Employees of Robert’s Coffee House in Helsinki claim long days without breaks | News
Former and current staff say they could not take breaks and were not compensated for all the work they did.
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Employees of some Robert’s Coffee cafes in Helsinki are the latest service workers in Finland to criticize working conditions and hygiene practices in the restaurant industry.
Robert’s Coffee is a franchise. Criticism is leveled at some of Robert’s Coffee stores, which are run by Zeberas, which manages about ten cafes in Helsinki.
News agency STT interviewed 11 former and current Zeberas employees who worked at the company’s Robert’s Coffee shop from 2011-2022.
“I once burned my hands in boiling water in the middle of the work day, and they didn’t let me go. So the rest of my turn I used one hand.” Riina* (not his real name) told STT.
Several Zeberians told STT that they often worked without breaks. Four of the interviewees said they work regularly without a break, even though they work more than six hours a day.
“In two months, I was only able to take one break to get down. The cafes are chronically understaffed.” Minni said.
CEO of Zeberas, Toni Immonentold STT that the sudden absences during the pandemic had made it difficult to arrange a break.
But employees told the news agency that they also didn’t take breaks before Covid was hit.
“We have clear written instructions for staff stating that a six-hour shift includes one break,” Immonen said, adding that employees who can’t find a break shelter will be allowed to post that they will be back soon.
Minni, Fast, Sanni and Tinhowever, he told STT that the use of break marks was not allowed and that management criticized the practice.
The STT said it had seen communications from the company urging staff to remove violation reports.
Employees also told STT that they had been given 15 minutes to close the cafe overnight. However, the cleaning took much longer than a quarter of an hour. Employees claim they were not paid for the extra cleaning time.
Immonen denied that the company’s employees had unpaid duties.
Eight Zeberas employees also told STT that they were having difficulty staying on sick leave, and some said they had to find their own health insurance.
Employees interviewed by STT said they had tried to make Immonen aware of the problems. However, he told the news agency that he had never heard of some of the problems that have now come to light.
“I am very disappointed if the staff think it has not been able to cause problems. We want to maintain a culture of open dialogue in our company,” he said.
* Due to the sensitivity of this story, cafe employees are not presented under their real names.