Tomahawk steakhouse to employees: loan us 10% of your wages or face the sack

[hitmouse]

Taking fire and rehire to new heights:

Tomahawk Steakhouse staff told 'loan firm 10% or they could face sack'

The GMB Union says employees say they were told to sign a loan agreement or face possible dismissal.

www.bbc.co.uk

A restaurant chain has asked furloughed employees to loan the firm part of their wages or possibly face the sack, a union claims.
Tomahawk Steakhouse wants staff to sign an agreement to lend 10% of their pay to cover pension and national insurance contributions, the GMB Union says.
Staff who refuse have been told their "suitability for the role will have to be reviewed", it is claimed.
Tomahawk has denied the claim staff were told they might lose their job.
In a letter to staff seen by the BBC, Tomahawk, which has restaurants in Yorkshire and the north east of England and recently opened a branch in London, says it has a "short-term cash flow issue and it requires your help and support".
It says that as it must make the National Insurance and pension payments itself the "only viable alternative is to ask for your agreement to a loan arrangement".

 

[StoneRoad]

Shitehawks, more like.

Another place I'm not going to patronise.

 

[NoXion]

Asking your employees to loan you money is never a good look, even without the implied threat of being sacked for refusing to do so. Why can't they take out a loan from a fucking bank? That's what they're for!

Maybe the employees should demand 250% interest, upfront.

 

[Edie]

Maybe it’s that or go bust?

 

[NoXion]

Maybe it’s that or go bust?

In a proper employer-employee relationship, I really do strongly feel that the flow of cash should be a strictly one-way affair. The employee is after all already giving up labour in exchange for a wage. Asking for a loan on top of that would seem to be an attempt at short-circuiting this arrangement.

 

[MickiQ]

This got mentioned on the "Companies to Avoid when the Dust settles" Thread.
There is no excuse for this, it is almost certainly illegal and it is just sheer extortion. If they're asking for money to pay their employer NI and pension contributions (not employee contribution those are seperate things) which is a legal obligation on the company then how is it different from demanding the staff take a pay cut or lend money to fund the rent or the boss's company car?
If they can't get an advance from the bank (and the 13 year old currently posing as the Chancellor of the Exchequer has loads of whizzy schemes to help with this) then that suggests they're on the last legs and anyone daft enough to agree to this will probably never see their money again and get the boot as well.

 

[Edie]

In a proper employer-employee relationship, I really do strongly feel that the flow of cash should be a strictly one-way affair. The employee is after all already giving up labour in exchange for a wage. Asking for a loan on top of that would seem to be an attempt at short-circuiting this arrangement.

You’d kinda expect some shares in return, or a move to a coop type structure, I agree.

 

[NoXion]

You’d kinda expect some shares in return, or a move to a coop type structure, I agree.

At which point you should no longer be an employee, but rather a partner. But I hazard a guess that Tomahawk aren't restructuring like that.

 

[cupid_stunt]

Maybe it’s that or go bust?

If they are that near to going bust, I wouldn't loan them a penny.

Some years ago I worked for Johnson Press, I thought their business plan was little more than a pyramid scheme, but their share price was doing well at over £5 a pop & they were pushing staff to invest at a discount, many did, I didn't.

Years after I left the whole house of cards collapsed totally, that share price slowly dropped over those years, and many I knew thought it would bounce back & didn't cut & run, limiting what they could lose.

The share price finally settled at about 2p, before they went into administration, and those staff shares became totally worthless, not even a 1p in the pound.

 

[Edie]

If they are that near to going bust, I wouldn't loan them a penny.

This is true. My ex always said he’d never borrow to meet the payroll cos at that stage you just declare out. Wth do I know tho I work for the NHS

 

[Duncan2]

Maybe it’s that or go bust?

Either you can afford to employ people or you can't.Looks a lot like Tomahawk can't.

 

[Edie]

Either you can afford to employ people or you can't.Looks a lot like Tomahawk can't.

Sadly looks that way.

 

[weltweit]

Quite possible they will have already borrowed from the pension fund, as I believe directors can. But it does not bode well for the health of the company, especially as already mentioned loans and even grants are relatively easy to come by at this moment.

 

[Johnny Doe]

A major construction/utilities company I do some work for had 10% off everyone for the month of August last year, 20% of higher paid staff. I had a phone call saying my day rate was being cut by 20% for any days charged in August, but they didn't actually do it, through incompetence I believe, rather than any change of plan

 

[moochedit]

Wow. When i saw the title i assumed it was in america. This can't be legal surely?

 

[MickiQ]

Quite possible they will have already borrowed from the pension fund, as I believe directors can. But it does not bode well for the health of the company, especially as already mentioned loans and even grants are relatively easy to come by at this moment.

They can't borrow from the pension fund that's definitely illegal what they can do is defer payments into it IF the pension fund is able to meet certain funding criteria, the fact that they are asking the staff to lend them money to pay into the pension fund implies pretty strongly it doesn't. (Tends to only be big companies with dedicated pension funds anyway)

 

[Johnny Doe]

Wow. When i saw the title i assumed it was in america. This can't be legal surely?

I suspect it's legal in as much as the staff have 'volunteered' in writing.

Some of the people at my clients who were told that they were volunteering to donate 10% of their August salary were in the middle of being made redundant too

 

[Edie]

I suspect it's legal in as much as the staff have 'volunteered' in writing.

Some of the people at my clients who were told that they were volunteering to donate 10% of their August salary were in the middle of being made redundant too

Fuck that

 

[mauvais]

If it is legal, it seems like a loophole. If they were actually working, this scheme would be illegal as soon as it took them under minimum wage. Furlough payments don't have to meet NMW.

 

[weltweit]

They can't borrow from the pension fund that's definitely illegal what they can do is defer payments into it IF the pension fund is able to meet certain funding criteria, the fact that they are asking the staff to lend them money to pay into the pension fund implies pretty strongly it doesn't. (Tends to only be big companies with dedicated pension funds anyway)

Thanks for the correction, I obviously misunderstood what I read (can't remember where).

 

[Johnny Doe]

Fuck that

The bizarre thing was that the contracts most of these people worked on, were cost reimbursable, so the contractor cost the individuals the deduction and the fee they would of applied from the company. Lose lose all round

 

[Serge Forward]

"Volunteer" to "lend" money or they threaten to fire you is duress (and extortion). They'd have to find some massive fucking loopholes for that to be legal... then again, this is the UK in 2021 so unless the workers kick off, the company will get away with it.

 

[rubbershoes]

Either you can afford to employ people or you can't.Looks a lot like Tomahawk can't.

Tbf many businesses still have their fixed costs for premises etc but may be getting no income at all.
Tomohawk are still shits though

 

[Johnny Doe]

A quick Google suggests the owner is an entrepreneur with multiple businesses and bizarrely they were planning on opening more restaurants as recently as September 2020. Who on earth would advise that at the moment ?

 

[mauvais]

A quick Google suggests the owner is an entrepreneur with multiple businesses and bizarrely they were planning on opening more restaurants as recently as September 2020. Who on earth would advise that at the moment ?

Quite a few people seem to be at this. The restaurants and bar industry seems a bit weird to me as a casual observer - lots of it around here appears built on the never-never and is often connected to something else, like media or marketing activities, with lots of different companies and insolvencies to match. I know there's the stereotype of crime-linked venues but I wonder more generally how much of it is conventional business and how much is shall we say legally dubious.

 

[Johnny Doe]

Quite a few people seem to be at this. The restaurants and bar industry seems a bit weird to me as a casual observer - lots of it around here appears built on the never-never and is often connected to something else, like media or marketing activities, with lots of different companies and insolvencies to match. I know there's the stereotype of crime-linked venues but I wonder more generally how much of it is conventional business and how much is shall we say legally dubious.

I think there's a lot of 'fail-quick' activity where if a location doesn't work, a company is busted and they move on, but that still doesn't explain expansion plans in the current situation

 

[mauvais]

I think there's a lot of 'fail-quick' activity where if a location doesn't work, a company is busted and they move on, but that still doesn't explain expansion plans in the current situation

If you predict that Covid will be essentially over by some short-to-medium term date, can afford the capital to get there, and can agree a good deal on some currently depressed commercial property, then maybe it does make some sense I guess.

 

[Johnny Doe]

If you predict that Covid will be essentially over by some short-to-medium term date, can afford the capital to get there, and can agree a good deal on some currently depressed commercial property, then maybe it does make some sense I guess.

I guess that's a point.

 

[SpookyFrank]

Maybe it’s that or go bust?

Or borrow money properly like a legitimate business.

One day there'll be a thing so shit even you won't defend it. Not today though it seems.

 

[Johnny Doe]

It seems they opened one in Hoxton in December. And in February they are asking staff to lend them money. Weird.