A group of Little Chef managers has accused the company's owner, Permira, of bullying staff and setting unrealistic budgets.
The four employees, three of whom still work for the company, suggest that the venture capital company may be doing this in order to avoid making redundancy payments.
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The group says Permira's actions are consistent with it having plans to sell the sites and - because it has nowhere to relocate staff to - wanting to avoid paying them to go.
Paul Roe, former manager of the Little Chef in Bramshott Chase, Surrey, said: "Staff are bullied and harassed into submission in the hope that they will go of their own volition. At my own unit, I left through pressure."
Permira bought the Little Chef sites and the Travelodge hotel chain from Compass Group for £712m in January 2003. Roe believes the company never wanted the roadside restaurants and was only interested in getting its hands on Travelodge.
"Staff have been led up the garden path and work harder and longer hours to make the best of an owner that underfunds and has seemingly given up on the Little Chef brand," said Roe.
One former restaurant manager, who said they were ground down over time, added: "I went for two years with no holiday because the company wouldn't find cover for me. I was doing an average of 16 hours per day, often working seven days a week. I would break down crying while serving customers. In the end I left through stress."
The person also claims that cleaning budgets were too low. "It was not enough money," they said, "and I eventually received a first and final written warning after failing a health and safety inspection." In order to pass the reinspection a week later, the ex-restaurant manager had to spend three nights cleaning the site on their own.
Another restaurant manager is currently off sick, having been diagnosed with anxiety and depression. The employee said: "Staffing levels were cut to the bare bones - I was told to run the site with a total of 323 weekly staff hours, which wasn't enough. Their response was to tell me to 'shape up or ship out'."
Former Little Chef chief executive Tim Scoble denied the allegations. "That was absolutely not the company's intention at all," he added.
A spokesman for Little Chef said: "The company totally refutes these allegations. Any suggestion that it operates a policy to this effect is completely untrue.
"Little Chef considers its corporate responsibilities and its duty of care to employees as matters of the highest priority. We carry out full consultation with each employee, offer relocation to another restaurant wherever possible and, if necessary, assist the individuals in securing alternative employment.
"The company takes these allegations very seriously and commits to independently investigating any case brought to our attention."
Source: Caterer & Hotelkeeper magazine, 14 April 2005