Monthly pay for hospitality workers down 40%, says Fourth

The majority of furloughed hospitality workers could be earning “significantly less” than 80% of their normal earnings, according to the latest research by Fourth. In light of workers no longer receiving the average addition of 25% tronc to their monthly pay, workers are only receiving 60% of their usual wage during the ongoing crisis. The hospitality software provider said that with the government expected to scale back its level of support for furloughed workers over the coming months, this percentage “could fall further”. The data, gathered from an analysis of over 120,000 workers across 200 hospitality companies, showed that 60% of all workers received tronc payments during 2019, including both back of house and front of house roles. The data also showed that on average, tronc makes up a higher percentage of the basic pay for salaried workers at 28%, up from those paid on an hourly basis with 24%. Further to this, the data only included tronc payments made digitally, rather than not cash tips. Taking this into consideration, Fourth suggested that many hospitality workers on the job retention scheme could be receiving less than 60% of their normal monthly wage. Kate Nicholls, CEO of UKHospitality, said: “The Job Retention Scheme has been a vital lifeline for employees and employers – providing an income while allowing businesses to retain their valued workforce. “It is time for an approach that is #Fair4Hospitality employees – with access to their full earnings under furlough and extension of full furlough until their employer is back to full service.” James England, senior vice president at Fourth, said: “In addition to graphically illustrating what an important component Tronc is for many hospitality workers’ pay, these findings also demonstrate why a tapering off of support could really hurt the finances of hospitality workers as many of those furloughed aren’t receiving 80% but more like 60% of their normal earnings. “Whilst an extremely challenging time, optimism is returning to the industry; many hospitality businesses are developing their reopening plans in line with government guidelines and timings and retention of their key staff will be crucial to successfully reopening.” He added: “There are concerns that further reductions in payments to furloughed staff could mean that a career in hospitality is not financially viable in the current environment and could result in significant numbers of people being forced to look at other industries for employment.”