UNITE is calling on the Aqua Restaurants Group to stop exploiting staff following reports that they are being forced to “pay to work.”

Staff at Aqua Italia in Bristol told the union that, after every shift, they were required to hand over 3 per cent of their total table sales to the management, either from tips or from their own pockets if they had failed to make enough from customers.

A copy of the restaurant’s employment contract states: “A requirement of this method is that 3 per cent of your key fob sales are given back to the company at the end of every shift, once you have cashed up.”