Another day, another national living wage scandal. This time in the form of popular lunch time coffee chain, Eat, who have decided to stop paying it’s employees during their half hour lunch breaks after the increase of the national living wage.
The wage change, set by chancellor George Osborne, means all employees over the age of 25 must now be paid £7.20 an hour, instead of last years £6.70 hourly minimum wage. While the wage increase is good news for those on minimum wage, it’s bad news for Eat staff, as the company will no longer cover the cost of their mid-shift breaks. Caffe Nero also confirmed the same policy last week.
Eathave commented, saying that: 'ninety-five percent of our employees enjoy a pay rate in excess of the £7.20 living wage…in addition, all of our employees also get a free lunch every day that they work, as much free tea and coffee as they want and the opportunity to earn more through bonuses and incentives.'
But where’s the dollar for taking a 30 minute break to get some well deserved fresh air, hey Eat? That increase in salary doesn't make up for the lack of lunch break pay. Staff aren’t happy about the news, and nor were people on Twitter.
Like this? You might also be interested in…
**Young Workers Need Tips To Survive, So Why Are Restaurants Keeping Them? **
Follow Alyss on Twitter @alyssbowen
This article originally appeared on The Debrief.