What a great idea
Queenstown’s Pig and Whistle pub will be opening on Labour Day but its 10 workers will not be getting paid statutory holiday time-and-a-half rates.
In fact, they will not be getting paid at all. Instead, staff will take control of the pub for the day, splitting everything in the till after expenses have been paid.
Owner Barry Ellis has offered the same deal to staff at Craft Bar in Dunedin, in a move to circumvent the restrictions of the Holidays Act.
“We would normally close on the day and we thought let’s do something a little bit novel and let them find how it is to run their own business.” …
The staff will have to cover the rent, alleviating Mr Ellis of one expense if he had closed, but he said the real benefit would be strengthening the relationship between staff and managers.
Pig and Whistle duty manager Daragh Cantwell said he was sceptical when the idea was first mooted, realising it would mean waiving wages for the day, but then he had a look at the trading figures supplied by Mr Ellis. “It depends on the day but we think we’ve got a really good chance of doing well.”
He declined to speculate on what riches might be on offer, but said many patrons had already indicated they would be in on Labour Day to prop up the bar.
Seven front-of-house staff and three chefs had democratically planned the menu, entertainment and opening hours, and would evenly split any profit based on how many hours they worked.
I hope they report afterwards, how well it went.