'You can tell a lot about a person by how they treat hospitality' - My experiences of being a hospitality worker

When I went over to him, he whispered, ‘I wanted you to come here. I’ve been watching you all night.’ Then he asked for my number and my name to which he purred and said was sexy. My manager laughed and called into the kitchen that I had a ‘boyfriend’, then a punter who also witnessed it, said that if he had the chance, he would deliver me ‘the night of my life.’ Following this, another punter tried to trick me into going to his room, asked me out for dinner, and then paid a £40 tip for me, which my manager kept for himself.

This is my reality working in hospitality. Over six years I have experienced underpayment of minimum wage, tip theft, less than minimum break lengths, overworking required hours, harassment, I have been silenced when reporting illegal matters, bullied and sexualised.

Here are Employee’s rights according to GOV.UK:

- Getting National Minimum Wage.

- Protection against unlawful deductions from wages.

- The statutory minimum level of paid holiday.

- The statutory minimum length of rest breaks.

- To work no more than 48 hours on average per week or to opt out of this right if they choose.

- Protection against unlawful discrimination.

- Protection for ‘whistle-blowers’ who report wrongdoing in the workplace.

- Not to be treated less favourable if they work part-time.

In a report from the ARC funded project Young Hospitality Workers in their Own Words: Working Conditions, Labouring Practices and Experiences of Hospitality Labour, Dr Farrugia, the lead investigator concluded that ‘the now well reported problems in hospitality such as wage theft are not exceptional or examples of bad apples, but the industry norm.’ But does it have to be like this?

We have all worked in or benefited from hospitality, and according to iNews, ‘the hospitality industry accounts for nearly 10% of the UK workforce and is by far the largest employer of young people.’

In the study, Service With(out) a Smile, 84% of hospitality workers reported increased stress which was believed to be a direct result of their job. Consequentially, 45% of participants said they would not recommend working in hospitality.

Additionally, research from RSPH found that:

- Around ¼ of hospitality staff have reported seeking psychological support or medication.

- 62% do not think hospitality takes care if its workers.

- 74% have experienced verbal abuse from a customer.

- Only 10% had received training to support health and well-being, or access to mentoring health champions or mental health first aiders.

The Guardian reported that ‘studies have also found that hospitality workers suffer among the highest rates of sexual harrassment of any industry because they must tolerate inappropriate customer behaviour in return for essential tips.’

I remember three men in a pub said to my colleague that she wouldn’t receive as many tips as I would because she hadn’t ‘put any effort in’ and gestured to her face. This colleague laughed it off, then I found her crouched behind the bar in tears. Dr Julia Coffey from the ARC project said that ‘hospitality work is often degrading, and the behaviour of customers and managers threatens workers’ personal dignity and at times their safety. As well as being poorly and often illegally paid, hospitality workers report high levels of disrespect and abuse. Customers expect to be treated with respect, or to be shown deference, but respect is rarely afforded to the hospitality worker.’

I have endured many people who mistreat hospitality workers under the slightly sinister motto that ‘the customer is always right’. Of course, as in most work environments, there is an expectation to bend to the customers wishes, but surely, it’s not right for somebodies’ safety and well-being to be on the line.

Many hospitality workers hope for change, official boundaries, safeguarding and crucially, a management that protects them, yet many places seem, at their core, to not care about their staff. So, broadly, it is up to the workers to protect themselves. But as a customer, from my experience being a waitress and a bar tender, here are the things that I will never do:

- Make tips dependent on appearance.

- Expect them to chat with me consistently.

- Touch them.

- Try out my inner comedian on them.

- Ask personal questions.

- Blame them for something that isn’t their fault or in their control, such as the food quality or prices.

- Forget that they are human beings, working on minimum wage, that have bigger lives and problems.

- Treat them like they are beneath me.

- Take out my anger from my personal life on them.

- Expect them to be a counsellor.

- Try and humiliate them/ use them to impress the people I’m with.

- Raise my voice.

I have had memorable and wonderful interactions with customers, simply because they see me as their equal. There is a common belief that hospitality workers are under intelligent and underqualified and therefore are treated as such, when most of us are just like you, trying to start careers and make a living. My mum has always advised me that ‘you can tell a lot about a person by how they treat hospitality.’ So, the next time you speak to a hospitality worker, instead of expecting them to, give them a reason to serve you with a smile.