Should wages be indexed to inflation in order to preserve employees’ purchasing power? The mechanism was abandoned in France in 1983… The question has come back to the fore as inflation is on the rise.
In Narbonne, Louis Privat, the president of the Grands Buffets (363,000 customers per year, 20 million euros in turnover, 200 employees), announces a new gesture for his employees: the signing of an agreement with the employees of the Grand Buffets taking effect from October 1 and providing that salaries will be indexed to inflation and readjusted every six months.
Last January, in order to make the catering professions more attractive, it had already created a buzz by granting a profit-sharing bonus to all its employees., increasing their annual compensation by an average of 30%. A gesture financed by an increase in the price of the menu which had gone from 42.90 to 47.90 euros.
“Zero loss of purchasing power”
« CThis increase in remuneration, made possible by an increase in the price of the menu which was well received by customers, has since the beginning of the year been strongly mitigated by inflation induced by an unexpected economic situation.he observes. We have therefore decided to index salaries to remain faithful to our principle: zero loss of purchasing power. »
The establishment gives two examples: for unskilled employees subject to so-called “cut” schedules, the hiring salary increases in October to 2,100 euros net monthly for 40 hours of weekly work. For a maintenance worker on a continuous day, the net monthly income is 1,876 euros for 40 hours of work per week.
In order to finance this increase in wages but also the increase in food products, energy and services, the restaurateur indicates that the price of the menu will increase to 52.90 euros on October 1, i.e. a further increase of 5 euros. .
Not accessible to everyone
In a tight labor market, where employees will be tempted to seek raises elsewhere, is the gesture well perceived by the profession? In the region, some restaurateurs point out that such increases are not within the reach of small establishments.
Last June, during the CPME’s quarterly survey of business leaders, to which members of the Union of Hotel Trades and Industries (UMIH) had responded, it appeared that half of the respondents (53%) had already increased salaries in 2022 for all of their employees and in particular the hotel industry (62%) but they were also 22% to answer that they were unable to do so. Due to inflation, 56% of members said they were ready to further increase salaries in the coming months, before the end of 2022…
A regional restaurateur recalls all the same that “ the official voice of the UMIH warns of the inflationary race and the risk of a price-wage spiral »…