To send or not to send?
This is the issue facing restaurant owners and operators during one of the most difficult hiring environments of recent decades. The Food and Drug Administration on Monday approved Pfizer and BioNTech’s Covid-19 vaccine, opening the door for jobs to choose to force workers to get the vaccine. But amid rising unemployment benefits, hesitation around Covid, obstacles to childcare and more, the industry is already facing a shortage of available workers and adding a vaccine mandate to the box could reduce both directions.
Major industry players have remained silent on vaccine mandates for restaurant staff. McDonald’s has recently withdrawn the date back to the office until Oct. 11 and said it will require its U.S. corporate staff to be fully vaccinated by Sept. 27, with exceptions for religious or medical reasons allowed. .
Chipotle Chief Financial Officer Jack Hartung told CNBC this week after FDA approval that the company was seeking feedback from employees and had not yet made a decision on the firing obligation, but was in “active conversations” on the subject. The company has encouraged employees to get the vaccine, Hartung said, adding that he hoped FDA approval would help those at the fence take the step to inoculate themselves.
In New York City, restaurant workers must have at least one dose of Covid vaccination according to Mayor Bill de Blasio’s Key to NYC Pass program, which began this month and will be implemented on the 13th. of September. Philippe Massoud, owner and chef of Ilili and Ilili Box, said the mandate was not a problem for most of his staff. But he lost two, possibly three, workers who did not want to be vaccinated, and generally have about 20 workers due to the labor crisis.
“Certainly, it is aggravating the situation,” he said of the workers who left office. “We hope they change their minds. In addition to everything you have to do with the increase in the delta variant, which also creates its own complexity. So we’re getting a little bit of everything.”
In Austin, Texas, restaurateur Eric Silverstein owns The Peached Tortilla and Fat City and said 95% of his staff is vaccinated. The company has encouraged vaccination, paying workers $ 30 to get the shot and setting it up through its human resources department, but it stopped requiring vaccination of workers.
“We had such a high participation rate when it came to getting the vaccine voluntarily, I didn’t think we should mandate it,” he said, adding that all workers wear masks to their closed restaurants.
But for those who choose not to receive the vaccine, there are consequences.
“If you come with Covid as an advanced case, even though you’re vaccinated, we pay you for your free time so you don’t have to go in and make other people sick. However, if you’re not vaccinated, we don’t offer that,” he said. .
The labor crisis did not take into account his decision on vaccine policy, Silverstein said.
But for some, it’s hard to separate the labor issue from thinking about whether they are forced to vaccinate workers.
David Barr owns 44 franchise locations for KFC and Capriotti’s Sandwich Shop in Alabama and Georgia. While he has concerns about being legally bound as a small business owner, he is also considering what this requirement may mean for staff.
“We have decided to encourage vaccines against the mandate,” Barr said. “Both because of the current workforce (we don’t want to potentially lose another 20-30% of our employees), but only from a policy standpoint to look at DC or the state house on what the policy should be. in the field of vaccines. “