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Restaurant workers in Philadelphia and around the nation are facing a tough situation right now. The omicron surge is creating a staffing crunch, but restaurants are still economically reeling. Even if they’re able to work, many people say they don’t feel comfortable calling out.
“No one wants that scarlet letter for calling out a restaurant that’s already struggling,” one Philly restaurant worker with a decade of experience in the industry told Billy Penn. Both restaurants they work at closed temporarily due to COVID-19 over the winter holidays, they said.
Then there’s the question of what taking time off does to personal finances. Since 2015, employers with 10 or more workers in Philadelphia are required to provide paid sick leave.
But some workers say the policy isn’t made clear, and fear retaliation if they bring it up. Last month, the Philly-based Coalition for Restaurant Safety & Health did a small-scale survey. It found nearly 50% of city restaurant workers reporting they don’t have access to sick pay, and even more are worried about broaching the subject with employers.
“There’s not a lot of people in service [work] that have a safety net,” said the manager of a popular Center City restaurant where multiple staffers recently contracted COVID. Like others in this story, they asked to remain anonymous to protect their job. “The sick pay...
Conspiracy theories around Artemis II have spread online after the crew returned safely from its lunar mission, with fake NASA claims and old Apollo 11 hoax stories gaining traction on social medi...