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RTÉ Brainstorm – Tip not included: how some restaurants exploit their staff

Whitaker Institute member Dr Deirdre Curran, of the Work, Organizations and Society cluster, has a new article on RTÉ Brainstorm. The piece explores research undertaken by Dr Curran which highlights the exploitation hospitality workers face.

 

Tip not included: how some restaurants exploit their staff

76% of hospitality workers surveyed said they experienced verbal abuse

                     76% of hospitality workers surveyed said they experienced verbal abuse

Opinion: many in the sector would do well to extend the hospitality they claim to offer customers to their own employeesYou may have seen coverage in the media recently of a new bill proposing to make it illegal for employer to withhold tips from staff. You may indeed question the need for such a bill. Surely tips offered by customers as a gesture of appreciation for services rendered go to their intended recipient? It seems not

I have spent over 20 years teaching employment relations to thousands of students at NUI Galway. We study the nature of the relationship between workers and employers, a relationship which many of my charges are familiar with from experience. We explore problems and challenges that arise in the relationship and how they can be addressed. A starting premise of my teaching is that the employment relationship is an imbalanced power relationship. While that is a fact and not necessarily a problem, there are times when workers need to protect themselves from abuses of such power. Continue reading…