The Citizen reports that a wave of panic has engulfed the workforce of several Mugg & Bean restaurants, amid investigations into working conditions at the franchise chain and subsequent threats by bosses to lay employees off.
The friction between the workers and the restaurant chain now also threatens to put them on a collision course with organised labour, with unions threatening to march on the branches. It recently emerged that the labour practices of several franchisees were in conflict with regulations, such as the national minimum wage and the conditions laid out by the bargaining council. Workers now fear retrenchment and complain they are being victimised and accused of “ratting out to the papers” on their plight. Waitrons and other staff members working at various M&B outlets spoke to The Citizen anonymously in a series of interviews in which they claimed managers were threatening to retrench workers following a previous article, which revealed that workers were not earning a salary and had to survive on tips and a 3% sales commission. This, as well as the widespread practice of charging a daily upfront breakage fee of up to R25, form the subject of the investigations being conducted by the M&B and the council. While M&B has yet to provide official answers to the latest questions posed by The Citizen, the company’s national labour audit is apparently expected to be complete in the next two weeks.
- Read the full original of Simnikiwe Hlatshaneni’s report on the above at The Citizen
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