But who is really acting irresponsibly here? The chefs or the employers?
There can be many reasons for chefs who are sick returning to work before they are fully fit.
For some it is a financial question. A huge number of UK hotels and restaurants offer no contractual sick pay at all. This means you are left with the minimum entitlement of Statutory Sick Pay for which you receive nothing whatsoever for the first 3 days and then a measly £88.45 a week after that. Many chefs simply can't afford to pay their bills on that amount of money and find themselves forced back to work by circumstance when they are still quite ill.
For others it is pressure from their employer. Being pestered constantly as to when they are coming back to work. Or being required by their company policy to phone in every day to explain their absence. Many hotels and restaurants operate a three strikes and you're out principle under their attendance management schemes. Staff who are off sick too long run the risk of being disciplined or dismissed.
There is also loyalty to the brigade. These days kitchens constantly run short staffed. And many chefs who are ill start to feel guilty about the extra hours their colleagues are having to put in to cover for them. Again this is largely a situation created by irresponsible employer action in failing to set pay and conditions at a level which attracts and retains crew members.
Unite's own survey shows that.
78% of chefs have had an accident or near miss due to feeling overtired
51% are suffering depression due to overwork
56% take painkillers to see them through their shift
Creating a climate where chefs feel forced or obliged to come back to work before they are fully fit simply makes a bad situation worse and it is conditions like this that are driving people out of the industry. Time to organise to change this - email -chefscombine@gmail.com
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