Treat differently at work

[Scrapsy]

I am working in a kitchen of a pub/restaurant. We have always had a member of staff that constantly off sick so nearly every week someone is expected to cover. Last week a waitress had to cover and was paid extra on top of the days pay to cover and others were offered extra to cover out front. In kitchen we have never been offered extra and have also been threatened with getting extra staff if we won't cover meaning we lose hrs. Surely only the people that are always off should be punished, and equally if staff out front get paid more so should the kitchen staff.

Am I reading this correctly - you are being asked to do unpaid overtime? That doesn't sound right at all. What kind of wage are you on? I ask because my DH worked in a pub kitchen for min wage and unpaid overtime would have taken him below min wage, and thus been illegal - of course, this angle won't be relevant if you are well above min wage, but it's still unfair.

I wonder whether if the waitress doesn't get paid overtime that would mean she's below minimum wage.
Or do you mean they get time and a half, but you just get normal wage?

No, we get paid hourly as just above minimum wage, so do get paid for covering. But staff out front that very rarely cover got paid plus little extra for covering

Sorry we all got paid but waitress got £20 extra for covering and others was offered the extra from front. I know it's not much but we always covering and lucky if get a coke

If the waitress earns a higher hourly wage than the kitchen staff, is the extra just the difference between the kitchen hourly wage and the front of house hourly wage? So in effect, they are keeping her hourly rate the same regardless of which area she works in?

No we are all on just above minimum pay so they offered more to cover. I would find it fair if they were younger therefore on less pay cos of minimum pay rules

Have you spoken to your manager about the discrepancy - tackling him collectively about this might be good. With the threat of hiring more staff, you could point out the cost of hiring someone new would be more than paying you the occasional £20 - the average cost of hiring via a recruitment agency in the UK is £3000, plus then there is the cost associated with training them.

However, ultimately if your manager wants to go down this route, there isn't much you can do - there's no requirement to pay a premium rate for overtime so either you accept it at the rate offered or you let them hire more staff and risk losing hours. It's a bit crap for you, but not illegal.