Students slave away for free at restaurants
Photo: Simon Roel
»Now I've had my encounter with the dark side of the restaurant industry,« says Lawrence, a Canadian student.
Week long trial-periods with hard work, no pay and no contract. Any volunteers? Apparently a lot of international students, who fall victim to restaurants benefiting from a grey-zone of little regulation and no information.
Lawrence Chun-Yu Lai, for example, is a Canadian student at the University of Copenhagen's Centre for Africa Studies.
He was happy when he finally got a job as a waiter in Indian restaurant Bindia. But after a week of hard work, he found out that the restaurant did not intend to offer him the contract he had been promised.
Didn't mention the pay
Instead, the deputy manager Ugne Pranskute brushed him off with a statement implying that he didn't quite fill the order.
»When I called to ask about my schedule, Ugne told me that I wasn't good enough and that I was to be let go,« he says.
When requesting to get paid for the work he had already done, Ugne simply changed the topic, Lawrence says.
Hard to get a job
At the time of hiring, Lawrence was told that the so-called »training period« would last only until he »was ready.«
»They told me that I would have to go through a training period with no salary, but that I was guaranteed to get the job,« Lawrence says.
»Of course, I thought it was a bit shady, but it is so hard to get a job in Copenhagen, so I accepted,« he explains to the University Post.
»Trials are trials«
The University Post turned up at the restaurant to confront the deputy manager with Lawrence's story.
»We were looking for a better person - that's it. We found another person who already has the experience. Trials are trials,« Ugne Pranskute said to the University Post.
She confirmed that Lawrence was »not yet« given a contract and that he worked during his trial, but added that »it is relative what it means to work a lot.«
»I'm from another country, I don't know how it is here,« she said, referring to her native Lithuania.
Not a unique case
Asked if it is normal practice for the restaurant to let people work during a training period without subsequently offering them a contract, Ugne replied that it has happened »twice or so.«
Ugne herself has worked at the restaurant since November.
»We offered him a position in the take-away shop at some point, but he said no, no, no,« she said, adding that »we didn't think that this was the right place for him.«
She also mentioned that she has several friends who worked in restaurants around Copenhagen without being paid properly. She brought attention to one restaurant in particular, the name of which the University Post is withholding for the time being.
Lithuanian student Donatas, a former waiter at the unnamed restaurant, confirms Ugne's story. He stopped working there in October, but still hasn't received salary for his last days of work.
Offered compensation
Meantime, Lawrence, the Canadian student who was dismissed without salary, has been offered compensation for his week's trial-period.
The owner of Bindia restaurant has contacted the University Post, explaining that in Lawrence's case, it is all based on a misunderstanding.
Read the owner's version of the story here
Know of other examples?
»Now I've had my encounter with the dark side of the restaurant industry,« Lawrence says.
He considers the outcome »a victory for the little guy,« but adds that he is not sure he would have got his money had he not contacted the University Post.
Heard of other students with bad experiences? Let us know by writing an e-mail or commenting in the field below.
To learn about working conditions in Denmark, see the website of trade union 3F
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4 comments
As the main victim of the incident, I would like to clarify few points in regarding to the comments posted.
1. According to Jacob, I was hired and chose to decline. I was terminated! Ugne, the deputy manager (a point I will come back later) told me that I am not good enough, and that I was to be let go, while they try someone else. Throughout the week, I was neither offered a contract, nor salary. In fact, I approached Ugne on numerous of occasions on the subject of payment. She always referred to the “when I’m ready” statement which Ms. Grinsberg quoted in the article. She did however, said, "We can offer you a position at our take-away shop when there's opening in the future". Which I believe that she is merely trying to "smooth things out". Furthermore, she did not mention anything in regard of payment for the week I've worked in Bindia, which further make me think I was used and shoved away afterwards.
2. My “trial” period is not one day, as Jacob had said, but “when I am ready”, according to Ugne. At my first day, Amer did say, “we are aiming for at the end of the week”. And later on, said, “you are hired 100%, you don’t need to show me anything else”. But sadly, this is not the case.
3. Amer and I agreed that I did not contact Amer after I was terminated, which I should have since he is the owner. But Ugne said explicitly on the phone "if you don't believe me, you can call Amer". This had led me to believe the whole termination process is under Amer's consent. Would an ordinary waitress dare to deliver the message of termination of another employee without the consent of the employer?
4. This brings me to my next point. At one point of my week-long "employment", she said that she is responsible for making shift schedules for the employees, and be responsible for the "floor". Under normal circumstance, would an "ordinary waitress" be responsible for all that? This leaves me to think that Ugne is not just an "ordinary waitress", but a deputy with power.
5. Throughout the duration of my "employment" at Bindia, I never had the impression that I already exist in the salary database. Amer only contacted me for my work schedule AFTER Ms. Grinsberg from the University Post approached him/Bindia.
6. I would like to clarify here that the misunderstanding that Amer and I agreed upon is the FACT that I did not contact him directly after my termination. The payment of the week was not sorted out AFTER I had contacted the University Post.
On a side note, I am extremely grateful, to Michael Young, for publishing the story, and Elisabeth Ginsberg, for presenting both mine, and Amer/Bindia's perspective. I have nothing to hide. The fact that I was terminated without offer of payment is the fact!
Lawrence had a working period in Bindia at a total of 22,00 hours. He already exists in our salary database (as all other employees) and will get paid by the end of the month (as all other employees).
Lawrence was hired after 1 day of "trial" (when he was NOT working, only observing). This has also been confirmed to him on e-mail, as well as to the University Post, who chose to ignore this fact.
Ugne is not a deputy manager, just an ordinary waitress (who is taking care of training new staff). We believed that Lawrence knew whom to contact regarding his job situation with us, which was sadly not the matter of fact.
Lawrence contacted neither owner Amer Suleman, nor the Bindia office in any way, prior to contacting University Post. Had he done that, this confusion would have never escalated.
After speaking to owner Amer Suleman, Lawrence admitted to understanding the fact, that this case is based on misunderstandings and miscommunication. Lawrence was in fact hired, but chose to decline, which we of course respect. All this was explained to him on the phone, and even by mail, which he confirmed.
After having spoken to owner Amer Suleman, Lawrence contacted author Elisabeth Ginsberg with an updated status on the situation. However, Elisabeth replied that it was now an official story, and were up to the editor-in-chief, whether or not it would be published.
Amer Suleman even called Elisabeth Ginsberg, and invited her to contact ANY of our employees for an interview about salary, trial periods, etc. None of our employees was contacted, since 'the story' was already in the bag.
Lawrence and Amer Suleman met by chance in the UdlændingeService office a couple of days prior to posting this article, and there were no bad blood, AS THE MISCOMMUNICATIONS ON WHICH THIS ARTICLE IS BASED WERE ALREADY SORTED OUT.
To the University Post: It is a very good (and relevant) subject that you want to bring up, but it's sad when getting 'the story' becomes more relevant than what actually happened. It's even more sad, when people that call themselves journalists, gets proof from both sides that demolishes the story, and then still chooses to run it.
To whoever read this article: Go to any of our shops, and do what the reporter didn't: ask the staff about salary politics and trial shifts and so on. You will realize that Lawrence's case is caused only by misunderstandings and lack of communication.
With the best regards,
Jacob Langhorn
Bindia Administration
Dear Jacob Langhorn, Bindia
Lawrence went through an unpaid trial period at the Bindia restaurant. He was subsequently offered pay after the restaurant was questioned by the University Post.
Ugne clearly ACTED as a deputy to the manager in that she fired Lawrence: This has not been contradicted by the restaurant in any of the e-mails or phone conversations prior to the publishing of this article.
That Ugne has no capacity to fire Lawrence, which you write, and restaurant owner Amer Suleman has communicated to us, is clearly contradicted by what actually happened: Lawrence was let go by Ugne, who he considered his superior. The idea that Lawrence could, on hearing that he was to go, have contacted HER boss, is irrelevant even if it was true. Surely his boss should have contacted him if he was not, after all, to be let go, or if the restaurant needed to pay him?
We judged therefore, that the ‘Ugne is not Lawrence’s boss’ claim, was either irrelevant to the case, or not credible.
We have taken all Bindia’s communication with us into account before publishing this story. However, your communication proves, rather than disproves, that Lawrence originally was not paid for his trial period. I have reviewed the e-mail correspondence, and our reporter has reviewed the recordings of the interview at the restaurant and the phone call recordings, before I allowed the article to run.
Bindia may not be the only place, where trials-for-free take place. But my judgement is, that we are ethically obligated to name Bindia as the restaurant where this practice did take place, if we have reasonable proof that it did in fact take place, which we have.
Mike Young
Editor
University Post
Facts
If a company is covered by a collective agreement (a contract between employer and unions), it cannot have people work during a training period without offering them pay.
If a company is not covered by a collective agreement, unpaid training periods are legal as long as the terms and the duration of the training period are made clear.
Source: Horesta, the Danish association of the hotel, restaurant and tourism industry
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