How Restaurant Workers Might Be Paying To Keep Their Own Wages Low

Life in the food service industry can sometimes seem like an endless stream of indignities, from having to rely on tips to following weird rules to customers who insist on ordering complicated creations off some alleged secret menu – that was apparently dreamed up by sadists. Now, though, comes some shocking news: According to a New York Times investigation, many restaurant workers are indirectly (and unknowingly) being forced to contribute to a group that seems to be working against their own interests.

As NYT reveals, four different states (California, Illinois, Texas, and Utah) all require restaurant workers to attend food service training sponsored by a company called ServSafe. As a part of the curriculum, they're forced to "learn" such complex topics as "Good Personal Hygiene" and "The Importance of Food Safety." While you'd think that employers could pick up the tab, that doesn't happen. Instead, the $15 fee comes out of the employees' pockets. 

While that's bad enough, the part that has critics reeling is that this fee is reportedly going straight into the pockets of the National Restaurant Association, a group that supports owners over workers, per NYT.

The National Restaurant Association (NRA) may sound fairly neutral, so a newly-hired prep cook might think $15 for mandatory training is at least going to an organization that's supporting them. But while the NRA does support the restaurant industry, it does so by making sure the maximum amount of revenue goes to owners or investors, rather than the people who actually cook and serve food, per The New York Times.

To date, NYT reports that class fees from ServSafe, which provides safety training, have raised $25 million, which has been earmarked for funding the NRA's lobbying efforts. Those efforts include making sure the federal minimum wage for tipped workers doesn't increase (via Restaurant Dive), a rate that has stood at a whopping $2.13 per hour for more than 30 years (via U.S. Department of Labor). If you're a server at a high-end steakhouse and get tipped 20% on more than $200 in tabs, that hourly wage might not mean much. But if you work at a diner where your average tab is around $10 and your tips are under 15%, another buck or two an hour might make a huge difference. 

NRA has also fought to limit the healthcare benefits restaurants must provide to their workers, according to NYT. One Fair Wage Action is fighting back by urging politicians not to accept NRA donations, but it lacks the money to advocate at a stronger level against the massive association.