Your client’s concerns likely stem from the fact that popular restaurant chain Wahaca recently found themselves in the public eye over suggestions they would deduct money from a waiter’s salary following a ‘dine and dash’ situation. Whilst Wahaca ultimately declared they would only exercise this contractual right in extreme circumstances, your client should note that doing so would not necessarily be unlawful.
Your client would be free to deduct money from a waiter’s salary in this situation, providing they have the individual’s prior written consent. For this reason, most employers include mention of this within their contracts of employment or employee handbooks. This practice is especially common in the service industry and as long as employees have agreed to this then your client may go ahead and deduct the cost of an unpaid meal from the responsible waiter’s salary.
Employees may naturally be unhappy with the prospect of money being taken from their wages and could look to dispute this with your client. Despite having the required consent your client will still need to ensure this provision is applied lawfully. Therefore, your client should consider how they will assess whether an employee was truly complicit in a ‘dine and dash’ situation, as certain incidents may be beyond their control. Some employees may be able to build a case against your client if they can prove their involvement was minimal, which means any wage deductions should be considered on a case by case basis.
Deductions which relate to misconduct will be excluded from National Minimum Wage (NMW) obligations. This means it will be acceptable for these deductions to take employees’ salaries below NMW limits when they are liable and your client will avoid potential punitive action from HM Revenue and Customs when doing so. However, your client may want to think about how deductions from salaries will impact employees financially and consider spreading particularly significant costs across several pay periods to reduce any unnecessary financial impact.
Ultimately, your client may rest assured that deducting money from waiters’ salaries when staff runs out on the bill is lawful, providing they have the appropriate contractual provisions in place. However, it may be wise to review any existing contracts to ensure they remain fit for purpose and consider amending certain wording where necessary to give them greater protection in the future.
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