- Brewdog’s new workers will earn legal minimum wage instead of living wage
Brewery and pub chain BrewDog is facing a challenge from its employees after announcing it will be hiring new staff on the legal minimum wage instead of the higher voluntary rate.
The Unite union criticised the move as ‘outrageous’, especially coming amid the continuing cost-of-living crisis.
From this month, Brewdog’s new workers will be hired on the legal minimum wage of £10.42 an hour for those aged 23 and over, which is less than the voluntary so-called real living wage of £10.90 that existing staff get.
Pay for workers outside London will increase to £11.44 an hour from April, in line with the new legal minimum, below the new real living wage of £12 an hour that accredited employers pledge to pay from April.
It comes just months after CEO James Watt, 40, was pictured partying in the Maldives with his girlfriend Made in Chelsea star Georgia Toffolo, 29.
The business tycoon also shared a post on LinkedIn last week announcing a movie is in the works about the Scottish beer brand, with an image of a screenplay titled ‘Underdogs: The Rise of Brewdog’ on his desk.
BrewDog said in its letter to staff: ‘Even with this strong performance over Christmas, as a wider business there is no hiding from the fact that in 2023 we made a trading loss, and despite many efforts in the past 12 months to reduce our spending we still need to find more ways to get this business back to profitability and the financial stability that is needed.
‘Inevitably, this does mean making some hard decisions.’
Unite’s lead organiser for hospitality Bryan Simpson said: ‘BrewDog have been paying the real living wage since 2015. To withdraw it now, during the most acute cost-of-living crisis in a generation is outrageous.
‘We are already working with our BrewDog members across the country to collectively challenge this awful decision and force the senior management of the company to do the right thing by the workers who have made them millions.’
The letter to staff added that BrewDog has always been ‘committed to do the best’ it can for employees, from abolishing zero-hours contracts, having a profit share scheme, and other benefits.
CEO James Watt attracted headlines in June 2021, when almost 300 former and current employees signed a letter accusing him of creating a toxic fear culture at BrewDog.
The letter stated that a ‘significant number’ of former staff had ‘suffered mental illness’ as a result of working at Brewdog.
At the time, the CEO responded: ‘I want to be very candid about some mistakes that I have made that have detrimentally impacted our culture.
‘In the hard and fast environment of high growth, I have all too often neglected many important people elements of our business.
‘Furthermore, despite surviving C-19 due to a phenomenal effort from our amazing team I had to make some very hard decisions to ensure our survival and these decisions have taken a considerable human toll on our business and had a negative impact.
‘Additionally, some PR mistakes that I have made in our past have also had a detrimental impact on culture. I can promise that I will not make these mistakes again.’
In January 2022, Watt faced further accusations of inappropriate behaviour and abuse of power in the workplace when over 15 ex-staff spoke out about his conduct on the BBC’s Disclosure programme.
A string of misconduct accusations were included in the programme, including that he kissed an intoxicated customer on a roof terrace bar, and took women on late night private brewery tours, which left staff feeling uncomfortable.
Mr Watt denies all the allegations.
The tycoon has attracted headlines in recent months after embarking on a romance with girlfriend Miss Toffolo.
The couple shared holiday snaps from the Maldives at the end of November. Miss Toffolo – known by friends as Toff – was snapped by Watt wearing his BrewDog ‘Hazy Jane’ shirt as they explored the islands together.
The business magnate posted a holiday update to LinkedIn, writing: ‘Out of office on.’
Watt – who is worth an astonishing £262million – is known on the professional networking platform for his posts about the realities of starting a business.
But he has also paid heavy dues
In November 2022, Watt was awarded £600,000 after he was scammed out of thousands of pounds by a former lover who was secretly orchestrating an online trolling campaign.
The beer tycoon, from Aberdeen, told how he was ‘harassed, defrauded and defamed’ by former girlfriend Emili Ziem, 29, in a ‘vicious’ smear attack.
Ziem conned Mr Watt, 40, out of more than £100,000 by claiming she could help identify culprits who were falsely accusing the businessman of harassing women and other criminal matters.
In reality, she was operating a fake social media profile spreading many of the lies.
Following a hearing at the Court of Session, Ziem has been ordered by judge Lord Brailsford to pay back the sum, plus half a million pounds in damages and expenses.
In a post on his LinkedIn profile yesterday, Mr Watt said: ‘For the past two years I have been the subject of a vicious and relentless campaign of abuse, often by troll accounts posting and sharing appalling lies about me (often direct to family and friends) – lies that were then amplified all over the internet.
‘It has taken a significant personal toll and been a massive distraction. I needed to do all I could to bring the campaign to an end.
‘I want to say I didn’t go to court lightly, but I have been harassed, defrauded and defamed, and it has deeply affected me, my family and my business. I had no choice.’
https://www.dailymail.co.uk/articles.rss
Stewart Carr
