My mom worked as a waitress in local restaurants in the 60’s and 70’s and had health insurance for herself and us. At some point it was taken away when businesses began slashing health insurance benefits for blue collar workers.
3
I applaud all of this- in this industry, most don't have health care, you're expected to come to work sick as long as you're ambulant, there are rarely scheduled breaks for workers- I have worked, countless times, 12-17 hour shifts with no break except to use the bathroom or bolt down a meal, often standing up. And if you protest that, you're canned. It's how it's been forever.
For those concerned about implementing the changes in this article for cost reasons, etc., may I suggest that you start by being a "good" boss- creating an inclusive, communicative, humorous, friendly work environment, where all employees are treated with respect and have a voice, where operations are run with order, clarity, and consistency and not by ego. Treat your staff like a valued "family" after choosing carefully and well and you will be rewarded. It's a start, and it's free.
4
I would really like to know how these issues look in cross cultural comparison. How rampant is drug and alcohol abuse and mental health distress in European kitchens? Elsewhere staff may have pay in proportion to living expenses, healthcare, vacation etc. They may also have different food culture so how do these differences account for variations in the types of social and psychological issues seen among restaurant staff? I would guess it's hard work everywhere and people have problems the world over, but mitigating social policies and cultural practices of a particular country are a quantifiable protective factor.
3
@Name, I can only speak for Southern Italy- my husband worked in a Michelin kitchen there. The chef was physically and mentally abusive and it was a grueling, toxic environment, to say the least, BUT, there was a three hour break every day, healthcare was free, and the cost of living was low, but with nice housing options.
2
@Lella
I can see the issues being comparable in high end Michelin places and those striving toward that ring and have heard as such. But in the typical local restaurant, would that be the case or far from typical? What is the average eatery like to work at by comparison? I can't help but think it's a less toxic situation abroad versus in the US, on average. Wish this kind of information was more widely available.
2
Many of the people who go into the restaurant business have a fantasy that it’s like giving a party every night. Friends will come, people will be fed, good humor will be shared, everyone will be happy, happy, happy.
That totally happens - about one night a year! The other nights, the meat freezer is on the fritz, the Coke canisters didn’t come in, somebody threw up in the ladies room and the chef is high on cocaine. Add into the mix that a group of male customers got intoxicated and one of them grabbed a waitress’s breast. It’s a hard knock life.
I’m glad that there is more awareness these days. Restaurant work is honest work and it’s tough. You have to enjoy taking care of people, some of whom are at their worst. Glad these owners and groups are attempting to change the restaurant culture. It’s about time!
3
I sat next to a Culinary Arts faculty member at a funeral recently, and he said it was his tenth funeral of a recent graduate in two years. All deaths from impaired people accidents or suicides.
This was a relatively small community college system program. The faculty member admitted the program needed to do more at the front end to support the future employees of the restaurant industry and food service. He told me the industry MUST admit and get in front of the epidemic of abuse in kitchens.
I admitted, as a substance abuse hospital administration leader, I knew a back door to a kitchen was a perfect spot to score drugs in a new town.
I’m sending him this article because I believe it may help him with administration in setting up future programming. Starting early, and then placement of students into places like those mentioned in this article, may help save lives AND the industry.
6
How wonderful to learn that Employment-Work,
a complex multidimensional process, over
differential times, in ranges of environments,
engaged in by diverse people, representing types,
levels and qualities of health, wellness, as well as
diseases, acute and chronic, is being related to as
a framework and opportunity for Well-BEing.
Hopefully this change will BEcome "infectious!"
1
Skyrocketing rent puts a dent in margins, wages and the very existence of eating establishments, in the end taking toll on well-being, not unlike its impact on regular people forking out ungodly sums for housing.
Once again, neoliberal brainwashing has us searching for solutions to adapt to an unfair if not cruel system -- in this case mindfulness meetings -- instead of the system being reformed to leave more in people's pockets and that also goes for restaurant owners.
The next Democratic president, be it in 2020, 2024 or beyond has to tackle this issue. A federal rent control act, perhaps?
6
Kudos to owners who are investing in their employees' wellness. It is better experience when I know I am not squeezing the life out of someone to feed myself.
8
Love the article. I offer some of this, but not all of this. Margins just too tight. Glad to see large restaurant groups going all in on employees though! The employee retention is no joke but us little fries do what we can and hopefully hire and manage smart enough to keep the good employees coming in and coming back.
5
Everyone should spend some time working in the restaurant industry. This is where it gets real.
Can you imagine the difference it would make if it was a requirement for every Congressional member to do a couple of weeks working in a restaurant before taking office? Full time, same shifts, same pay as the other workers.
Maybe then these folks would understand how hard actual Americans are working, paying high payroll taxes — sometimes on tips they never receive, getting no benefits, no paid time off, and just barely getting by until the next crisis that puts them over the edge.
And, no, you don’t ever forget.
20
@Chickpea brilliant idea! And i say this without sarcasm or irony.
1
I worked in the restaurant industry for 13 years and was uninsured the entire time. The restaurant/bartender lifestyle also lends itself to being a breeding ground for substance abuse. So glad this industry is finally coming around, treating their hard working employees with respect.
15
Farr said, "but you’ve got to make sure you’re giving people what you think they need." Therein lies the problem--what "you think they need" can be a awfully far cry from what they know they need--why not actually engage your employees and provide the support they need.
Otherwise, this typifies the holier-than-thou philanthropic attitudes of far too many business people...
5
In many respects, restauant staff are like other caregiver professions. When they do their jobs well, they are easing the burden in the daily life of others. Caring for others well, whether in healthcare, teaching or food service (or family care!), is incredibly hard work, day-in and day-out. To sustain in any of these areas requires self-care and attention to health and well-being. I applaud every business that makes self-care and well-being a manifest goal through practical support not just lipservice to wellness philosophy. Couple these efforts to living wage, the greatest stress reducer of all.
19
Restaurants are notoriously stressful environments for workers.
Surrounded by fire, flesh, cash, alcohol, knives, narrow profit margins and (often) darkness, people who cook and serve food for a living must contend with the constant demands of guests (who want the most value) and owners (who want the most return).
Not a good recipe.
36
@Scott S my first job out of college was (seriously) a dishwasher in a restaurant. hey, I wasn't a good student..... anyway, I think everyone should have to do restaurant work at some point in their lives. for the reasons you state - it teaches you what real job stress is, and you earn more respect for those who actually make a career out of this kind of work.
32
You’re so right! I worked as a short order cook while waiting to go to grad school! It was a terrific job experience working under lots of stress and it taught me valuable lessons about multi-tasking!!
10
I applaud the restaurants that are taking more of an interest in the health and well-being of their staff. It's a tough job, and frankly, I'm surprised that many people are able to stick with it for years.
Although I'm not so crazy about the extra fee tacked on. Not that it's much or that I would ask to take it off, but tip percentages have also magically risen. Used to be 10%, then 15%, then 18%, now 20%. Pretty soon the tips and extra fees will be higher than the actual meal. Kind of like what's happened with airline tickets.
2
@Braniff
Of course you might not like the extra fee, you're a human being. But think of it this way, if employers had been offering better wages and benefits all along, the fee wouldn't be "extra". It would simply be the expected price of doing business.
It's the old Catch-22 we find ourselves complaining about Walmart: We all say we hate sending manufacturing jobs overseas, yet scream if an American made good costs more because the company paid a decent wage.
13
I see many comments about how "this is how the industry is and suck it up." The same can often be said in higher education, when those of us who went through the system decades ago did so without the supports most students receive nowadays. The industry may not have changed, but the people working in it have and kudos to any employer who seeks to embrace a healthier image of an industry culture that killed Anthony Bourdain.
4
Meanwhile, fast food workers nationwide buckle up, choke down a few aspirin, and keep the trenches filled, knowing that they are infinitely replaceable.
5
Health care, family leave and higher wages would help greatly to this end!!
6
May I please substitute some electro cranial stimulation, in place of the amuse bouche? You're onto something Sean, Godspeed.
1
just pay them
8
Fad
Yeah Yoga is cool. How about livable wages, health insurance, and paid sick days, not to mention the ability to whistle-blow without retribution?
21
@ JBC Indianapolis
To answer your question succintly: no, I never worked in a restaurant. Furthermore, I have minimized my visits to restaurants since no-smoking rule there went into effect.
My 14 years in the restaurant business was at only one company, the first NYC Hard Rock Cafe on 57th St. HRC was picketed to allow union representation. The restaurant delayed opening by three hours to allow the Union to make their pitch to the staff. The Union reps never showed up.
Because of that event, the Hard Rock Cafe instituted a number a employee benefits that were fitting for the 1980's restaurant worker, including health and retirement benefits. I was able to start a 401K and use it to buy my first house. I left the company in 1998.
5
Now pay restaurant workers (especially prep and line) an actual living wage! $12-14/hr is simply unrealistic in places like Austin, where a 1-room studio is $950 a month.
11
I worked in a SF Bay Area restaurant (Mudd's) for 28 years that was a pioneer in putting the wellbeing of the works first in 1982. The kitchen was designed with large, opening (for fresh air) windows that looked out on oak trees, to make the prep work as pleasant as possible. The owner also wanted to provide onsite daycare. However, none of the employees has children, so she built dog runs within site of the kitchen instead. There was also an acre and a half of heirloom fruit trees and organic vegetables out back that I would take breaks in between shifts.
I realize most restaurants aren't built on several acres of parklike land, but the sensibility this represents can be nurtured in most places.
I applaud this movement and hope it can continue. The toll that restaurant work can take on those who make it a longtime career is significant.
13
I don't know what to think about this, but it should build community if nothing else. A comment below says wellness programs do not work, but it cannot hurt? Where I live it is not unusual for women to bring a kid to work occasionally for whatever reasons. We Americans are so focused too much of the time when a bit of wit and humor could get a lot of mileage.
4
Research shows that wellness programs do not work. Nice story though. Great publicity for those involved.
1
@Luke I've been in the business a long time and I'm wondering what you mean by, "not work"? The goals and metrics are very broad for these type of things. Do you mean that they're underutilized? Not effective (and how is that judged), aren't a draw for talent or retention? There are different metrics and desired outcomes to base that these "work or don't". I get what your saying but can you be specific and possibly include a link to the research you refer to?
5
@Luke I have no idea what you base this one, but i'm pretty sure you are grouping the wider corporate 'wellness programs', which are basically just a bunch of highly occasional classes on eating right and maybe a few handouts. A good wellness program is nothing like those. All things evolve and many companies are realizing they can't just pay lip-service anymore, they actually have to provide meaningful intervention and the leadership has to lead by example.
2
@KB doi:10.1001/jama.2019.3307
"In this cluster randomized trial involving 32 974 employees at a large US warehouse retail company, worksites with the wellness program had an 8.3-percentage point higher rate of employees who reported engaging in regular exercise and a 13.6-percentage point higher rate of employees who reported actively managing their weight, but there were no significant differences in other self-reported health and behaviors; clinical markers of health; health care spending or utilization; or absenteeism, tenure, or job performance after 18 months."
Wellness programs are not effective. Presumably for the same reasons ~70% of Americans are overweight or obese. People do not care. Unfortunately.
1
Another solution to America's poor health problem would be a shorter work week so people have the time to take care of themselves and do more than just work to keep their heads above water. How about standard 6 weeks vacation like Europe instead of the measly 2 we get a year? We shouldn't be tethered to corporations for healthcare either. I guess business owners are going to have to lead the way since our government doesn't seem willing put any kind of legal protections in place for mental health, maternity or paternity leave, or any kind of social support system or financial safety net. The way we are 'living' is insane.
25
@Jennifer It is, but restaurant owners, the subject of this article, have to focus on what they can impact. They can't afford to pay for 6 weeks of vacation and they can't make national healthcare work. This is about working within the system we have, and making wider changes at a more political level.
2
@Jennifer
When I was in the industry, there was no paid time off of any kind. You didn’t get vacations, paid holidays or sick leave, and I suspect that’s still true for most restaurant workers.
Benefits? The only benefit was you knew you wouldn’t go hungry.
2
Many great restaurants have - and probably always did have - a family feeling towards staff. Treating staff well follows naturally.
3
@Walsh
I think "family feeling" is mostly a function of the owners being literally a family, or individual.
The closer ownership is to their employees, the more they'll treat them as fellow human beings. Any small business, not just restaurants.
Conversely, the opposite can apply in extremes. Work for a maniac (I have), and there is no HR department to appeal to.
5
This is such an American approach towards labor. Doing stuff piecemeal. No unions, no government.
Restaurants will face a huge test with Covid 19. Restaurants across China are closed. If the virus spreads widely in the US, restaurants will be ground zero for transmission. How will these employees fare?
It's great that these small social contracts are being built within establishments. But they're not sufficient.
Despite its size, America needs a vast, new social contract. From the ground up. How will that happen?
21
@Brian I think even with a new social contract all this stuff would still be good to do though?
BTW, many restaurants are re-opening in China, and adapting by using methods of tracking body temperature of servers, preparers and other handlers, as well as protocols for keeping people away from each other. They are adapting like we will adapt.
2
Great idea, encouraging workers to lead healthy lives. If you coupled this philosophy with universal health care,and paid sick leave;then you would have even a better outcome. Low paid service workers who come to work with flus or colds should not be preparing our food or drinks.
28
Short of Medicare for all but I support this concept and as a citizen of Austin I’ll consider Comedor for our next outing. I’ve seen this movement happening not just for younger people but for older folks and retirees. I take advantage of my opportunities.
3
This is well and good but the bottom line is if somebody wants to be healthy they will and deep down if it is not their number one priority they will not.
You can throw all the health stuff you want at them but the bottom line is the first paragraph.
1
Lipstick on a pig. Single payer, nationalized, medicare for all with private options allowed to remain for those who want to do yoga or get a facelift. Now, when we need it for the looming disaster.
32
Agree! But, at least these owners aren’t sitting around waiting for the government to take action. It’s a step in the right direction that I would pay a little extra for at a restaurant.
5
@MG Exactly, why are people so negative about this? Yes, national healthcare is a disaster in the US. This article is about what some people are doing in the domains they manage. It's not lipstick on a pig. All good acts are good, none of these restaurant owners can change national policy, but they can change the culture of their business.
7
This is just an advertisement for a handful of restaurants that have the resources to hire a PR apparatus. No movement is afoot here.
29
Why offer only yoga and not Christian education, for instance, as yoga is viewed as a religion to some of us, including the millions of Hindus around the world who practice it?
3
The yoga referred to is the physical practice, not the study of yoga philosophy.
9
Seriously? Yoga is for everyone. No religion attached.
2
@Bill Hollman You can't separate the two according to those who practice both.
Wellness practices to assuage capitalist culture is like putting a bandaid on an gushing wound. The root of the problem is that in this world, humans are expendable and profit always wins. If you can't cut it, with or without meditation/yoga/ deep breaths/therapy- too bad. Corporate sector, schools in high poverty areas, now the restaurant industry......are all trying to use wellness techniques in order to allow their subjects to function longer in worlds that are ultimately unsustainable.
17
@LaurenL I'm sorry about our negative attitude about people doing positive things. I feel you are 100% wrong. Yes there are many systemic and institutional issues, and for now we have to live with them until we can sustain national change. Meanwhile, real people are living with real problems and these people are trying to do what they can AND stay in business. This restaurant business is hard, which is why the culture is traditionally so brutal. I think this is result of wellness becoming more important to all Americans and is a really good sign. In fact, this is probably part of the gradual groundswell of awareness that will lead to national change. I'm sorry i can't make all this happen overnight for you.
1
@Kyle But have you considered that perhaps all that you're doing is prolonging the agony by putting band aids on a deeper problem instead of letting it collapse and hitting rock bottom thereby forcing change?
"Sentimentality has never solved problems." (I am a highly sentimental person so I couldn't do what I know logically is the better thing to do.)
1
Wouldn't it be nice if this kind of attention to wellness and work/life balance were commonplace in every work environment?
Bravo to those who are doing this. It's one thing I hope is contagious!
9
@Cindy Imagine if the health care industry adopted some of these practices for its workers.
My son was a chief at several high end restaurants, drugs and alcohol were rampant among the staffs. Abuse of the waitstaff was viewed as a job benefit. Contempt of the customers was also common and verbal abuse by the head chief was pretty much an industry standard. After about 10 years he had enough and left the industry. The restaurant industry has a long way to go.
16
Restaurants that give free stuff to their employees are likely some really low percentage of real restaurants. I can find among any group of any things a few cases that would make for a good news paper article if described by a good writer. And while the story may cover a new thing it may also cover something that is momentary and not representative of any real alteration of the status quo. A good feelings story about an instance that will pass and not grow.
Medicare for all would be the best thing that could happen to restaurant workers.
16
These are such esoteric benefits that would never take hold in an industry in which a single leaky pipe in the kitchen that costs a few hundred dollars to repair won't be fixed until it falls on someone's head. So, how about some practical options aside from the obvious health care, sick days, and livable wage: kitchen mats (thicker than 1cm), a shoe allowance so we can afford supportive, slip-proof footwear (not from WalMart), working handsoap dispensers in the kitchen, proper ventilation to prevent summer temps from regularly exceeding 100 degrees, functional lighting, First World bathrooms that are cleaned more than once daily, First Aid kits that are restocked more often than twice a year, 4 shifts line/1 shift prep so cooks get a break from the constant stress of hectic service, an edible family meal?
53
@Charmaine McFarlane This sounds familiar-did I work there with you? No, of course, but I did work in a kitchen for a very well known, upscale company, and my kitchen was the same. To me, the biggest benefit of all this is safety. De-stressing during shifts is paramount to preventing accidents; anything from minor burns, to knife cuts that require stiches, to falling and breaking a bone. When the mind is 3 steps ahead of the body, it's a recipe for disaster. I know this, as all of the above happened to me in the 13 years I spent with the apron.
6
@Charmaine McFarlane PREACH!!
2
If "customers" in general were nicer and more respectful, restaurant staff wouldn't be so stressed. I waited tables for 4 years and have seen the worst humanity has to offer. Percentage wise, women patrons are by far the worst.. 75% complain without reason or cause.. About 25% of men complain, but it's more of about "power and ego" than anything else. And now that everyone is bringing the "family dog" into the restaurant that adds another dynamic of stress and anxiety.
17
That’s odd. I waited tables, and so have/do my kids, and complaints were far from the norm. We trade stories about the memorably horrible customers; we remember them because they aren’t the norm. (Of course, I don’t count people who ask for ketchup or don’t look you in the eye like a person.) We all expected women to be complainers/and or bad tippers, and found the reverse to be true.
Have you considered finding another job?
5
@Aaron
You are funny. People bringing a 'family dog' into a restaurant brings anxiety? Orange County is messin' with you, man.
@S Turner I agree. I think, for the most part, customers can be quite pleasant. I've waited tables and tended bar on and off for over 40 years. Additionally, I found no clear evidence that one gender/race/profession tips better than another. Years and years ago that may have been true as dining out used to be the bastion of the white-patriarchy. Now, everyone eats out and everyone is aware of tipping and dining protocol. The restaurant industry is a tough gig- gotta be a people person to survive in it.
4
This is a great article to run alongside the one earlier in the week about Coronavirus and how many workers in these types of jobs can't "work from home"as recommended by the CDC. Unhealthy work environments are staffed by unhealthy workers who have no option but to come in when sick or lack adequate childcare. Enjoy your next restaurant meal, folks.
17
Or you could reduce your employees’ stress levels by using a business model that includes health care, paid time off and parental/caretaker leave. And perhaps, just perhaps, a wage scale that means they only have to have one job in order to pay the rent. If a business can’t do that, then they don’t deserve our money.
47
Some of these "perks" seem to be the random discovery/musings of the owners of things that they like and so are seeming to proselytize to their employees, ie the yoga, meditation, cranial blah, blah, blah.
It's a tough business that is going through a lot of change caused by rising rent and labor costs and threats to the tipping system which has really been the paradigmatic backbone of this industry.
There are no easy answers- monster operations that churn millions of dollars are barely generating single digit profits. But, at long last, kitchen employees have begun to see their wages grow through a combination of factors.
One of those factors- a grassroots labor drive for a $15 minimum wage can take some credit- as can Trump's brutal anti-immigrant agenda. But mostly, a very hot economy.
In any event, I don't care for managements "weird" ideas for making me feel good- I (the restaurant employee that I was) would rather have government mandated standards that guarantee some basic stuff like family leave, some basic health care, minimum vacation days,, etc.
You can keep your scalp massages or whatever.
80
@Kevin Katz
Exactly correct. All that nonsense doesn't replace a living wage, health insurance, the ability to take sick days without fear of losing your job, etc.
Most people, even restaurant employees, take all these things for granted in the rest of the civilized world.
31
@Kevin Katz I mean... I'd take scalp massages. It doesn't replace actual healthcare though.
My work has free salsa classes, they're great. If they offered them instead of my insurance I'd leave.
14
It’s good to take care of yourself. That said, this business isn’t for everyone. Culinary Schools made promises the industry cannot deliver. Cry me a river. Others inability to keep up, or their desire to have kids, or their need to take a vacation, or their dreams of yoga or spending time with family and friends is how I rose as a cook and became a chef owner of a restaurant. If it was easy, everyone would do it.
6
I love this—my daughters and I have all worked in the restaurant business, and it can be a hard-drinking and stressful world—but I’m curious about surcharges for healthcare etc.
Is this to draw attention to it? A bit of moral greenwashing, a way to help customers understand that they’re dealing with an ethical business, or a way for customers to opt out if they wish?
Count me as one of the people who prefer costs baked into the prices, just like rent and supplies. Like many people, I’m on a budget. I always mentally count in healthy tips as part of the cost, but I really hate random unexpected surcharges. Very few people would protest, but they might well resent it and not return, or tip less.
Any information about employment practices/ beliefs belongs on the website, not as a surprise charge.
23
@S Turner I like the idea that there's alternatives to drinking for camaraderie. The running club won't be for everyone, but it's good to have.
2
About time the industry and its patrons realize the toll it takes. Long hours of hard work across weekends and holidays where breaks and vacations are scorned wore me down emotionally and physically. I scored some health care with one gig and even paid vacation but I was burnt out and desperate for change. I felt trapped I was a good leader and problem solver unable to leverage that skill set outside the industry. Somehow I managed a (highly envious) miraculous escape. Even 20 years out of the chef business, I still fear one day if I lose my cushy corporate job I might have to go back.
I’d gladly pay the surcharge to support my fellow humans have a better and equal life
25
I’m happy that some restaurants are starting to take awareness of the burnout in this industry and doing something about it. I’m in college and the case for me, as with many people my age, is that it’s hard to keep up with tuition, grades, and work at the same time. I’m almost always tired and, as my boss calls it, “amped”.
10
I encourage yoga, but also food safety and sanitation concerns. This seems to be in conflict here.
10
@Robert How?
Most bizarre! -- the only two words that come to mind.
6
@Tuvw Xyz Have you ever worked for long periods of time in the restaurant industry? To many of us who have, these changes seem most welcome and not at all bizarre.
10
"The idea to change an industry that has burnout baked into it." correction: the idea *is* to change
3
I commend the owners of Comedor for encouraging their staff members to live healthy lives. It also appears that Comedor staff are encouraged to spend quality time with thier families as well. All employers should take note.
https://dallas.eater.com/2020/3/2/21160509/chef-peter-barlow-comedor-social-media-outrage
29
@Anon
When I saw Comedor mentioned, I thought immediately of this. Bravo, Erales, for calling out that narcissistic clown Barlow. Comedor sounds like a progressive, supportive workplace. I'd love to patronize it there next time I'm in ATX.