Wetherspoon staff call for bank holiday pay boost

As many as 4,000 Wetherspoon have backed the call, planned by Organise, a worker-driven network that aims to provide workers with a platform to air grievances.

The Times​ reports​​ the employees have threatened to print beer mats, in a direct plea to chairman Tim Martin.

One Wetherspoon worker who did not want to be named said: “So many other pubs pay their staff double pay or time and a half for working bank holidays.

"We are required to work bank holidays, which are often the worst days of the year, with many difficult customers. Any disputes that happen bar and floor staff have to deal with.”

Organise said it planned to drive the message home to Martin 'in the style he knows best: with beer mats delivering the petition to the heart of his business'.

It added: “It’s a bold idea and it will cost quite a bit. But if thousands of us chip in to power this action, together we can force Tim Martin to confront the fact his staff don’t get paid as much as other pub workers on bank holidays.”

Wetherspoon said: “We review our pay and benefits package for employees on a regular basis — for example, we have recently extended the offer of free food to all pub employees while working, and we believe the overall package is competitive.

"In 2019 the company paid £46 million in bonuses and free shares to employees, of which 83 per cent was paid to employees who worked in pubs.”

It added that staff received double time on Christmas Day and 28 days’ paid holiday a year.