Restaurant owners... unpaid training?

[vmaxnc]

The lesson here is to know all the particulars beforehand, and to not blame someone else for not doing so. Consider this an investment in your future.

[eureka1]

Originally Posted by jlawrence01

Personally, I would make a call to your state's wage and hour division and provide them with the details of your experience. The situation you described is illegal in most states.

They only get away with it because people don't report it.

What he said. In spades.

[bobtn]

Originally Posted by beth98

Restaurants have to pay standard minimum wage for training.

OP take this as a lesson that you shouldn't "interview" for free. Yes, what he is doing is likely illegal. File a complaint with your local attorney general or labor board, which should at least cause him a headache, and move on.

Contact the DOL. They will gently (LOL) guide him on the error of his ways. What he did is blatantly illegal.

[STT Resident]

I owned and operated a restaurant for 16 years and what you're describing is exactly what I practiced and with never an issue. A prospective employee who'd "passed" the interview process and seemed a good fit would come in for either one or two 2-3 hour shifts to learn the procedures on the floor under the supervision of either a seasoned employee or myself.

The first session would be essentially a "tag along behind, watch and learn" usually starting at opening time to learn opening procedures and, if it worked out, then the second would be for the applicant to work one or two tables independently at the back end of the evening and to learn closing procedures. They weren't paid but were given a nice big dinner to take home.

[bobtn]

Originally Posted by STT Resident

I owned and operated a restaurant for 16 years and what you're describing is exactly what I practiced and with never an issue. A prospective employee who'd "passed" the interview process and seemed a good fit would come in for either one or two 2-3 hour shifts to learn the procedures on the floor under the supervision of either a seasoned employee or myself.

The first session would be essentially a "tag along behind, watch and learn" usually starting at opening time to learn opening procedures and, if it worked out, then the second would be for the applicant to work one or two tables independently at the back end of the evening and to learn closing procedures. They weren't paid but were given a nice big dinner to take home.

Had anyone filed a complaint with the DOL, you'd have been fried. A sibling worked for a state DOL for 31 years. Hourly staff MUST be paid for EVERY hour you require them to be there, whether for training, meetings, to talk with machine operators on a shift they are relieving, for anything.

If an employer is found to have violated that, and the DOL finds out, normally several YEARS of payroll records would be audited, or a smaller sample might be used (say 6 months), and the error factor would be used to extrapolate wages owed over several years, plus penalties, interest, and employer taxes.

Now many employers are unaware of basic employment law, but the DOL doesn't care that much. It fries those who violate whether intentional or accidental.
http://www.nolo.com/legal-encycloped...q-29040-3.html

[STT Resident]

Originally Posted by bobtn

Had anyone filed a complaint with the DOL, you'd have been fried.

Very much doubt it. Many of my fellow restaurateurs both did and still do this, there's never been a complaint as far as I'm aware (and it's a pretty small community) and our DOL has way more important issues to deal with. Seriously, we're not talking about lengthy unpaid internships but a few hours of hands-on (primarily observation) time for the benefit of both the applicant and the employer so that both parties can get a better idea of "the fit". If the "fit" isn't going to work, it's far more sensible to at least get an idea over a couple of hours than hire on someone cold and then have to go through all the hassle of letting them go if they don't work out.

Anyway, the cost of the dinner(s) amounted to considerably more than minimum wage and was always very much appreciated.

[bobtn]

Originally Posted by STT Resident

Very much doubt it. Many of my fellow restaurateurs both did and still do this, there's never been a complaint as far as I'm aware (and it's a pretty small community)

That is the key..no complaints filed. The DOL loves stuff like this, as they collect big fines, with next to no work. It is very simple, employee files complaint, they investigate, and require you to let them have access to all employees who had similar roles. As soon as they find one other person who tells them training was unpaid, they will issue a ruling against you, and require full payroll data by employee for the period used to extrapolate the total unpaid wages, fines, and penalties.

I know bigger corps who also thought they could get away with this, who were fried. One 25 miles from me ended up paying over a million bucks out. It started with one employee filing a complaint over an unpaid 10 minutes daily.

[Hemlock140]

Originally Posted by jlawrence01

Personally, I would make a call to your state's wage and hour division and provide them with the details of your experience. The situation you described is illegal in most states.

They only get away with it because people don't report it.

It's also a federal law. Like unpaid internships, unpaid training is legal only if the person is being trained but not doing actual work. In this case, they can put you in a classroom with a teacher or slideshow, and teach you about serving, or even have you follow someone around the restaurant all night, but if you pick up food and deliver it, set up a table with silverware, or any other work that someone else would have had to do, you have to be paid.