I have a lot of friends who work in restaurants, be it on a count of a depressed economy, by choice, as a stop-gap to total poverty, or as a means to fund school. I've also heard a lot of horror stories about the industry; physical assaults, sexual harrassment, and unpaid wages seem to be the norm. From what I can ascertain the whole industry is a cesspool of workplace law violations and is predicated on harassing staff, long hours, stress, frequent burnout, and rampant addiction issues.
Generally, food service industry jobs are a precarious form of employment that doesn't over much in the way of security, good wages, or a basis from which a young person can build a life. With that in mind it was with great interest that I read an article this past weekend in the Globe discussing the labour shortages in Toronto's burgeoning restaurant scene and the "problems" that restauranteurs face in hiring staff. This blog post is going to comment on the article, make a few observations, and offer some tips to young workers in the food service industry.
The Globe article interviews a number of players in Toronto's restaurant scene, but the focus of the article ends up being on Rob Rossi, the chef at the new restaurant Bestellen. I've never met Rossi, but I suspect he cried a lot as a child as he whines his way through a litany of complaints about the problems he has encounted hiring staff, such as: interviewing countless people, outrageous salary demands (a living wage is always outrageous), young inexperienced staff, the transitory nature of employees in the industry, and the dedication of his staff.
Boo hoo! Rossi seems like a reall swell boss and is clearly the norm within the industry. His comments point to some of the bizarre and deeper developments that have occurred within Canada's labour market and the attitudes that Canadian employers have developed over the past thirty odd years.
Within the new economy employers are typically no longer willing to train new employees and frequently demand fully formed workers from day one as a way to save costs in on-boarding employees, increase productivity, and avoid serving as training ground for their competitiors. In a labour market where the entry level job is an increasingly extinct species, one either has to have the exact skills the employers needs or has to engaged in unpaid work (read internship or a training program) to develop the necessary skill set for the industry.
This situation is a recent development within the labour market and can be traced back to the impact of neoliberal public policy through developments like governments not engaging in meaningful labour market planning, the imposed flexibility of corporate cost-cutting measures, workplace laws not responding to wider changes in the economy, and the lack of funding for programs that transition young people from school into the labour market.
The end result of all of this is that young workers get taken advantage of in the food service industry through employment standards being avoid, overtime pay not being provided, not paying back wages and a climate of fear where people are afraid to assert their rights. In situations where people are living paycheque to paycheque it's intimidating to ask for something that may well get you fired.
If you suspect you've experienced a violation of your rights, get informed about the Employment Standards Act and obtain legal advice. In the downtown core of Toronto there are a number of organizations that provide free legal assistance to workers who have had their rights violated, these are: Parkdale Community Legal Services, the Workers' Action Centre, West Toronto Community Legal Services, Kensington Bellwoods Community Legal Services, and the Human Rights Legal Support Centre. Also, if you really want to protect yourself in the workplace and have like minded co-workers, the UFCW-Canada and UNITE HERE respresent workers in the food service industry. In closing, here's an excellent video from CTV Victoria exposing a common scenario that young workers face, see:
While I certainly take your point about difficult working conditions in the service industry (in my home province of NB there is actually talk of a second, lower minimum wage for food and beverage workers), I think you are a far too liberal in handing out some pretty damning allegations. I mean a the whole industry is a cesspool of workplace law violations? seriously? In any industry there will unfortunately be examples of violations of human rights, employment standards or occupational health and safety standards. That's why we have independent administrative bodies such as human rights commissions and employment standards divisions investigate complaints and enforce the law.
ReplyDeleteSo while I recognize there are some trouble employers in the service industry, we should be careful not to paint entire sections of the economy with the same brush. I know of a number of restaurants and bars that value their employees and treat them very well. I also know a number of individuals who make excellent wages and - wait for it... - LOVE serving food.
There are thousands of restaurants in Toronto. Unfortunately it seems that a few high profile examples (such as the one depicted in the video) give an undeserved reputation to what I consider to be a fairly normal industry.
Thanks for your comment Dave.
ReplyDeleteWhile my comments may be damning, they are accurate nonetheless. The food service industry has always figured prominently on the Ministry of Labour's prosecutions and convictions statistics (http://www.yorku.ca/ddoorey/lawblog/?p=4605) so it's fair to make the assessment that there are systemic violations of workplace law occurring.
The poor reputation of restauranteurs is entirely deserved as many predatory owners exist who feel they have a carte blanche to abuse, harass, and exploit their employees in the face of lax regulation of the labour market by the Ontario government. This is a phenomena that mainly targets young workers in our province and it's entirely fair to problematize it as a serious issue the youth labour market.
In the food and restaurants industry, all the aspects as working in the industry, physical assaults, sexual harassment, and unpaid wages etc are very crucial points. It’s not only about this industry, in every industry these problems are arising. There are some good restaurants and hotels which are giving good services to their customers and workers as well. They are working on the business to employ phenomenon. Although, a great post on a crucial topic. Thanks a lot for sharing with us.
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