Restaurant chain Cote has come under public scrutiny following revelations about its service charge policy.

Recent reports have claimed its 12.5 per cent service charge has been directed straight to the company instead of its workers.

One Cote staff member told the Evening Standard: "We are told by management that we don’t get to keep the service charge because we get paid more than the minimum wage, so we should be grateful, but most of us would prefer earning the minimum wage and taking home our tips for the hard work we do."

Cote, which owns 72 restaurants, 30 of which are in London, has argued its policy contributes to the £7.50-£8 hourly rate, which is £1 above the £6.50 national minimum wage for over 21s.

The additional service charge is added automatically to Cote bills and customers need to ask for it to be removed if they don’t want to pay it.

Cote has issued a statement to News Shopper arguing that contrary to recent press reports "Cote distributes the service charge income to the restaurant level employees at which the service charge was collected."

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They added that where customers leave a cash tip, it is company policy that it is at the waiters’ discretion whether to keep it for themselves or to include it in a general pot with other members of staff.

Cote said: "Any deviation from this policy will be investigated and disciplinary action taken where appropriate."

Another staff employee at the chain told the Standard: "One night I was waiting a large group and had to split the bill for each guest. At the end they left a £100 cash tip, but I was forced to hand it over to my manager and never saw that money again."

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MP Iain Wright, chairman of the business select committee, has condemned the practice saying: "This seems to be the tip of the iceberg."

News Shopper has been told that the chain, which showed profits of £16.3m last year, does not recognise the service charge as revenues in its account because it is paid through the payroll, net of taxes and NI.

The French-style restaurant chain owns outlets in Blackheath, Chislehurst and Bluewater.

If you work at one of the Cote restaurants in the local area and want to speak to us about your experiences please email james.parsons@london.newsquest.co.uk