Northumberland's Restaurant Pine achieves workplace fairness standard
Northumberland's Restaurant Pine has achieved the VERiFAIR Standard for fair and accountable workplaces.
The Michelin-starred restaurant at Vallum Farm near Hadrian’s Wall has been independently verified for its workplace policies, culture and ongoing accountability to its team.
To achieve the Standard, Pine submitted its full suite of workplace policies for independent review.
These include equal opportunities and anti-discrimination, anti-harassment and bullying, sexual harassment prevention, grievance and whistleblowing, health and safety, and mental health and wellbeing.
The restaurant also had to demonstrate how each policy is put into practice and communicated across the team, and sign the VERiFAIR pledge committing to maintain those standards over time.
Certification is not a one-off badge. Pine's team now has access to VERiFAIR's confidential, independent reporting channel, and the restaurant takes part in periodic reviews to keep its status.
Sian Byerley, Co-owner and Operations Director at Pine, said: ‘’Hospitality has always been brilliant at celebrating what happens on the plate, but what happens behind the kitchen door matters just as much.
"From day one, Cal and I wanted Pine to be a place where people are respected, supported and able to build a career without burning out. Achieving the VERiFAIR Standard gives our team, and anyone thinking of joining us, independent proof that those values are written down, put into practice and held to account.
"It isn't a finishing line for us. It's a commitment we'll keep earning every day, and we'd love to see more restaurants across the North East join us.’’