News

Out and about Friday 12th July

Relief remains tight as expected for the time of year, we have 82 relief chefs out working, we are still managing to get relief chefs booked with 24 so for this week.

Relaxing after work

After a long busy shift it can be hard to unwind. I would usually arrive home just before 2 and I would often find it hard to go straight to bed even though I was exhausted. Your feet would be throbbing, and your mind would still be buzzing. I found myself not sleeping until around 3am which was not ideal when working the breakfast shift. I found that I wound down better once I had put my phone down and turned off the bright screen. A book or even a bath at that time of the morning often helped me to relax and unwind.

Exercise is proven to be the most effective ways to unwind and let some steam off, a 24 hour gym is always a good idea if you struggle to sleep after a busy shift, if your not working the next day…

What tips can you give others who struggle to unwind after a day/night at work?

Factors to consider when looking for a junior chef

Factors to consider when looking for a junior chef

Salaries

Salaries can be variable dependant on level and establishment. As we move further into the season it’s really a chefs market and you need to be competitive with salaries to attract the right candidates. We try and suggest salaries to establishment and try to advise on realistic pay for the chefs to ensure the get the right candidates applying. We are currently seeing salaries of £19,000 per annum plus for commis chefs and from £21,000 per annum for chef de partie. Factors need to be taken into consideration, if some establishments are paying a lower salary this may be because they are offering free accommodation with tv and wi-fi and also full board of meals, so any money made is the chefs to keep. On the other hand, establishments offering a higher salary bracket will often charge for accommodation; the government recommends a charge of £49 per week. A lot of chefs will prefer to be paid by the hour as they will be entitled to be paid for every hour worked as some establishments offering a salary will not pay overtime.

Location

We often find that establishments that are in the more rural areas of Scotland will struggle to get chefs as opposed to those in the central belt. Many chefs do enjoy the outdoors and rural surroundings, but they will often find there is nothing to do on their days off. Central belt jobs are often more attractive as there are usually cities in the surrounding area that they can visit on days off. In the summer the highlands and islands can be a beautiful place to live and work, especially the likes of the Isle of Harris or the Isle of Skye which are usually packed with visiting tourists.

Accommodation

We always advise establishments that offering accommodation will give them the better chance of getting a chef. City centre jobs won’t offer any accommodation which is understandable but for the more rural jobs it is better to offer it. Rural jobs often struggle if they do not provide the accommodation as there isn’t always someone in the area who can commute daily. Offering accommodation will open the pool of chefs a lot more. We always say to establishments that clean; single accommodation must be provided to our relief chefs but on permanent it can be different. It can vary on each establishment; some places will offer a full cottage/ flat or staff accommodation with shared facilities. Accommodation charges depend on the establishment, a lot will offer it as part of the package or some at a small cost.

Hours per week

Full time work is considered anything at 35 hours per week and over. This is where there can be conflict as chefs can often work over their contracted time and can work for less than the national minimum wage when their salary is taken into consideration. We always suggest to establishments that overtime should be paid, or hours can be taken back in lieu. We usually see that hours worked per week are usually 45-50 hours per week but as we all know it can often be a lot more in the peak of the season. Working more than 5 days per week can be very off putting to chefs and we always suggest either a 4- or 5-day working week.

Tips

It is only fair that tips are to be shared out equally amongst both front and back of house. Tips are usually split dependant on how many hours each person works. Many establishments will give tips out at the end of each shift according to who had been working that shift, I personally think this the best way to do it. Many establishments will not offer a bonus scheme, but I had a job last week advertise an available bonus scheme which was only payable after the successful gain of a rosette. Bonus schemes can be very motivating to chefs and if it can be offered then this will always attract candidates.

Jade Porteous

Availability of Chefs 4th July 2019

Head chefs

If paying good money and in a central location such as Glasgow, Edinburgh, Stirling, Dundee, Aberdeen and Perth the availability of head chefs is ok, basically, the more central and the larger local population the better availability

What is good money for a head chef? This can vary from a small pub to a large five star or 3AA Rosette Hotel and can be anything from £16 per hour for a one-man job cooking simple food to £45,000 and upwards.

For a standard hotel job, we would suggest in the region £35,000+ with overtime paid pro rata over 45 to 48 hours as sanctioned by management.

Bonus schemes always help and can be based on getting a gross profit margin of over say 65 to 70% and it is always advisable stressing in advance how often the bonus is paid and what the exact criteria are. Other bonuses may be based on increase in sales. Keeping wages ratio down and helping to achieve certain net profits subject to maintaining quality of food, kitchen cleanliness and staff retention.

In more rural Scotland it is harder to get and retain chefs and often accommodation should be offered to attract suitable candidates.

Sous chefs

The availability of sous chefs in rural Scotland is average. Sometimes, a mature former head chef will be happy to take a step back to work alongside head chef.

In more central Scotland, there are few candidates about if paying decent money (i.e. upwards of £28,000 or £13-15 per hour) and offering good working conditions.

In rural Scotland, there can be a need to think outside of the box to retain and attract good sous chef candidates. Its is almost essential that you will need to provide accommodation in rural areas.

Chef de parties

Availability is ok in Glasgow, Edinburgh and the central belt.

In rural Scotland with accommodation there are very few candidates and you may get applicants if wages are decent, suggesting £11 to £13 per hour or a salary of between £22,000 - £25,000. The more money you can pay the better the availability there is.

Commis chefs

There are a few candidates available centrally or further afield if offering accommodation.

Pastry Chefs: this is quite a specialist position and there can be a couple of specialised pastry chefs looking, not always though.

Enclosed link to minimum wages:

www.minimum-wage.co.uk/

Availability of Relief Chefs changes, and we can advise daily. The rates of pay are £12.50 to £18.50 per hour according to the position.

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