JDW unveils its 45-hour week plan for managers

by Tony Halstead Pub operator JD Wetherspoon is working on a mould-breaking scheme for a 45-hour working week for managers across its 630-strong estate.

The company says the move is designed to attract quality licensees in a labour market which is seeing falling unemployment, fewer higher calibre job applicants and continuing problems of attracting new blood to the leisure sector.

Wetherspoon said the reduced working week is part of a wider move it is making to improve its overall employment offer in an industry which is still perceived as a "bad pay, low status" career with limited promotion possibilities.

The company, which was the first in the licensed trade to adopt the 48-hour working week in 1995, says further reductions in working hours is just one way to help attract a better standard of pub manager.

Wetherspoon's personnel director Su Beacham-Cacioppo said: "Implementation of the 48-hour week was driven by a need to recruit and retain better pub managers, something we are finding increasingly difficult to achieve with longer working hours.

"We are now looking at further reducing the working week to 45 hours, although it will take some time before it is fully implemented across all pubs."

She added: "The employment market generally is under pressure from low levels of unemployment, an ageing workforce and changes in requirements about what employees want from a job, including reduced hours and continuous development opportunities.

"This has led to a larger number of companies chasing a smaller number of candidates, resulting in increased availability and choice."

Beacham-Cacioppo said there was an increasing demand from the UK workforce to balance home and work responsibilities and as the pace and pressure of working life increased, many employees were demanding more control over it.

"Many have rejected the traditional job for life' or employer for life' approach and are constantly keeping one eye out for their next job or career change.

"Recent research has highlighted that most people will have three quite separate careers during their working life," she said.

Pub managers union NALHM welcomed Wetherspoon's announcement, which it said placed the company way ahead of the remainder of the industry.

General secretary Peter Love commented: "They were well ahead of the field in introducing the 48-hour week, in fact, they were one of the few companies to show any initial enthusiasm for the working time directive legislation.

"Obviously we welcome these plans for a further reduction in hours, which again shows the company's enlightened attitude."

l Wetherspoon's feature ­ p14 Facts and figures on managers' earnings Average basic salary for a single Wetherspoon pub manager starts at around £25,000, increasing with experience and size of the house they manage.

In addition managers can earn an additional 50% of their basic salary in bonus payments which are paid monthly.

Currently managers earn an extra 20-25% of basic pay per month in bonuses.

Other benefits include company-paid accommodation or "live out" allowance, private medical insurance, stakeholder pension scheme and a share incentive plan.

There are an average of five managers per pub, including the pub manager or management couple, and assistant or shift managers but pubs with higher food sales will also employ a kitchen manager.

Management turnover is currently running at about 14%, half of the level it was five years ago.