"Pret to restore staff bonus after workers threaten strike action", 12 August 2021

Pret a Manger has rowed back on plans to slash staff bonuses in a partial U-turn on proposed pay cuts after workers threatened strike action.

However, the coffee shop chain has not reversed a decision to cease paying for break times, so that a worker on an eight-hour shift, including a legally required half-hour break, will still see a pay cut of just over 6% a shift v pre-pandemic levels...

...[A]fter the planned pay changes prompted an outcry on social media, Pret a Manger boss Pano Christou told staff the mystery shopper bonus was being restored to £1 an hour after taking staff “feedback into consideration”...

...“... unfortunately it’s taking longer than we had hoped to get sales back to what they were before the pandemic, which is why we’ve had to make some difficult decisions about how we reward our hard-working teams.”

... A member of staff involved in the strike planned for next month said the new deal was a “good improvement” but they were still weighing up whether to continue with their action as paid breaks had not been restored...