Normal for waiting staff to be charged for breakages?

[MayBlossom]

DD (15) started a part time waiting job at the local gastro pub in July, working usually 4-5 hours at the weekend. In mid-November she accidentally dropped a full plate of food in the kitchen and was mortified. The other FoH staff and kitchen staff seemed fine about it, saying it happens to everyone at some stage, but then one of the chefs jokingly said "may take you a few hours work to replace that plate". She didn't think he was serious given the other comments. Having just received her salary for November yesterday she discovered that she is over £40.00 down on what she was expecting given the hours worked and her hourly rate and assumes they must have deducted the cost of the broken plate and the meal on it from the salary. Is this normal in catering? She also doesn't seem to receive payslips - which would obviously show any deductions - which I thought was illegal but she is under 16 so don't know if that makes a difference?

No, that’s definitely not normal or legal

But first action is for her to phone or email her manager and ask why her wages are lower this month, and see if they give an explanation because it could be something simple like a tax or NI deduction

It used to be normal but I don't know about recently. Breakages were the only thing we could be deducted for when I was a waitress / bar staff.

To be fair, you could have played skittles with our plates though! They were made out of something unearthly

Does her contract say that she’ll be liable for it?
If not, they can’t.
it also seems excessive - even if the dish cost £40 for a consumer, it wouldn’t cost the business £40.

explains it here
www.gov.uk/understanding-your-pay/deductions-from-your-pay

Thank you everyone for the prompt replies. She is down to work again this Saturday evening so is intending to have a quiet word face-to-face with the manager about the lower than expected salary and see what he says. @underneaththeash she doesn't have a contract but this makes me realise she needs to ask for one. Thank you for the link.

To me it seems harsh to be charged for an accident, especially the first time it has happened.

In retail, bars and restaurants, employers can lawfully deduct from wages to cover damaged stock or mistakes and shortfalls in till money, provided no more than 10% of pay is taken before tax on each payday the deduction is made, and that the employer has taken the money within 12 months of noticing the shortage, that there is a written agreement to this effect and the employee is given details in writing of the deduction on each pay day money is deducted.

I used to waitress as a teen and never experienced this. £40 seems really excessive too - I think it must be a mistake of a different sort and just a coincidence.

£40 seems an awful lot. Surely if this was the reason, it would be the cost price of the plate and food on it not what the customer pays. Unless it's an insanely expensive restaurant their food isn't costing £40 per plate.

If your DD doesn’t have a contract, then a standard one applies. This means there is no stipulation for deduction of wages.

This would be ILLEGAL. Also, she would have had to have signed a contract. So unless she has, then the standard applies.
It’s also a legal requirement to provide payslips so she should ask for this too.

Basically, do NOT accept the deduction. Get payslips.

Oh also if the deduction brings her below NMW (even if contract said they could deduct the cost of damage) then it would be illegal. If she’s on minimum wage already then I’m sure this would be broken.

My dd has worked in restaurants quite a lot , could the £40 be for uniform ?

If she hasn't been given a payslip have they deducted emergency tax?

Unfortunately there is no minimum wage for a 15 year old.

I thought a 15yo was on below nmw, didnt pay tax or national insurance if it was below the personal allowance and didnt need payslips

They shouldn't pay tax or NI but in a place where paperwork is not good it is possible that someone may not have ticked the correct box to say this was her main or only job and she could have been allocated a wrong tax code of week 1 or basic rate. I have known it to happen before HMRC catch on.

She definitely DOES need payslips if the employer operate a PAYE system. For them not to operate one at all it would mean that they would have to have No employees at all liable to tax or NI or that everyone was self-employed.

Thanks. Just quoting whats on the gov,uk site

Is she working in the day or in the evening as it is illegal to employ a 15 year old after 7pm?

@Comefromaway her shifts vary. Sometimes a Sunday afternoon 12 to 5 pm but sometimes a Saturday evening 6-10 pm. She actually prefers the evening shift as interferes less with other things she may want to do at the weekend.

I don't believe she can work legally after 7pm www.gov.uk/child-employment/restrictions-on-child-employment

She can’t work for more than 2 hours on a Sunday either during term time.

I sounds as if her employer has no idea what he’s doing.

I think you need to get involved OP.

Thanks everyone. Sounds like a lot needs to be discussed with the employer, not just the deduction from the November salary.

I agree. I’m assuming he hasn’t got a valid child employment licence from the council for her given she’s doing those hours. Which means things like his employer liability insurance will be invalid.