Chef was dismissed 'following repeated instances of inappropriate conduct,' says Simeone group

A chef and ex-employee of Six by Nico's makeaway meal offshoot, home by nico, claims that he was unfairly dismissed after asking to be paid £2,000 for more than 200 hours of overtime. 

The chef, who the company says it employed to help with the deployment of its Home by Nico offering, told The Daily Record of Scotland that he and his team had been putting in extra hours at the tail end of each day to keep up with demand for the food boxes, which are believed to be selling in the thousands every week. 

He said that he was shocked by his dismissal, which he claims happened the day after he sent an email to his superiors asking when the overtime would be paid. 

“I was constantly asked to come in early and go home late because the business was booming, doing thousands of boxes a week," he said.

“I just wanted what was fair for me and for the rest of the staff who were working so hard.”

The employee received the backing of the Unite union, which was said to be seeking an industrial tribunal on the grounds of “automatic unfair dismissal and breach of contract,” enquiring into allegations of unfair treatment of other members of staff at the restaurant group. 

Bryan Simpson, Unite’s Glasgow said they had been alerted of "systemic issues with the way in which Six by Nico are treating their workers, morally and legally.”

In a statement issued to The Staff Canteen, a spokesperson for the Simeone group sought to distance the incident from Six by Nico, saying  that the employee in question had never worked at any of the group's restaurants, and was hired to help with the deployment of the Nico at home range. 

What's more, it said, the chef has now been paid in full for any hours worked.

They said:  “We are proud of the positive and collegiate culture we have built up across the group over the past decade and will vigorously defend any action raised in this case.”