Sunday, December 11, 2011

A Consumer Guide on the Working Conditions of American Restaurants

The below link was sent to me by a reader via Facebook - thanks!

Comes as no surprise to me that those businesses having legal charges being filed regarding discrimination and wage theft listed on page 28 of the PDF linked below are in the Darden fold - including Red Lobster.  Red Lobster (and Darden) HATES it's employees.  Corporate greed of the past and top level leadership incompetence of the past and present have really made a mess of things.  Don't bite the hand that feeds you ya' dumb bastards.  And please do download & read the PDF, it is quite interesting.

Click through for the full article at Good Lifestyle.


Dine Out Ethically:  Find Out Which Restaurants Treat Their Employees Right

Anyone who has worked in the service industry knows that the public face of a restaurant hardly reveals what's going on behind the scenes. The chipper smiles of food service workers, who make up one-tenth of the U.S. workforce, often belie the fact that these workers can make poverty wages and endure horrible working conditions.

Now, diners have a new tool to tell the ethical restaurants from the grimy ones. Just in time for the new year, Restaurant Opportunities Centers United has created a National Diners' Guide to 186 of the most popular restaurants in the country [PDF]. The guide rates restaurants based on tipped worker wages, non-tipped worker wages, paid sick days, and opportunity for advancement—like Zagat for socially-conscious dining. If a restaurant meets ROC United's standard, they earn an icon; if not, they get a zero. Standout establishments are awarded a silver or gold star; shady businesses receive a frowny face. The guide also includes tip cards for restaurant owners and workers that inform them of their rights.

The guide covers everywhere from Burger King to five star restaurants, and the results are mostly depressing. A smattering of high scorers—like California's Chaya Restaurant Group or New York City's Colors—are nestled in a sea of zeros, earned from places like McDonald's, Red Lobster, Olive Garden, and even chains with good reps like Starbucks.

2 comments:

Anonymous said...

Just saw that a class action suit has been filed on Nov 17th against Darden by servers in NYC. Guess thats the proof in the pudding. Darden treats their workers like, well, you know!

Anonymous said...

red lobster treats their employees like absolute shit! Not to mention the fact that everything they cook is microwaved! gross! I never thought a restaurant could manage to take the cooking out of cooking! Everything gets cooked on a giant conveyer-belt, and the employees simply take the stuff off the belt and put it on the plate! Disgusting! you have no idea...