"restaurant workers" news and stories

Celebrity chef Bobby Flay will throw down $800,000 to restaurant workers who claim they were swindled out of wages and tips.

The TV star denies any wrongdoing in the case but said in court documents that he would rather pay a settlement than go to trial.

The money will be served up to waitstaff, bartenders, bussers and runners who worked at three of Flay's New York City restaurants -- Mesa Grill, Bar Americain and the now-closed Bolo -- between January 2003 and September 2009.

Be kind when tipping your waitress next time you dine out. A new report shows restaurant workers around the country may be getting a raw deal from employers, the Washington Post reported.

While restaurants may have bounced back from the economic slump, the industry's workers are still suffering from low wages and a lack of benefits, according to a new report from the Restaurant Opportunities Centers United (ROC), a nonprofit organization that advocates better wages and work conditions for restaurant workers, the paper reported.

The average restaurant worker made $12,868 in 2008, compared with $45,371 for employees in the general private sector, according to labor bureau statistics.

The report said 90 percent of restaurant staffers don't get health insurance or sick days, 67 percent go to work sick and 38 percent are forced to work off the clock.

It amazes me now to think back to my days working at a pizza restaurant in the mid 80s, when we never wore gloves when we prepared food. Ever. We handled the dough, the bread for sandwiches, even salad items by hand (well, we used forks and tongs but our hands were involved sometimes too). We never even thought of wearing gloves, but this was before more intense health worries and stricter guidelines. Today, if I go to a sandwich place and I see they aren't wearing gloves, I don't eat there (and, no, I'm not some food dictator, I don't go looking in the kitchen, I'm talking about a casual observation).

But what about wearing masks?