Michel Roux Jr Admits Restaurant Staff Get No Share Of Service Charge

[mikey4444]

https://www.theguardian.com/lifeandstyle/2016/dec/15/michel-roux-jr-restaurant-staff-no-share-service-charge-le-gavroche

Earlier this week, Roux admitted that he paid his staff less than the minimum wage, and now he admits the he keep 100% of the service charge !

So,, I am not sure what the Service Charge is for, if its not shared amongst the Staff ?

[237SJ]

That`s disgusting - he should be ashamed of himself. I always leave cash tips and never put it on the credit card

[ubasses]

Hopefully now it has become public he will be shamed into paying it to the staff. You never know maybe some of those wealthy enough to pay his prices will boycott him.

[Bazile]

ubasses
I doubt those wealthy enough are bothered about the poor people

[Mamyalynne]

I find it equally disgraceful some of his Chefs weren't getting the minimum wage - the old school view of learning your trade at your master's feet and accepting your pittance sounds very noble, but doesn't pay the bills.

[mikey4444]

ubasses.....no sign of a change-of-heart from Mr Roux I'm afraid. he has now said that the service charge will be compulsory, and included in the diners bill, whether they like it or not and it WON'T go to the Staff. :::::

"Roux has also said that in future the 13% service charge will be included in customers’ bills, although again, none of it will go to staff in addition to their wages"

Not a very good week for Roux, one way or another. Greedy man IMHO.

[andy-hughes]

I'm not sure if legally he can impose a service charge - does anyone know the law on this?

I don't eat in restaurants like this, but if I did, and I thought the service was poor, I would delete the service charge from my bill.

I only eat regularly at one restaurant, our local Italian and all tips are shared equally among all staff - waiting staff, chefs, the washer-up, everyone gets equal shares, which is only right and proper since they all contribute to the dining experience.

[Old_Geezer]

The service charge allows one to cost the food purchase & preparation separately from providing service serving you. It is also a "thank you" to Michel Roux junior for providing the staff to serve you so well.

[237SJ]

I thought that a diner had the right to have the service charge removed from a bill if it is pre-added so the answer would be to get it removed and then tip the staff in cash

[mikey4444]

Andy....the difficulty in the future is that prices will rise by 13% and there will be no tipping allowed. So..... in effect, there will be no Service Charge that you could object to.

Clever little ruse for Roux, don't you think ?

[Bazile]

crikey, mikey - i've not had one of those for a while :-)

[ubasses]

Sadly you are probably right Bazile. Just had a look at Which, if you are told about the Service Charge beforehand you do have to pay it by law, unless the service is very poor, when you have the right to deduct it.
Like 237SJ we always make sure we have enough cash to pay the tip, never on the card.

[Mamyalynne]

To be correct je didn't say tipping would be disallowed.

//“There is too much ambiguity between service charges and tips,” he said. “So from the end of January 2017 we are going ‘service included’. This will be marked on the bill and menus so as to make it clear that no further payment or gratuity is needed and credit card slips will be closed.”//

[Mamyalynne]

Je = He - very apt.

[Old_Geezer]

Unless one tips everyone in every job equally, the idea of tipping folk to do their job properly is an enigma. The rate for the job should be high enough not to need, or be able to suggest that something extra is required. To do so just makes the advertised prices for a product or service a nonsense.

What is required is fair wage for all, and a ban of favouring someone who has done something for you (as part of their job) over another. But we are all trapped in a culture that says if you don't tip you are being miserly, which is clear nonsense, so we tend to ensure a percentage more for some, but nothing for others.

[mikey4444]

Best of a very good bunch Bazile !

I've got an idea here....lets boycott La Gavroche !

My hand is up.....I pledge never to go into his restaurant and pay £212 for a good nosh ever again !

[Hopkirk]

Right, that's it. I'm never eating in his restaurant ever again.

[mikey4444]

Mamy...to all intents and purposes, it amounts to the same thing.

All he has achieved here is a 13% price rise, by the back door.

[Mamyalynne]

Not standing up for him but 'not allowed' is not the same as 'not needed'.


I'm not going back either.

[jourdain2]

I'm joining mikey in promising that I shall never darken the doors of La Gavroche.

[New Judge]

If M. Roux (and others) had any sense they would simply incorporate their “service charge” in their prices. Nobody would know what had been added and nobody would care. Sticking 13% on the bottom simply annoys people. There is no excuse for service charges anyway. Almost any provider of goods and services has to employ staff to serve their customers in one way or another. I don’t expect my local dry cleaner to add 10% on to his prices because he has had to fetch my trousers from the rack.

If he’s paying his staff less than the minimum wage he should face action from the appropriate authority.

I ate in Le Gavroche once when it was run by Roux’s father and uncle. I didn’t think too much of it, preferring (marginally) Langan’s Brasserie (part owned by Michael Caine) where I also ate just the once. The food in both these places was very much in the style of most Michelin-starred establishments – “fur coat and no knickers”. The current head chef is a former RAF cook so I don’t suppose it’s improved very much. I suppose it’s a step up for her though, cooking for Berks instead of cooking for Erks.