We have agreed with the employers (KHN) that youth wages from the age of 18 should be abolished for skilled workers. In practice, this means that without a diploma and without experience, you do not immediately receive the CLA salary, but the minimum salary or the minimum youth salary if you are under 23 years old. The above applies to employees of any age: whether you are 19 or 36, if you start in hospitality for the first time, you are not yet skilled.
Skilled status
As a sous-chef or first service employee, you will not be hired without experience or a diploma. But in hospitality, there are also jobs for which you can be hired perfectly well without a diploma or experience. You can think of a job as a dishwasher, cloakroom attendant, or service employee. If you start these roles without a diploma or experience, you must first learn the trade. You are not yet 'skilled', as we call it.
KHN's standpoint
Koninklijke hospitality Nederland believes that you need three years for the above professions before you are skilled. In other words, it takes you three years to learn how to wash dishes or hang up a coat. During these first three years, your boss may pay you according to the minimum salary, and if you are under 23, you receive the minimum youth salary. Only after three years do you finally receive the basic salary of your salary scale.
We, of course, do not find this fair. A member of our CLA committee described it nicely:
'Using years of experience to demonstrate skilled status in roles where unskilled work is often involved makes no sense. If the employer cannot teach an employee unskilled work in two months, then there is something wrong with the induction process, or the employee is simply not suitable for the role.'
Our proposal
If you start as a service employee, you will need more time to learn this well than a dishwasher. We therefore propose to distinguish between job grades and have linked a more realistic number of experience months to this.
- Job grade 1: one month of experience
For example: production assistant, dishwasher, cloakroom attendant - Job grade 2: two months of experience
For example: distribution employee, kitchen assistant, porter, toilet attendant - Job grade 3: six months of experience
For example: cashier, service employee, cook simple dishes, doorman, administrative assistant
During these experience months, you receive the minimum youth salary, after these months you receive the basic salary according to the CLA.
How does it work in comparable sectors?
Recreation: if you work as a domestic service employee (job grade 2 in hospitality and recreation), you receive a starting scale salary for the first two months. This starting salary is even higher than the minimum salary. After these two months, you receive the corresponding CLA salary.
Catering: if you work in catering and are a dishwasher, you earn 10% less than the basic CLA salary for half a year. After these six months, you receive the corresponding CLA salary.
(Due to the upcoming CLA negotiations, we are focusing on a topic for the upcoming negotiations each week.)
Do you have any questions? Contact us.