Biden Administration Kills the Non-Compete Agreement
Banning contractual limits on where a departing employee can work next. Say goodbye to the non-compete agreement. The Federal Trade Commission killed the longstanding business convention Tuesday when it outlawed contractual agreements aimed at preventing an employee from jumping to a rival company or leaving to start a competing venture. Starting in about four months, all U.S. companies will be prohibited from requiring non-compete commitments from new hires. Existing non-compete agreements will no longer be enforced after that time, except for senior executives who are in policy-making positions and earn at least $151,164 annually. The FTC estimates that the carve-out will apply to less than 1% of the U.S. workforce. Companies will be required to notify all other employees bound by a non-compete that the limitation on their next job has been lifted. As a result, the FTC said, competition for talent will increase, eventually raising the pay of a typical worker by $524 per year. The regulatory agency said the move will foster entrepreneurship and innovation by enabling individuals to start a business within their field of expertise without fear of being sued by a former employer. It projects that the ban will lead to the startup of at least 8,500 companies per year and the filings for an additional 17,000 to 20,000 patents in each of the next 10 years. Yet the change should not encourage the theft of intellectual property because non-disclosure agreements (NDAs) and other trade-secret protections will remain in use. The FTC estimates that 95% of the individuals who are currently covered by a non-compete agreement are also party to an NDA.
One of a Kind: Marketing Tools for Bars
That work. I don’t know about you, but sometimes my cash flow is not optimal. It’s the cost of doing business and living life; and you need to plan for it, including rising costs, if you intend to stay afloat. But every once in a while, you’re thrown an unexpected lifeline. Like this morning when a text popped up from Dunkin’ Donuts beckoning me in for a purchase. The lure; they dangled in front of me. Extra points on my loyalty account would be accrued as a reward for making that third visit this month. Who could turn their nose up at that? Especially when coffee today means more coffee, or a DunKings treat, for free, tomorrow? My point? Perceived value. That’s what your customers want. A value to engaging with your beverage offerings that goes beyond simple hospitality in a way that really resonates. And it is not all just about saving money. Sometimes it’s about savoring experiences. Experiences you can relish on premise, as well as those you can take home with you. Like the new edition of the White Limozeen that’s dropping this spring. The ‘zine found at namesake bar White Limozeen at the Graduate Hotel in Nashville is a creative project delighting guests that Marc Rose, Founder/Owner of Call Mom, a hospitality company that owns and operates restaurants and bars and partners with hotels as F&B partners, is really proud of. He explains his unique approach to making the bar a memorable part of any guest’s experience as he says, “I think this is truly a Nashville place with a Nashville story. We get to entertain and take care of people in Nashville, and people who come here too. We get to give them a good time and they go home and share the stories about it. That’s the great thing about operating hotel bars. I felt like we had a lot of stories to tell. It’s easy to look at our space and say, ‘it’s an ode to Dolly.’ But there’s so much more to be said about Nashville and this is a peek inside.”
Bielat Santore & Company – Restaurant Industry Alert
BURLINGTON COUNTY, NJ BAR-RESTAURANT FOR SALE
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What Your Restaurant Needs in its Sexual Harassment Policy
More sexual harassment claims are filed in the service industry than in any other industry. As many as 90% of women and 70% of men working in restaurants reportedly experience some form of sexual harassment, according to the Harvard Business Review. Harassment complaints come to the Equal Employment Opportunity Commission (EEOC) from service industry workers more often than from any other sector, NPR reported in 2021. (A further study reported on by NPR shared that dependency on tips and a requirement to appear emotionally pleasant on the job work together to increase an employee’s risk of being sexually harassed.) With Sexual Assault Awareness Month (SAAM) in April, it’s time to develop new policies and take a harder look at existing ones. Are your existing standard operating procedures working as well as they could? Has a recent state law change made sexual harassment training mandatory, but you don’t know where to begin? Look no further. Society Insurance, which specializes in insurance policies for the hospitality industry, has put together seven items that restaurant owners/decision makers should include in their sexual harassment policy including how to file a complaint, retaliation procedures to ensure the victim is protected against possible future vengeful acts, state-specific resources and online training. Real, tactical plans are the key to addressing and curbing harassment. It starts with business owners and managers creating a safe working environment and laying out a clear path should incidents occur.
Group Aiming to Lower Swipe Fees
Steals a page from the opposition’s playbook. Mastercard and Visa say credit-card processing fees have soared to their current levels because far stronger measures are needed today to safeguard users’ personal data. Now restaurants and their allies are citing heightened security concerns as the very reason Congress should put a rein on the financial giants. A coalition that’s been striving for more than a decade to temper swipe fees has begun airing TV ads that warn of a dire security risk if credit-card legislation currently before Congress should fail to pass. The Credit Card Competition Act calls for compelling Visa and Mastercard to allow charges on their credit cards to be processed by at least one alternative to the two giants’ networks, which are believed to handle about 80% of transactions. Restaurants and other merchants could then choose which processor to use. The aim is to foster competition and thereby bring down rates, or at least temper further increases. Swipe fees—the costs levied for channeling to merchants what customers charge on cards—have roughly doubled over the last decade, with affected industries citing a lack of competition as the reason. Mastercard and Visa can essentially dictate their rates, according to their adversaries on the issue. The processing charges are now restaurants’ third biggest expense, behind labor and food but ahead of significant line items like occupancy costs and utility charges, according to the National Restaurant Association. The Credit Card Competition Act would require that Mastercard or Visa charges be clearable through a third party, but it specifies that the alternative processor cannot be one that’s controlled by a foreign government. The stipulation appears to be aimed at China UnionPay, the network that is owned by the People’s Republic of China.
5 Common Mistakes New Restaurant Managers Make
Remaining one of the team. Are you grappling with the challenge of finding and nurturing effective management within the confines of your restaurant’s four walls? The allure of recruiting seasoned professionals from outside may seem tempting, promising to transform your operations into a lean, mean, and profitable machine. However, in my experience, this strategy rarely pays off. The real solution lies in developing and hiring your next managers from within. The trick is to help them avoid the five common mistakes new restaurant managers make. As a seasoned restaurant expert, coach, and creator of The Restaurant Prosperity Formula, I’ve learned the value of looking to your existing team for managerial talent. Not only are they already familiar with your business and culture, but they also come at a potentially lower cost than hiring a seasoned pro. I vividly recall my own journey from bartending at Coyote Springs Brewing Company to being approached by the owner to step into a managerial role. Despite initial reservations about a pay cut, I embraced the opportunity, ultimately experiencing significant financial growth as I climbed the ranks. However, not every promising employee is cut out to be a manager. Over the course of my time working in restaurants and then coaching restaurant owners, I identified five common mistakes that new managers make, leading to their downfall. Let’s explore these pitfalls and discover how to sidestep them effectively.
Reviews and Ratings are Decisive Factors
In dining decisions. Reviews and ratings are decisive factors for 91 percent of diners with 64 percent focusing on reviews less than a month old, according to a report from RightResponse AI. Additionally, 71 percent said that they “changed their mind and decided not to go to a restaurant” based upon negative reviews. “People read reviews, are influenced by reviews, and are very influenced by negative reviews,” George Swetlitz, co-founder of RightResponse AI, told Modern Restaurant Management magazine. “More people said that ‘the information in reviews’ influenced their decision than ‘the star rating of the restaurant’ – reviews are read, and they influence behavior, but you need to think in a broader sense. Reviews impact the number of diners available to your restaurant. Roughly 30 percent of restaurants have a rating below 4.0, and based on rating cutoffs, they are losing access to 53 percent of diners.” The AI-powered report analyzed more than 257,000 phrases from more than 100,000 reviews, uncovering trends, sentiments and behaviors affecting the restaurant industry. In a complementary report, 2024 Restaurant Diner Survey Insights, RightResponse AI examined diners’ online search behaviors, review habits, and expectations regarding review responses. Negative reviews are negative in a number of ways, Swetlitz noted.” “Negative reviews are longer than positive reviews, with one-star reviews being the longest. A single negative mention has consequences. For example, if there is a single negative mention of food, there is a 52 percent chance of that review being one or two stars, and a 74 percent chance of that review being a one-, two- or three-star review. A single negative service mention would mean a 61 percent chance of a one- or two-star review.
Why You Can’t Get a Restaurant Reservation
Table scalpers have turned the restaurant reservation system inside out. Everyone needs to eat somewhere, and in New York City that place is often a restaurant. New York is a city of long hours, tiny kitchens, cramped apartments—and dining out, a lot. There is, improbably, always an occasion: date night, working late, friends in town, New Year’s Eve, too tired to cook, in-laws, layoff, anniversary, breakup. But getting a decent dinner reservation here is a challenge. Any well-reviewed Italian joint? You’d better have one. Gourmet burger place? Good luck. The new French-Korean fried-chicken spot? Booked solid for months. In New York, the neighborhood restaurant doesn’t have much room for neighbors anymore. At Sailor, April Bloomfield and Gabriel Stulman’s new spot in Fort Greene, reservations are scooped up fourteen days in advance by residents of SoHo, Aspen, and East Hampton, who likely saw the place on some list, or while doomscrolling TikTok or Eater. The majority of diners log on to a restaurant’s Web site at 10:59 a.m., two weeks before they want to eat out, then wait, click, and pray. Pete Wells, who gave Sailor a three-star review in the Times, wrote that although the bar and two booths in front are set aside for walk-ins, reservations “disappear within minutes of being offered.” Locals are politely quoted a three-hour wait. Of Roscioli, a downtown outpost of the famous Roman restaurant, the Post wrote, “New Yorkers are risking their lives, begging, bribing and pleading to get a table at the Italian eatery.” Since the pandemic, tough reservations have gotten even tougher. (One poll indicated that, during lockdown, people missed restaurants more than they missed their friends and family.) To sidestep the reservation scrum, particularly at a hundred and fifty of the city’s buzziest restaurants, a new squad of businesses, tech impresarios, and digital legmen has sprung up, offering to help diners cut through the reservation red tape, for a price. In the new world order, desirable reservations are like currency; booking confirmations for 4 Charles Prime Rib, a clubby West Village steakhouse, have recently been spotted on Hinge and Tinder profiles.
Did You Know?
Micro-management versus people development. There’s a Big Difference in Restaurants. Micro-managing occurs for two reasons, and these are the excuses I used. First, the “I don’t trust anyone else to do it” reason. I didn’t think anyone else could do it as well as me and on time. What an ego! I was a new restaurant manager who didn’t know anything and here I thought I was the only one qualified and focused enough to do the job. The second reason, “it’s quicker if I just do it myself.” But is it?
Employee Tip
The restaurant industry has the highest degree of employee burnout. A study from BBADegree.org and Glassdoor found that Chipotle, Starbucks, and more restaurant companies had high degrees of burnout. While restaurant operators continue to struggle with both labor costs and employee retention, the foodservice industry may very well have deeper employee-side problems. According to a study of Glassdoor reviews just released from BBADegree.org (an organization that provides resources for prospective business professionals seeking higher education), workers in the restaurant and foodservice industry complain about burnout the most, as compared with other industries.