BrewDog is facing backlash among staff as it reversed a decision to introduce the accredited real living wage scheme.
The firm, known for its Punk IPA beer, has instead hired new employees at the legal minimum wage and froze pay for London bar staff.
The move is part of its cost-cutting strategy amid ongoing financial losses.
In a letter obtained by The Guardian, BrewDog told workers new hires would be paid the legal minimum wage of £10.42 per hour for those aged 23 and over.
It falls below the independently verified living wage of £10.90 received by existing staff.
Outside London, wages will increase to £11.44 per hour from April 1.
It aligns with the new legal minimum for those aged 21 and over, yet still below the new real living wage of £12 an hour pledged by accredited employers.
Within London, there will be no increase in the minimum pay from April, keeping bar staff rates at £11.95 an hour.
It’s considerably below the £13.15 London real living wage introduced that month, especially as living costs in the city surged last year.
Employees expressed their outrage on the company’s internal messaging system.
One worker said: “I’ve been at BrewDog long enough to see every benefit that attracted me to the job either binned or completely reduced.
“The effective cutting of our pay again when cost of living is only getting worse, especially in the city that is home to the business’s flagship bar, by a company that prides itself on its ethical ‘underdog’ image and supposed moral values is wildly questionable on both ethical and moral grounds.”
Bryan Simpson, the lead organiser on hospitality at the Unite union, said: “BrewDog has been paying the real living wage since 2015.
“To withdraw it now, during the most acute cost of living crisis in a generation is outrageous.
“We are already working with our BrewDog members across the country to collectively challenge this awful decision and force the senior management of the company to do the right thing by the workers who have made them millions.”
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The Punks with Purpose campaign group of former staff said: “BrewDog management’s decision to revoke a long-standing commitment to the real Living Wage proves that there is no principle too dearly held for them to abandon. ”
The group criticized the scrapping of Brewdog’s scheme, wherein 50 percent of a bar’s profits were shared with the workers.
The company said the scheme was modified to a 10 percent profit share and a £1 per hour bonus for excellent customer service following a staff vote last year.
BrewDog told staff it was making “important but necessary … hard decisions” regarding pay, despite a boom in business during the festive period.
A company spokesperson said: “Despite unprecedented challenges in the hospitality sector – our staff outside London will be getting a 4.95% increase in base pay, and crew currently working in London will be paid 4.5% above the national living wage.
“We have always been fully committed to doing the best we can for our people, and our benefits package is far more generous than the industry average.
“Last year we gave over £350,000 to our bars team via our unique profit share programme. Our team also benefits from a unique bonus scheme which sees all crew members receive an additional £1 an hour for the month for surpassing customer service standards.”
Katherine Chapman, director of the Living Wage Foundation, said: “We are disappointed that Brewdog have chosen to stop paying the real Living Wage.
“The independently calculated real Living Wage is the only UK wage rate based on the cost of living and it is voluntarily paid by over 14,000 organisations.
“Despite tough economic times, it’s been heartening to see record numbers of businesses join the movement.”
