterrupted 20-minute break every six hours.
But Premier Inn said the views, which were based on just 135 workers who responded to a snap online poll, are unrepresentative of its business.
A spokesman for Premier Inn said: "We offer excellent working conditions and pay everyone the National Living Wage or above, regardless of their age and are proud to be recognised as one of the best companies to work for in the UK, which is reflected in our high levels of employee engagement and record industry-low turnover rate.
"This survey, which is based on a sample of less than 1 per cent of our 20,000 strong team, is unrepresentative of our business.
"We have clear policies in place around people taking their breaks. We would, of course, want to know about any instance where an employee felt the break policy was not being adhered to and encourage them to come to us directly with any concerns so that we can take appropriate action."
The poll findings come as a report by the Unpaid Britain project is launched showing two million workers a year are being cheated out of pay they are owed, at a value of over £3 billion a year.
"The Unpaid Britain report highlights that employers are adopting a broken business model to cheat workers out of money they are rightfully owed," said Unite hotel project coordinator Charlotte Bence.
"It is shameful that Whitbread, one of the largest employers in the hospitality sector, seems to be engaged in this type of activity.
"Unite is clear that this is ‘wage theft’. Whitbread posted pre-tax profits of £316 million in August 2017 – this is profit earned at the expense of workers who are not being paid what they are owed for the time they have worked.
"Unite takes these claims very seriously and is already seeking legal advice on behalf of members who have worked through their breaks and not been paid. No doubt Whitbread will claim these to be isolated incidents, but our survey suggests this is the tip of the iceberg.
"Unite wants Whitbread to respect their staff, pay them properly for the hours they work and ensure they can take the breaks they are entitled to on shift. We encourage Premier Inn workers to get in touch with us."
Bev
Editor in chief Bev Fearis has been a travel journalist for 25 years. She started her career at Travel Weekly, where she became deputy news editor, before joining Business Traveller as deputy editor and launching the magazine’s website. She has also written travel features, news and expert comment for the Guardian, Observer, Times, Telegraph, Boundless and other consumer titles and was named one of the top 50 UK travel journalists by the Press Gazette.
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