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Merja Rahkola-Toivanen emphasizes that the Classic Pizza and Makaronitehdas restaurants have many
employees. Photo from 2015. TIINA SOMERPURO/KL
Liisa Kauppinen
liisa.kauppinen@iltalehti.fi
Wednesday, August 8, 2018 at 8:01 am
Several employees of Classic Pizza and Hanko Makaronitehtaa feel that the companies take
advantage of young employees and their inexperience.
Employees report working days of up to 16 hours, but overtime compensation is not paid,
according to them.
According to the restaurant, the interviewees are legally dismissed employees, and possible
grievances would have come up during inspections by the regional administrative agency
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8/5/22, 1:23 AM Several Classic Pizza employees talk about working at the extremes: 195 hours of work/month, no overtime compensation - "…
grievances would have come up during inspections by the regional administrative agency.
These words are repeated when the 11 former and current employees interviewed by Iltalehti
talk about their experiences working for the Classic Pizza and Makaronetehdas restaurant
chains. In their stories, salary payment problems, long work shifts, broken promises and
abruptly ended employment relationships come to the fore.
The interviewees have worked in chain restaurants in Hanko and the capital region, and their
experiences are from 2016-2018 in restaurants in Hanko and the capital region.
The entrepreneur couple Juha Toivanen and Merja Rahkola-Toivanen are behind the fast-growing
restaurant chains .
Four former employees agreed to tell about their experiences under their own names. Others
are afraid of stigmatization - and the non-disclosure agreement signed in connection with the
employment contract, although according to the restaurant's representatives, the purpose is
not to silence employees about grievances.
Long days
In the stories of the interviewees, long working days stretching up to 16 hours are repeated.
Many mention that their colleagues and managers quit because the work was too stressful.
- You just think that an hour and a half ago I got off work, but there are still five tables to take
care of, says a woman who worked as a waitress in Hanko in the summer of 2016.
- When I had worked for 10 hours and I asked to have a cigarette, the attitude was that how
dare you ask for a break, says Anna Purhonen , who worked in Hanko in the summer of 2008.
He is surprised that, based on the information previously shared in public, the practices in
restaurants have not changed.
Several interviewees interpret that the employment relationships have been decided in the last
days of the trial periods, because the real need has been for a shorter-term employment
relationship than agreed - or because the company has recruited too many employees.
- I came to work in Hanko from the other side of Finland. I worked 16-hour days up to my neck
in mucus. The probationary period was a month, and on the last day I was fired without having
previously complained about anything. The employment was at the busiest time of the
summer, says a man who worked in Hanko last summer.
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8/5/22, 1:23 AM Several Classic Pizza employees talk about working at the extremes: 195 hours of work/month, no overtime compensation - "…
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8/5/22, 1:23 AM Several Classic Pizza employees talk about working at the extremes: 195 hours of work/month, no overtime compensation - "…
The conditions of the additional work contract puzzle Pam's administrator Esa Kauto. READER'S PHOTO
No overtime pay
Despite the long hours, the restaurants do not pay overtime compensation, according to the
employees. Overtime, with the exception of the very first hours, should be paid one and a half
or two times the salary
This is explained by, among others, a woman who worked for a total of two years in the Classic
Pizza restaurants in the center of Helsinki. According to him, the explanation for the practice
was the contract for additional work, which he signed when he entered into an employment
relationship with the chains' own staffing company called Jonathan restaurant services. The
employment contracts of restaurant staff have been centralized in the company at the
beginning of 2017.
The contract template has been drawn up in the form of I. According to the clauses, a simple
hourly wage is paid for additional work, and the employee is aware of the overtime ban in the
company. The contract sets the maximum number of working hours at 150 per three weeks.
The woman says that at the beginning of 2017, she worked in consecutive months¬ - that is, in
a period of about four weeks - for 183.5 hours, in three months after that, about 170 hours, and
in the fifth month, 195.75 hours. Iltalehti has seen the first and last month's salary receipts,
based on which no overtime compensation has been paid.
So the woman would have accumulated more than 2,400 euros in overtime claims in five
months.
According to Tommi Aaltonen , the restaurant manager of the pizza and pasta chains , the claim
about missing overtime compensation is not true. He says that the restaurants use an
equalization system, where working time is considered in 18-week periods.
- After the equalization period ends, additional and overtime allowances are always paid,
Aaltonen assures.
Pitkän linjan toimija Kautonen on myös itse työskennellyt aikaisemmin ravintola-alalla, ja hän
tuntee alan työehtosopimuksen perin juurin. Häneltä lisätyösopimus nostaa karvat pystyyn,
sillä siinä yhdistellään lausekkeita erilaisista työaikajärjestelmistä "rusinat pullasta" -hengessä
- Kun tämä summataan, työntekijät sitoutuisivat tekemään tuon 150 tuntia milloin vain. Kun on
kyse vuorotöistä, voi vain arvuutella sellaisen vaikutuksia ihmisen sosiaaliseen elämään.
Loppuun palamisia on varmaankin siellä paljon, hän sanoo tietämättä, mistä ketjusta on kyse.
Mustamaalauskampanja
Ravintolan edustajat painottavat, että työntekijöiden kertomukset eivät pidä paikkansa. Heidän
mukaansa yrityksellä on vuosien aikana ollut tuhansia työntekijöitä, ja joidenkin kohdalla on
saattanut sattua virheitä.
Hän painottaa, että yrityksen työtyytyväisyyskyselyt ovat olleet vähintään aina kiitettävällä
tasolla.
- Me toimimme ainoastaan ja vain lain mukaan. Mikäli mitään väitettyä tapahtuisi, se tulisi
välittömästi esiin aluehallintoviraston tarkastuksissa, Rahkola-Toivanen kommentoi.
Epäselvyyksiä työsuojeluvaltuutetussa
Valtuutetun puuttumista yritys on perustellut sillä, etteivät työntekijät ole halunneet nimetä
omaa edustajaansa. Näin myös nyt, kun työntekijät ovat olleet yli vuoden ilman edustajaa
edellisen irtisanouduttua. Uusi valtuutettu on ollut tarkoitus valita heinäkuussa.
Koska työntekijämme eivät ole ilmeisesti kokeneet että heillä on tarvetta järjestäytyä eivät
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8/5/22, 1:23 AM Several Classic Pizza employees talk about working at the extremes: 195 hours of work/month, no overtime compensation - "…
- Koska työntekijämme eivät ole ilmeisesti kokeneet, että heillä on tarvetta järjestäytyä, eivät
he myöskään ole valinneet keskuudestaan työsuojeluvaltuutettua, Aaltonen kommentoi.
Italialaisen Agnese Gemetton mukaan työntekijöiden käyttöön Hangossa tarkoitettu asunto oli tyhjä,
eikä siellä ollut kunnollisia verhoja. LUKIJAN KUVA
Alalle tyypillistä
Ketjujen edellinen työsuojeluvaltuutettu Piia Jäntti kertoo saaneensa tarpeekseen yli 20 vuoden
uran jälkeen koko ravintola-alasta ja sille leimallisista vaihtelevista työajoista, ei yrityksestä.
- Se, että nuoret työntekijät eivät tunne oikeuksiaan, on alan ongelma laajemmin. Nämä asiat
tulisi ottaa huomioon jo koulutusaikana.
Classic Pizzan palkanmaksua koskevat ongelmat nousivat esiin jo viime syksynä, kun Helsingin
Sanomat uutisoi Stockmann-tavaratalossa sijaitsevan ravintolan palkkaepäselvyyksistä.
Palvelualojen ammattiliito Pam oli edellisvuonna kirjoittanut yhdessä työntekijöiden kanssa
vetoomuksen, jossa pyydettiin korjaamaan palkanmaksuun liittyvät virheet ja maksamaan
puuttuvat saatavat työntekijöille. Osapuolet lopulta sopivat kiistan, minkä vuoksi Pamin
aluepäällikkö Johanna Sparf ei halua avata asiaa tarkemmin.
Asia eteni myös aluehallintoviraston käsiteltäväksi, mutta yrityksen selvitysten jälkeen asia ei
antanut aihetta jatkotoimiin. Tarkastusraportissa kiinnitettiin huomiota kuitenkin siihen, että
työntekijöille oli tiedotettu palkkahallinnon ongelmista viiveellä. Lisäksi työvuorojen
kirjaamisessa oli ollut yrityksen ja yhden työntekijän välillä erimielisyyksiä.
- Oletuksena on, että jos palkoissa on ongelmia, työntekijä vie niitä itse eteenpäin, Järvinen
sanoo.
LIISA KAUPPINEN
liisa.kauppinen@iltalehti.fi
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