WORKERS IN PIZZA restaurant restaurant Milano face the same admin fee that has been creating difficulties in the UK.

Pizza Express, the UK-based company that operates Milano branches across Ireland, is under pressure to stop taking an 8% admin charge on tips paid to service staff that are paid by credit card.

It has been reported that campaigners are gathering today at the British Museum branch of Pizza Express in London to protest against the charge.

The company has faced accusations by Unite union who claim that it has benefited financially from the charge.

Pizza Express has said that the money taken from the tips is used to manage a ‘Tronc’ system that is in place and that it does not make a profit on it.

In a statement, Dave Turnbull, Unite officer for the food and drink sector, said, “Whether you use a tronc system or not, the fact of the matter is that Pizza Express charges staff to process tips while many other restaurants don’t.”

The company's policy on tips Pizza Express Pizza Express

In response to the allegations, a spokesperson for PizzaExpress has said, “The allegations made by Unite are incorrect. All tips, very rightly, go to the people that deserve them – our valued restaurant team members.”

“With respect to tips made by electronic cards, we choose to operate a Tronc system, which is used by many in the industry.

All cash tips go straight to the waiters who’ve earned them.  It is then their responsibility to ensure that they declare any earnings they’ve made through cash tips to HM Revenue and Customs (HMRC) so they can be appropriately taxed.

The spokesperson went on to say that this Tronc system is chaired by a ‘Troncmaster’ and that it divides tips up between the front- and back-of-house staff, something that accounts for the additional cost.

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