Staff at Andi Oliver's restaurants have accused the TV personality and her business partner of withholding thousands of pounds worth of tips.
Wadadli Kitchen and Wadadli Roadside are owned by celebrity chef and Great British Menu presenter Andi Oliver and her business partner Garfield Hackett, and serve up ‘Caribbean family flavours’. In November, as many as 20 members of staff wrote a letter to Hackett saying they had only received part of what they were owed, and that they were going on strike. Estimates of exactly how much they owed run as high as £9,000.
Both restaurants add a service charge to the bill with customers able to add a tip as well if they so choose. Most restaurant-goers pay by card, with many restaurants going cashless for hygiene and admin reasons. However, employers are not legally obligated to share non-cash service charges or tips with staff unless specified in the staff’s contracts.
Wadadli Kitchen has admitted it was slow to pay the service charge to its staff, saying £6,000 was owed, with half being paid in October and the remainder in January.
A letter from management in December explained how the service charge would be shared: 33% for management, 47% for waiting staff and the remaining 20% for kitchen staff.
However, one member of staff responded to the letter saying they had expected the split between waiting and kitchen staff would be 50:50. They then went on to claim that some part-time staff still haven’t received anything.
Hackett has said, “We are embarrassed that we were not able to pay the entirety of the service charge shares immediately at the end of the pop-up run, as we are aware our staff rely on these payments.”
“We know this has been a really tough time for everyone and we are deeply saddened by letting our staff down.”
For more news, read all about Jamie Oliver's latest cooking show.
Both restaurants are currently closed at time of writing.