Better Pay for Restaurant Workers
Many restaurants lose workers because they do not give them the benefits and incentives that they deserve. Even before COVID, restaurants were losing employees because they did not give any healthcare benefits at all, and even restaurants that did give healthcare benefits only did so to full time workers after a certain amount of time employed. After COVID, the unemployment rate for chefs and cooks has increased drastically, because most people want healthcare benefits in case a COVID related incident occurs.
Many workers are not paid enough for what they do. Most chefs and cooks work excruciatingly long hours, and get paid at least close to minimum wage (and in most restaurants, back of house workers do not get tips). For most full time employees at restaurants, they make only enough money to survive. Even after raises and promotions, their pay only goes up 50 cents to $1 an hour, which does make a small dent, but it is not enough to make a noticeable difference in the way that workers are treated. Because of the countless hours, hard work, and extreme stress that restaurant workers are put under, their pay should be increased. I had worked at a lower high end restaurant for almost a year, and in the summer, I was working 40+ hour weeks, and making a very low wage. Most workers at the restaurant lasted no more than a couple months, because they could not deal with how little they were getting paid. This shows that even at a restaurant that brings in money fast, the management still treats employees poorly.
Restaurant workers do not receive paid time off or paid vacations. A lot of restaurant employees are paid by the hour, and not the year. This means that to make the amount of money for them to live, they have to constantly work and get more hours in, so they can make the paycheck bigger. This also means that if a restaurant employee that is paid by the hour wants a vacation or needs sick days/personal days, they do not make any money such as someone who gets paid annually would. The head chef at the same restaurant I was at before would not take any time off of work, would work overtime, and come in to prep every day that the restaurant was not open. He had to do this all because he was getting paid hourly, and that was the only way to make a significant amount of money. Paid time off is something that workers should be able to look forward to, not regret that they do not have it.
In conclusion, workers in restaurants should generally be treated better, and with more respect. That includes healthcare benefits for all employees, better pay, and paid time off for workers that get hourly wage instead of annual pay.
Restaurant workers do not receive paid time off or paid vacations. A lot of restaurant employees are paid by the hour, and not the year. This means that to make the amount of money for them to live, they have to constantly work and get more hours in, so they can make the paycheck bigger. This also means that if a restaurant employee that is paid by the hour wants a vacation or needs sick days/personal days, they do not make any money such as someone who gets paid annually would. The head chef at the same restaurant I was at before would not take any time off of work, would work overtime, and come in to prep every day that the restaurant was not open. He had to do this all because he was getting paid hourly, and that was the only way to make a significant amount of money. Paid time off is something that workers should be able to look forward to, not regret that they do not have it.
In conclusion, workers in restaurants should generally be treated better, and with more respect. That includes healthcare benefits for all employees, better pay, and paid time off for workers that get hourly wage instead of annual pay.
Work Cited
“More Restaurant Employees Are Quitting than in Any Other Industry, Recent Data Shows.” Nation’s Restaurant News, 5 Jan. 2022, www.nrn.com/workforce/more-restaurant-employees-are-quitting-any-other-industry-recent-data-shows.
Comments
Post a Comment