More than 40% of the UK ’s school kitchen staff are in debt due to low pay, says UNISON

Four in 10 (41%) school kitchen staff are worried about their pay, with one in five (21%) earning the minimum wage, a new UNISON survey published today (Friday) has revealed. The survey of more than 1,200 school catering employees found that four in ten (43%) say they are weighed down with debt (other than a mortgage). A quarter (25%) of the staff responding say they’ve had to take out loans from banks, credit unions or payday loan companies simply to make ends meet. One in five (21%) have had no choice but to borrow money from friends and family. At the same time, almost half the respondents (46%) said that it’s impossible to do their jobs within their allocated hours. A third of kitchen staff (33%) regularly do between two and five hours of unpaid overtime every week to keep their school’s kitchens operational. Almost one in ten (9%) school catering staff regularly work five or more hours unpaid. Stress also has a significant impact on the catering employees, with one in four saying they feel stressed all or most of the time. One fifth (20%) of kitchen staff say they’ve had to take on a second job to try to cover their monthly outgoings. The lack of training and the feeling that kitchen staff aren’t seen as a valued part of the school team were also cited as issues that troubled them. One third (33%) say they’ve not received any training in the past year, and 35% of respondents felt excluded as a member of the school as a whole. UNISON national officer for educa...
Source: UNISON meat hygiene - Category: Food Science Authors: Tags: Article catering assistant schools UNISON Source Type: news