After hotels, the restaurant industry has announced a uniform payout for the employees to keep the restaurants business afloat and prevent layoffs.

But employees are not happy with the decision, as the government has lifted the lockdown and allowed the operation of restaurant business this week.

The Restaurant and Bar Association Nepal and three different trade unions on Friday reached an agreement to pay Rs4,100 per month to all employees.

The new salary arrangement is for employees who don't have to come to work. If the restaurants have implemented a rotation system for the employees to attend their duty, then they need to pay the usual or full salaries, the association said.

The new pay structure will cover employees' pay from April 13 and continue until December 31, the association said.

The minimum pay of the restaurant workers set by the government is Rs13,500 monthly. However, in the normal time, most of the restaurants in the Kathmandu valley have been providing only Rs8,000 per month as a basic salary, excluding tips.

On July 19, the Hotel Association of Nepal, trade unions and hotel workers agreed on the uniform payout structure that provisions all staff, from front office workers to general managers, will remain on salary, but they will get the same pay.

As per the agreement, all employees working in deluxe five-star (more than 200 rooms) and five-star hotels will get Rs10,000 and Rs9,000 per month, respectively. Employees of four-star (more than 100 rooms) and four-star (less than 100 rooms) will be paid Rs8,455 and Rs8,000 monthly, respectively.

Likewise, employees of three-star and two-star establishments will receive Rs5,000 and Rs4,300 monthly, respectively.

According to the arrangement, one-star and tourist-standard hotels will get payment based on mutual understanding between the employees and employers.

However, restaurant employees that the Post talked to said the decision of cutting their pay was taken unilaterally. “We were demanding that at least we get the basic salary,” said Deepak Khadka, a cook at ND’s Cafe.

“With this pay, it’s difficult for a worker like me to manage the daily expenses,” he said. “We cannot either pay the room rent and buy other daily essentials like groceries.”

Khadka, who has to manage his five-member family, said that as restaurants have not paid them since the lockdown was enforced, they have huge debt piling on them, including the room rents. The government enforced a complete lockdown on March 24 and the restaurants and hotels were the hardest hit among all.

“We are not happy with the trade unions that are supposed to look after the labour rights and workers’ interests, taking decisions on behalf of employers,” said Khadka.

Araniko Rajbhandari, president of the association, said they don’t have other alternatives to protect both employers and employees from the abnormal situation created by Covid-19. “We have decided to retain employees based on the business and employees will be called on duty on a rotational basis.”

He said that the new arrangement would be implemented both in small to the big restaurants across the country.

“The restaurant also can make the due payment to the workers on the installment basis if they are not in the position to pay at once,” he added.

The association said they followed the minimum payout guideline of the Hotel Association of Nepal, which had implemented the new payout system this week inorder to prevent layoffs.

The association said that the restaurants will not be able to operate in full fledged manner as most of them are fully dependent on foreign tourists. Mostly, big restaurants in Kathmandu, Pokhara and Chitwan have still not seen guests even though the lockdown has ended. “With zero income, we cannot afford to pay workers as per the Labour Act,” said Rajbhandari.

But, if any restaurant and bar have made separate agreements with the employees, then they are free to follow their own rules, the association said, adding that the rules are not binding.

All employees will be insured by Rs100,000 Covid-19 insurance if the restaurant comes into operation till Covid-19 ends, according to the association.

However, employees will get their public holidays cancelled—two days of every month— after the lockdown is eased.

According to the association, two outlets of Bakery Café and two outlets of Hot Bread have already been closed and around 25 to 30 restaurants in Thamel are about to shut down.

The restaurant sector employs 60,000 people and pays Rs140 to 150 million in salaries each month.

There are around 2,500 restaurants in Kathmandu, Pokhara and Sauraha as the association's members.