The combination of cutting costs and adding the service charge enables her to pay all staff, at least $20 per hour, plus tips.
PORTLAND, Maine — A Portland restaurant is trying to retain workers during the pandemic by paying more than $20 per hour plus tips to every employee.
Corrinna Stum opened Ruby’s West End in April 2021 with her husband, Matt.
For the first six months, Corrinna was in the kitchen. She said she just hired the first kitchen staff in the last four weeks. Like other restaurant owners, she has been struggling to hire in the pandemic.
In order to attract and retain staff, they took a unique approach to pay more. They cut some traditional restaurant costs: using donated table linens, washing them at the Soap Bubble, the laundromat next door, saving money on a laundry service. They also use a paper spreadsheet to manage reservations, instead of paying for a third-party website such as OpenTable. Paper menus are replaced by QR codes that people scan using their phones.
She said the measures took some time to get used to but did not hurt operations or cause additional costs.
“We’ve replaced those expenses in that category, and put them into our labor category,” Stum said.
Stum did add a cost though, for customers: a 20% service charge.
The combination of cutting costs and adding the service charge enables her to pay all staff, both front and back of house, the same wages of at least $20 per hour, plus tips.
“It created a fair environment,” Stum said. “It’s the right thing to do.”
The minimum wage in Portland, Maine, is $12.15 per hour, but service employees who receive more than $30 a month in tips, such as restaurant workers can be paid a “sub-minimum wage” of $6.08 an hour. If a service employee’s direct wage and total tips do not equal or exceed $12.15 per hour, the employer must pay the service employee the difference.
“When I’m being taken care of by my employer, and able to take care of myself and not worry every week on if I’m going be able to pay my Portland rent, I’m able to take care of the people that I care about,” Olivia Shipsey, the restaurant’s morning manager, said. “It makes it really easy to put your whole heart into…
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