Delicious UK - (09)September 2020

S

uddenlywithoutwork,unabletopayrentand

forcedontothestreet...Thiswastheharshreality

foruntoldnumbersofhospitality workers earlier

thisyearasthesectorshutdown.

ThelaunchoftheCoronavirusJobRetention

Schemeinmid-Marchwaswelcomerelieftothe

shutteredindustry’sworkforce.Covering 80 percentof

thewagesoffurloughedstaff,it alsoincludedbar,hotel

andrestaurantworkersonzerohourandagency

contracts.1.4millionwerefurloughed– thehighest

ofanysector.Buthardshipstillstruckworkershard.

Over20,000appliedforthecharityHospitalityAction’s

emergency grant on its dayoflaunchinlateMarch.

“We’vehadtosecondpeople

ontothegrantsteamtotry

tomeetdemand,”sayschief

executiveMarkLewis.

Thescheme

couldn’tguarantee

thatemployers

wouldactintheir

team’sbestinterests,

either.Yasmin*

acceptedbeing

furloughedfromthe

caféwhereshe

workedparttime,

butthenshedidn’t

receive her pay.

Whenshecontactedtheowner,hesaidhethought

she’dquit.Shethenreceiveda callfromhisbusiness

partner,whoclaimedstaffhadbeenaskedtoattend

a meetingaboutreopeningfortakeawayservice

andallthoseabsenthadbeendismissed,including

herself.“IwonderhowI was fired, without a call or

anemail?”Yasminasks.

CitizensAdvicesuggestedYasmindemandher

paymentinwritingandadvisedhertosayshe’dbe

preparedtotakefurtheraction.Within 12 hoursshe

waspaid.Shethenreceivednoticethatshe’dbeen

re-enrolledinthecompanypensionscheme,butwhen

sheenquiredwhenshe’dbeneededatworkshewas

toldshe’dbeenfiredmonthsago.“TheimpressionI got

is thatbecauseI’mfromoverseastheythoughtI wouldn’t

know how to deal with these things,” she says.

DOINGTHERIGHTTHING

AlthoughYasmin’sexperiencehasbeenmirroredby

somanyothers,thereareemployersdeterminedto

behavehonourably.TrailblazingbossAsmaKhan

openedSohorestaurantDarjeelingExpressin 2017

witha teamofAsianwomeninthekitchen.None

hadcookedprofessionallybefore,andhalfworkpart

timetobalancefamilylife.Shechosenottoreopen

inJuly,orearlierfordeliveryortakeaway, instead

searchingforlargerpremises.

“Myteamareolder,andthestatisticsseemtoshow

that people from the Black Asian and Minority Ethnic

“I couldn’t build

my empire on

broken dreams”

Peoplearethelifebloodofrestaurants,pubsandhotels,butwith

theindustryina tailspin,manyworkershaveendedupindire

straits.Whilesomeemployershavebeenthevillainsofthepiece,

others are heroes worth celebrating, says Phoebe Stone

RESTAURANTS IN CRISIS

Whenyou’rethe

captain,youdo

everythingrightby

your shipmates