New Federal and NY State Rules
Remind businesses that worker misclassification can backfire. Recently, the United States Department of Labor (“DOL”) clarified the test that businesses must meet when determining whether a worker should be classified as an independent contractor or an employee under the Fair Labor Standards Act (“FLSA”) (the “Final Rule”). The Final Rule takes effect March 11, 2024 and is intended to address confusion businesses face due to previous DOL informal guidance and case law that never provided a clear test. The Final Rule establishes a six-factor test – no one factor is determinative, and courts and government agencies will look to the totality of the circumstances. The six factors are:
- the worker’s opportunity for profit or loss;
- investments by the worker and potential employer;
- the degree of permanence of the relationship;
- the nature and degree of the potential employer’s control over the work;
- the extent to which the work is “integral” to the potential employer’s business; and
- the worker’s skill or initiative.
If the worker economically depends on the business for continued employment, then the worker should be classified as an employee. If, instead, the worker operates as an independent business, then the worker may be classified as an independent contractor. Businesses should review these factors, as well as New York State’s own independent contractor test, to ensure that workers are properly classified.
Is the Customer Always Right?
A study challenging the long-standing mantra “the customer is always right”? The study determined that in order to better support employee mental health, restaurant operators should have clear policies stating that customers’ uncivil behavior will not be tolerated. “For decades, a customer could be uncivil, angry, yelling or just plain wrong, and employees were expected to deal with it because it was just part of the business,” said Dr. Melissa Baker, associate professor and chair of the Department of Hospitality and Tourism Management in the Isenberg School of Management at the University of Massachusetts Amherst. “Now, I’m not sure we can do that anymore. We want to take care of the customer—that’s super important, but if a customer is being uncivil, rude and aggressive, you also really need to make sure that you have the employee’s back.” Baker and co-author Kawon Kim of the University of South Carolina conducted the study of customer incivility in the hospitality industry and found that employees were more susceptible to aggressive and rude customers when they had their own mental health challenges. Employees with weaker mental health benefit and perform better on the job with managerial support in place. The policies had less of an effect on employees with better mental health. Baker says a rise in post-COVID customer incivility and higher turnover in the hospitality industry precipitated by low unemployment have combined to bring about a culture shift at many hospitality companies, with an increased focus on the psychological well-being of employees. She said firms that keep their focus solely on the customer risk losing their most talented workers. We are increasingly seeing that customers are uncivil across all types of service industries: hotels, restaurants, airlines, retail, and even in doctors offices. While the saying of the “customer is always right” had its heyday, we think it is time to rethink this in both research and practice. Most importantly, by having a “the customer is always right” mantra, this may show that you are not supporting your employees.
Bielat Santore & Company – Restaurant Industry Alert
BURLINGTON COUNTY, NJ SELF-STORAGE SITE
Photo used to depict “self-storage facility” only. Not actual representation.
Burlington County, N.J. – Former 1.82 acre diner site on busy Route 130 now with variance granted for a three (3) story self-storage facility; 28,650 sqft. footprint; 85,950 sqft. total leasable space. Associated bulk variances on all sides of building satisfied. Asking price $1,650,000.
Contact Robert Gillis 732.673-3436 for additional information.
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Making Your Restaurant Social Media Friendly
Social media integration has become essential for restaurants. n the ever-evolving landscape of the food industry, social media integration has become essential for restaurants of any kind. Whether it be a casual sit-down spot or a five-star dining experience, making your restaurant social media friendly is not just a trend; it’s a powerful tool that can significantly impact your establishment’s success. Having a strong social media presence ensures that your restaurant is visible to a wide and diverse audience. Platforms like Instagram and TikTok allow for consumers to get a sneak peek at a restaurant’s culinary works and general ambiance without physically being in the space. This extended visibility can attract potential customers who may not have discovered the restaurant through traditional means. For example, a classic neighborhood eatery, whose main means of advertisement is through foot traffic, will only attract customers within a certain square mile of its given location. However, with a prominent social media presence, restaurants can market themselves to not only be a local draw, but an international one as well. Being a highly visual platform, social media is very much reliant on aesthetics, and, regardless of style, every restaurant can use this facet to their advantage. The key lies in understanding the restaurant’s authentic brand and style and transferring that authenticity to social media outlets. Capturing the essence of the dining experience through well-curated visuals, whether it be the rustic charm or the sleek and modern designs, allows for a compelling narrative that extends beyond the physical space.
Informal Occasions Are Driving Catering Orders
Catering customers place a high importance on food quality and flavor. Informal catering occasions, such as backyard barbecues and movie nights with friends, have seen a rise in popularity since the pandemic due to consumers spending more time entertaining at home, according to Restaurant Business sister company Technomic. Restaurants have used this as an opportunity to boost their profits as they find new ways to reach customers at home. “These at-home entertainment occasions are creating informal catering opportunities that will generate higher frequency, smaller guest counts and so on,” said Technomic Senior Principal and VP of Innovation Rich Shank during a session. “It’s changing the way restaurants, in particular, are thinking about catering to large groups because they’re not coming into the store as often as they were, but they can find these large groups at home.” While traditional catering companies have historically not dealt in this realm, informal catering presents an opportunity to grow their business going forward, according to Shank. When looking at key decision drivers for catering orders, food quality and flavor come out on top, according to Technomic. Consumers place a high importance on quality and flavor, Shank said, because they see the food served at their events as a reflection of themselves. “One of the things about buyers is they really look at how satisfied their group is when it comes to the order as a reflection on their person,” said Shank. “If they’re a business buyer, it’s a reflection of their job performance. And so, quality and flavor are extraordinarily important to them.”
Restaurants Are Set to Win Big with Mixed Reality Experiences
Thanks to Apple. Virtual Reality hardware products have been akin to flash paper. They burn real hot then quickly fizzle out, having barely scratched the surface of adoption. With the introduction of Apple Vision Pro, things are poised to change, and rapidly. The tech giant has a notable history of successfully instantiating behavioral shifts within large groups of people. Where others have failed, Apple is sure to win, and with them are the brands willing to take advantage of the moment. And restaurant brands are well positioned to do so by creating ways for consumers to immerse in the brand and order food in all new ways. For those that do not know, Apple launched their Vision Pro, a mixed-reality headset, to the masses on January 5, and with it the advent of a new term: spatial computing. The headset is a wearable device that whisks users into a new world where eye movements and finger taps remove the need for the traditional peripheral devices like keyboards and mouses. Sure, this isn’t a new tech gadget, as other players have already attempted to spark this shift into spatial computing. So far, though, there has been little success. With Apple, we get a trustworthy brand that’s known for style and simplicity that is certain to usher in mass adoption of the hardware and mixed reality interfaces. Apple is by no means the pioneer in this space, nor will they be the only player moving forward. But, much like the iPhone and iPad, Apple will break down the tech and usability barriers and make spatial computing palatable to mass adopters. In its wake will be the other players that create, iterate, and innovate to try to keep up. While they duke it out, we all win as our connectivity advances into all new realms. In this sprint to better and cheaper tech, brands are poised to win out. Those that find new ways of immersing consumers in unique experiences in this new reality will drive affinity and create new revenue streams. And there is no other industry as ripe for realizing these upsides than the restaurant industry.
Human Sustainability is the Star Ingredient
At these game-changing restaurants. Entertainment like The Bear, The Menu and Boiling Point isn’t wrong: Restaurant life can be brutal. The long and strange hours, the speed and the stress, and the culture of extreme commitment all too easily take their toll. Many employees have had enough. Headlines around the world lament the lack of restaurant workers. Everyone seems to be constantly hiring, or trying to. But at the same time, a handful of high-end restaurants are taking the opposite tack. By doing the unthinkable, like closing on weekends or evenings, they’re not only retaining staff but also maintaining their profits. A good example in my adopted hometown of Lisbon—a place not exactly known for putting workers’ quality of life first—is the vegetarian fine-dining restaurant Arkhe. When it closed last year for several months to relocate, the co-owners, chef João Ricardo Alves and maître d’hotel Alejandro Chávarro, rethought everything. They limited their service to weekdays. No more lucrative Saturday nights; leap-of-faith Monday lunches instead. This wasn’t entirely altruistic: “The change saved my marriage,” says Alves, who has young children and had been spending Saturdays in the restaurant and Sundays sleeping off his exhaustion. “Becoming parents changed the way we do things,” agrees Chávarro, who also started a family in the past few years. “We questioned why we’re doing this. We still want to come here, but we want it to be a healthy environment.”
Did You Know?
What restaurants need to know about HOCI. Well, as you know, restaurants and other food brands must prioritize food safety every day, with every shift. Even during the busiest times, staff members must work diligently to keep foods – and guests – safer. Each year, 48 million people get sick and 3,000 die from foodborne illness in the United States, yet these food safety breaches are 100-percent preventable. In late 2023, a foodborne illness outbreak – caused by salmonella-tainted cantaloupe – killed at least eight people and sickened hundreds more across 39 states plus Canada, leading to a massive recall and huge customer safety concerns. Food businesses across the supply chain must work proactively to prevent food safety breaches. As we’ve seen, food safety incidents can seriously harm customers – and can cause tremendous financial, legal, and reputational damage to restaurants and other food businesses.
Employee Tip
Build staff loyalty by leveraging payments technology. In today’s tech-driven world, customers and workers alike expect a seamless payments experience wherever they go. Until now, restaurants have primarily focused on customer experience when considering payments technology, but the emergence of new and developing worker payment programs can impact and improve the restaurant worker experience. With the restaurant industry facing an ongoing labor shortage, it’s more crucial than ever to offer your staff the best experience possible, which includes optimizing their payments experience. In turn, more engaged employees can help deliver a better customer experience, too. Restaurants that embrace innovative payments technologies on both sides of the register are poised to build loyalty with both customers and their employees in the years to come.