Advice
The things hospitality adverts leave out, explained properly. No listicles, no invented averages, and every legal point links to where the actual rules live.
If you are looking for work
What “competitive salary” actually means
Why hospitality adverts hide pay, what the phrase tends to mean in practice, and how to find the number before you spend an evening applying.
4 min read
Tips, service charge and tronc: what actually reaches you
A tip, a service charge and a tronc are three different things. What the rules now require, and what to ask before taking a job that quotes pay “including tronc”.
6 min read
Trial shifts: where you actually stand
When a trial shift is a reasonable part of hiring and when it is unpaid work, what tends to make the difference, and how to agree one without losing a day.
5 min read
Split shifts, and the questions to ask before you take one
Why split shifts are the most common reason a good candidate turns a job down, what they really cost, and how to work out whether a particular one is liveable.
4 min read
What to put in a profile when there is no CV to write
Covers replaces the CV with structured fields. What employers actually search on, what gets skipped, and how to fill it in once so it works for every application.
5 min read
If you are hiring
What the tipping law requires of you
The written policy you must have, the record a worker can ask to see, the deadline for paying tips on, and the code a tribunal has to take into account.
6 min read
Right to work checks, and the one thing we cannot do for you
When the check has to happen, which route applies to whom, how long to keep it, and why checking only the people you assume need it is itself unlawful.
6 min read
A trial shift you do not pay for is probably a shift
Where a genuine assessment ends and work begins, what the minimum wage is from April 2026, and why saying “paid trial” in the advert is worth more than it costs.
5 min read
What has to be in writing on day one
The document every worker is entitled to from their first day, what it has to contain, and the hospitality-specific parts most templates get wrong.
5 min read
Guaranteed hours are coming, and nobody has to act yet
What the Act actually does about zero-hours contracts, when it is expected to bite, and the one thing worth doing now, which is not signing anything.
5 min read
Holiday pay when nobody works the same week twice
How entitlement accrues for irregular hours and part-year workers, what rolled-up holiday pay is and who it is allowed for, and the rounding rule people miss.
6 min read
Writing a job advert that actually gets applications
What makes hospitality candidates skip an advert, which details are worth the line they take up, and the wording that quietly loses you good people.
5 min read
The jobs, explained
What each job in a kitchen, bar, dining room or hotel involves on an ordinary shift, why a venue hires for it, and where it leads. For anyone weighing up a role, and for anyone deciding whether they need one.
