New York City’s hospitality industry has changed dramatically over the last few years. Recently, we witnessed the banishment of Mario Batali and other well-known chefs/restaurateurs accused of sexual harassment. And we have seen an alarming rise in wage and hour lawsuits filed by pesky plaintiff attorneys intent on bankrupting many of those in the industry by securing large money judgments. 

Therefore, the message is clear for restaurateurs: If you want to stay in business, you must comply with sexual harassment laws and you must pay your employees correctly. Granted, staying in compliance with the law is often easier said than done.

Restaurants must take sexual harassment complaints seriously

The fallout of the #MeToo movement has influenced major legislative initiatives in New York City and beyond. Among the most important is that all NYC employers with 15 or more employees conduct annual anti-sexual harassment training for their employees. And the training must be interactive. Ironically, New York State is even stricter as it requires that every employer conduct the annual training, irrespective of how many employees they have.

The new training requirements, of course, will not prevent all instances of sexual harassment; however, few would argue with the reasoning behind the new requirement. The hope is that the annual training will shift a restaurant’s culture into compliance with the law and foster better overall conduct among the staff.

Therefore, restaurateurs should conduct not only meaningful and yearly sexual harassment training for their employees, but also have up-to-date policies and procedures (also required under the law). The policies and procedures must clearly describe the restaurant’s commitment to complying with the law and affirmatively stating that all forms of sexual harassment will not be tolerated — plain and simple. Also, management must properly document and investigate any such complaints.

It’s time to pay your employees correctly

These days, much litigation in both New York State and federal courts centers around wage and hour claims.  Such lawsuits have become more common, and even more costly for restaurateurs to settle. To put it simply, restaurateurs must learn from past mistakes to avoid common errors such as (1) allowing their employees to work off-the-clock, (2) failing to keep payroll records and (3) not providing employees with overtime, minimum-wage and/or “spread of hours” pay. Unfortunately, even some of the most well-known restaurateurs have fallen into this trap. 

However, restaurateurs who have made these mistakes in the past can mitigate potential liability by getting their payroll back into compliance ASAP. Working with an experienced employment law attorney to assess their current payroll structure and create a strategy going forward is never a bad idea. The objective is to mitigate as much potential damage as possible. To avoid potentially shelling out thousands (or in some cases millions) of dollars to settle wage and hour disputes, restaurateurs must accurately track their workers’ time and pay them correctly by following the wage and hour laws.  There is no room for error.