2024-03-11 10:01:42
“All life in hostelry We have done half a day, 12 a 12. That’s bad? No, in high season you have to take advantage.” These words from the president of the Spanish Hospitality Business Confederation, José Luis Yzuel, pronounced with complete naturalness at a business conference last September, caused indignation among workers in the sector and even made their colleagues within the employers’ association blush, according to one leader consulted. “It doesn’t help convince young people to come work in the hospitality industry,” he says.
Controversies linked to the working conditions of those who serve in bars, restaurants or hotels are like the Guadiana, they appear and disappear periodically and without warning. The last person in charge of bringing them afloat has been the second vice president of the Government, Yolanda Diaz, who criticized the opening of stores until one in the morning, later clarifying that he was referring to the risk that these long and untimely working hours pose to the health of workers.
This controversy was fueled by the president of the Community of Madrid, Isabel Diaz Ayuso, stating that being able to have dinner at one in the morning is synonymous with “freedom.” It is not the first time that the Madrid president has gotten into a media ‘puddle’ linked to the hospitality industry. She already outraged some employees in the sector (and outside it) when her government sponsored a tourist advertisement in which she urged clients to leave good wishes. bribes in the bars to make “those small dreams of those who serve us every day possible.” A few weeks before its publication, the Madrid president had opposed the increase in the minimum wage proposed by the Government.
Young people are not interested, those who can endure the most are single mothers or workers with dependent family members
Neither the forms nor the content help convince young people (or not so young) to look for a professional future in the hospitality industry. Due to hours and salary, this is one of the worst unions to work in. According to the INE labor costs survey, the most up-to-date salary reference of this organization, among the 18 sectors of activity analyzed, the hospitality industry is the one that pays the worst on average. Your workers get paid 1.368,8 euros gross per month, according to the latest data from the third quarter of 2023. The minimum wage this year is 1,323 euros gross, in 12 payments. A waiter, dishwasher or cook earns 30% less than a factory worker. construction37% less than a maestro or 63% less than an employee of the bank.
Two out of three companies fail an inspection
Low salaries, added to part-time work and Saturdays, Sundays and holidays as ordinary days, are the perfect cocktail to scare away staff to other sectors, according to the unions. “There is a lack of personnel because people do not want to work in those conditions. Whoever has an alternative leaves the hospitality industry. To the youths They are not interested, those who endure the most are single mothers or workers with dependent family members. Even commerce, which also does not have the best hours, is more regulated and you know that you are leaving at nine at night at the latest,” says the head of hospitality at UGT of Catalonia, Jesus Lodeiro.
The quality of employment remains very precarious and there is a lot of fraud
“The quality of employment remains very precarious. It is a sector with a lot of fraud. That waiter the minister talks about who works until one in the morning probably doesn’t get paid. nighttime bonus”says the head of hospitality at CCOO of Catalonia, Paco Galván. According to the Catalan agreement, you should charge a additional 25% above ordinary hours, all those who work between 10 at night and six in the morning.
The volume of irregularities that the Labor Inspection detects when visiting a bar, hotel or restaurant is large. According to data provided by the Labor Department of the Generalitat, two out of every three hospitality companies investigated do not pass an inspection related to salaries or hours. In the 2022-2023 academic year, the labor police carried out a total of 2,204 actions regarding working time or overtime. In these violations, a total of 1,485 were detected, which in turn translated into sanctions worth a total of 1.6 million euros. To these must then be added the payment of Social Security contributions and arrears to employees.
Payments ‘in B’ and pressures
Jordi (not his fictitious name to preserve his anonymity) has been working in one of the most prestigious restaurants in Barcelona for more than two decades. And he explains that it is not only in small businesses that there are traps. “If a waiter makes a mistake with the order and orders an extra dish, the boss deducts it from the payroll,” he explains. A totally illegal practice, but common, according to what he says, to keep staff tense. “They swallow either because they don’t know it’s illegal or because it costs them to pay and continue working. In tips, a waiter can earn 500 euros a month,” he says. Money usually not declared.
Los payments ‘in B’ They are another of the common frauds in the sector, according to the different sources consulted. That is, people with a work contract of four hours a day, but who end up working eight, 10 or 12 and collecting that excess work day in cash, without declaring or contributing. What once they go on unemployment and process the benefit is noticeable (very much) in the amount, as more than one noticed during the pandemic and its erts. Another ‘trap’ is having staff in professional categories below those they should. For example, a chef as a kitchen assistant. And the difference in salary or not pay it or do it ‘in B’.
Common frauds, but ones that cost a lot for workers to report. “It’s a small world in which everyone knows each other and if they label you as problematic it may be difficult for you to find work again,” says Galván. “Then there are workers who come to do the season and want to earn the most money possible in the shortest time. And if it is at the cost of assuming the traps of businessmen… then they assume it,” adds Lodeiro.
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