What the job is
The kitchen porter keeps a kitchen able to cook: washing pots and equipment, keeping the floors and surfaces safe, taking deliveries and putting stock away. In many kitchens the job includes basic prep, and a good KP who wants to cook is often the next commis.
No experience needed
It is one of the few kitchen jobs that genuinely needs no experience. What employers look for is reliability: turning up for every shift, on time, through a busy weekend. Some will ask for a Level 2 food hygiene certificate, and some will pay for it.
What it must pay
From 1 April 2026 the National Living Wage for workers aged 21 and over is £12.71 an hour. It is £10.85 for 18 to 20 year olds, and £8.00 for 16 and 17 year olds and for apprentices. That is the floor for every hour you work, including any trial shift that is really work.
The rates, on gov.uk National Minimum Wage and National Living Wage rates
Every job on Covers states its pay, because the database will not publish one that does not. Once there are four live listings for a role, its pay page shows the median of what venues are actually offering.
Kitchen porters are entitled to a share of the tronc on the same terms as anyone else the policy covers. If a venue's tips policy leaves the back of house out, it has to say so in writing.
Your contract
From your first day you are entitled to a written statement of your pay, hours, holiday and where you work. Ask for it if nobody hands it over.