Fridays scraps free meals for staff during longer shifts

The Fridays restaurant chain has come under fire from a trade union over plans to scrap the provision of free meals for staff working shifts of 10 hours or longer.

The group, formerly TGI Fridays, said all team members would still receive subsidised discounts on food as well as other benefits.

However, Unite Hospitality said the decision showed “sheer corporate greed” during a cost of living crisis.

The trade union has launched a petition calling for the restaurant chain to reconsider the "ill-judged move".

A Fridays spokesperson said: “To provide more equitable benefits to everyone in our teams, we have made the decision to remove free shift meals for team members working 10 hours or more from 1 May 2023.

“We still offer all team members a range of industry leading benefits including 50% off our entire food menu and free soda during working hours, plus 50% off for up to six people which they can use all year round as many times as they wish.

“However, we do recognise that these are challenging economic times, and this will impact our teams. As part of our ongoing efforts to ensure colleague wellbeing, we are exploring a partnership with Wagestream, the financial wellbeing app, to offer extra support to our employees.”

Staff working shifts of under 10 hours at Fridays do not receive free meals but are eligible for the discounts on food.

Workers at the restaurant chain went on strike in 2018 over changes to the company’s tips policy.

Posting on Twitter, Unite Hospitality quoted one of its members as stating a meal at Fridays "costs more than what someone on minimum wage earns in an hour", adding: "If [Fridays] really valued their staff, they would let them eat."

Bryan Simpson, lead organiser at Unite Hospitality, said: “What makes this decision even more pernicious is that free and heavily subsidised meals was something our TGIs members won during their landmark strike action in 2018.

“We will now be meeting our members nationally to determine our collective response but all legal and industrial options will now be considered.”

Fridays’ parent company Hostmore delayed publication of its annual results last month due to ongoing discussions with its banks.

The company runs around 90 hospitality venues under the Fridays, Fridays and Go and 63rd+1st brands.