STAFF: How to Prep Your Restaurant for a Minimum Wage Increase
Like it or not, The Fight for $15 is a battle workers are going to win. The federal minimum wage has been stagnant for more than a decade now (it barely went up even in 2009), and more cities and states are already taking it upon themselves to force employers to give workers a much needed boost. Here’s what you can do now to prep for the inevitable.
DID YOU KNOWS…
You Can Collect Fingerpints From Cheese
One Texas police department has learned that cheese slices produce great fingerprints. The Carrollton Police Department is on the hunt for someone who’s putting cheese slices all over cars. Three of the slices produced “really good fingerprints,” according to their crime scene investigator. The department was so excited about this new discovery they even posted about it with an image to the department’s Twitter account.
GrubHub Adds “Common Sense”
Last year, GrubHub was sued for charging the delivery service surcharge to phone calls that weren’t orders. This was rooted in GrubHub creating “proxy phone numbers” that were displayed on GrubHub’s app. Now GrubHub has added a “common sense” step by asking guests to “Push 1 for ordering or push 2 for everything else.” Here’s more about the new feature.
Alcohol-related Deaths Doubles
Just over 72,500 people died from alcohol-related illnesses such as liver disease across the U.S. in 2017 compared to just under 36,000 in 1999. Men are dying at a higher rate than women, though white women accounted for the greatest increase in deaths. The data is indeed grim and in 2017, alcohol proved even deadlier than illicit drugs, including opioids. According to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, there were 72,224 drug overdose deaths in the U.S. in 2017, 334 fewer than deaths related to alcohol.
A RULE TO SET YOU FREE
Why it matters to you: A new regulatory ruling serves franchisor liability for bad labor practices by franchisees.
The concept of a Joint Employer has been a contentious issue for the past several years in our industry. On the one side you have those that argue franchisors have a liability when it comes to the behavior of their franchisees as it pertains their labor practices. McDonald’s, for example, has endured multiple joint employer claims and has fought assiduously on the other argument which says franchisees are independent business operators and are exclusively responsible for the their own behavior when managing their labor staff. Finally, the Department of Labor (DoL) has released a definitive ruling on how they will approach the joint employer conundrum and its actually good news for franchisors. New DoL guidance sets four distinct conditions under which a franchisor is in actuality a joint employer:
Hires and fires the franchisee’s employees.
Supervises and controls the employees’ work schedule or conditions of employment to a substantial degree.
Determines staffers’ wages and method of payment.
Maintains the staff’s employment records.
If any of these four conditions exist then you are may be considered a joint employer. A quick read shows that the lion share of franchisors don’t engage in any these influences over their franchisee’s performance. The takeaway is that franchisors can rest easy that their franchisees alone will be held accountable for bad behavior. On the flip side, it also weakens the franchisee/franchisor relationship by defining quite clearly where franchisees can tread without risk. Make no mistake this doesn’t mean that franchisors are no longer responsible for anything that happens with their franchisees. It does, however, mean that franchisors can legally claim indemnity based on any labor related failings of their franchisees.
[Source: Restaurant Business Online]
THROUGH THE LOOKING GLASS
Why it matters to you: What does your glassware say about your bar?
Among the reasons guests visit a bar is to have access to a variety of offerings they would never or couldn’t experience at home. With the average bar carrying hundreds of different wine, beer and spirit labels no typical home could match that variety. But it’s not just the breadth of booze that sets the bar apart it’s also the experience and the service ware that attracts many clients. The easiest example if the classic martini glass. Few guests will have access to that glass or any of the other cool glassware bars employ. This is of course assuming you are expending any energy to make your glassware a differentiator at your bar. The good news is that cool glassware doesn’t cost so much more than the standard cheap stuff that it’s out of reach even for a small operator.
While there will always be a place for a pub pint, there should also be glassware that enhances the guests’ perception of the beverage they are holding. This review of what’s hot in glassware is a good place to start looking to upgrade your service ware approach. Often times you’ll hear operators complain that guests steal cool glassware and it’s not worth the investment. Maybe, but if someone wants to nip off with your glassware, it likely means you chose well and they are paying you a weird compliment. Either way, upgrading your glassware is an inexpensive way to elevate your bar game and give guests something to get excited about. In January especially, that sounds like a good idea to us.
[Source: New York Magazine]
