A New Generation of Workers' Comp - How It Can Help Your Enterprise
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Payroll Medics was published in the October SCRLA Hospitality News with our article discussing a new generation of workers' comp insurance. We invite you to read it and while you are there check out the SCRLA (www.scrla.org) and make sure to visit the other vendors as well.
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A New Generation of Workers' Comp - How It Can Help Your Enterprise
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3. Contents October 2014
4
Chairman’s Message
New PAC established
5
SC ProStart student shines
She’s taking over the airwaves
7
Internship 101
Internship opportunities at SC
schools
8
Wage study
AH&LA in-depth study on negative
effects of extreme local wage hikes
19
Meet Danny Shelton
Welcome the new Upstate
Membership Coordinator
COVER STORY
10
The franchise of green
How the corporate office can
facilitate sustainable initiatives
12
Golf FORE education
Everything you need to know about
the upcoming Hospitality Leaders
Golf Tournament
17
Controlling food costs
Where to start in the kitchen
18
Stone Law update
The SC Dept. of Revenue’s
summary of the new law
Cover Story: Marcus Munse, General Manager; Hema Patel, Owner; Holiday Inn and Suites Columbia-
Airport pictured with Dr. Simon Hudson, Endowed Chair in Tourism and Hospitality, USC
4. South Carolina
Restaurant & Lodging
Association
PO Box 7577 • Columbia, SC 29202
803.765.9000 • Fax 803.252.7136
Email info@scrla.org
www.SCRLA.org
SCRLA Executive Committee
Chairman
David McMillan
Drunken Jack’s Restaurant and Lounge
Vice Chairman
Suzanne Hinde
Sheraton Myrtle Beach Convention Center Hotel
Treasurer
Sam Agee
Gateway Hospitality
Immediate Past Chair
Rick Erwin
Rick Erwin Dining Group
Members
Bob Barenberg, Hilton Head Corporation
Susan Cohen, Charlestowne Hotels
Richie Cannon, CafeEnterprises, FATZ Cafe
RP Rama, JHM Hotels
Bill Ellen, Midlands Authority
AH&LA Board Represnetative
John Munro, Sea Pines Resort, Hilton Head Island
NRA Board Representative
Carl Sobocinski, Table 301, Greenville
Association Staff
John Durst, President and CEO
john@scrla.org
Douglas OFlaherty, Director of Operations
doug@scrla.org.
Susan Walters, Director of Membership Development
susan@scrla.org
Katie Montgomery, Director of Communications
katie@scrla.org
Christal Van Wickler, Bookkeeper
christal@scrla.org
Danny Shelton, Upstate Membership Coordinator
danny@scrla.org
Message from SCRLA Chairman
Fall is finally in the air and football season
is in full swing. It doesn’t matter if you’re a
Gamecock or a Tiger, we all win when fans
come to our restaurants and hotels to cheer
on their teams.
The SCRLA continues to work diligently to
promote our industry and grow our Associ-ation
throughout the state. I am pleased to
welcome Danny Shelton to the Association as
the new Upstate Membership Coordinator. He
will work to grow and retain membership in
the Greenville area. He replaces Lisa Yarbor-ough,
who recently moved with her husband
to another state.
The upcoming chapter leadership symposium
is set for November. It’s an opportunity for
local chapter leadership to come together,
brainstorm and work to encourage local chapter participation. Local chapter involvement
is critical to our Association, giving members the opportunities to participate, learn and
help develop initiatives like our legislative agenda. The more involvement in our local
chapters, the better we are as an Association.
As the Association continues to grow, the SCRLA has recently established a PAC, a state
political action committee that supports candidates for elected office who stand up for the
hospitality industry. Government decisions impact virtually every aspect of the hospitality
industry, from the way food is prepared to how it is taxed. As a result, it is important to
support candidates for public office who understand our businesses and realize a healthy
hospitality industry translates into a stronger South Carolina economy.
The SCRLA PAC will be governed by those who donate to it. If you’d like to make a
contribution, you can address a check to SCRLA PAC and mail it to the SCRLA offices or
donate on the SCRLA website, by clicking on the PAC page on the Governmental Affairs
tab. By donating to the SCRLA PAC, you will be supporting elected officials who have
consistently supported our industry.
I am pleased to say the South Carolina Tourism and Hospitality Education Foundation
(T.H.E. Foundation) was awarded a $16,700 grant from the National Restaurant Associ-ation
Educational Foundation (NRAEF), as part of the 2014 ProStart Program Support
Fund Distribution Program.
The program is designed to sustain, strengthen and enhance state-level ProStart
programs through funding to support activities related to program support for ProStart
students and educators. This award will be used to provide exam-testing supplies (both
paper, pencil and online) so 100% of our ProStart schools can test their students.
Removing the financial barrier from the schools and enabling all students to test, we
anticipate the total number of students that earn their National Certificate of Achievement
to increase again this year.
Speaking of T.H.E. Foundation, I would like to encourage all of you to participate in the
Hospitality Leaders Golf Tournament being held on Monday, October 20 at the Ocean
Course at Sea Pines Resort on Hilton Head Island. Not only do you get to play on one of
the best courses in the state, you are helping support SCRLA’s Education Foundation,
which provides scholarships to students seeking careers in the hospitality industry. I hope
to see you on the greens!
Sincerely,
David McMillan
South Carolina Restaurant and Lodging Association n October 2014 n Page 4
5. Lights, camera, action! SC ProStart student making
headlines online and over the airwaves
Dorchester County Career and Technology Center ProStart student Mary Gilliard is start-ing
to make a name for herself on the culinary circuit. The 17-year-old senior recently
won the top spot in a recipe challenge on popular food blog, The Unknown Cook, and
appeared on a Charleston television network about her culinary successes.
Mary received a perfect score of 25 on her shrimp and grits dish in The Unknown Cook’s recipe
challenge. A total of 69 dishes were submitted and judged by the blog’s five-member panel. Panel
members say when all the votes were counted, they were surprised to see the recipe that wowed
them came from a 17-year-old.
Mary and her ProStart teacher Cathy Flood also recently appeared in an interview segment on
the Bounce Network in Charleston. In the interview, Mary talks about how the show Mister Rogers’
Neighborhood inspired her to want to be a chef and what she learns in the ProStart program.
Cathy also encouraged other students to get involved in the ProStart program by discussing the
certifications and skills students gain as part of the program.
Another fun fact about Mary is that she is a quadruplet. Her plan for the future: “I would like to gain
experience in some upscale kitchens or possibly become a private chef. My twin/quadruplet sister
Moriah and I are looking forward to opening up a food truck. We want to raise and save money for
our future restaurant.”
Congratulations Mary, and we look forward to seeing her at the SC ProStart Invitational in March!
Visit www.goprostart.com for more information on South Carolina’s ProStart program.
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7. Engaging SC universities with internships
Written by Brumby McLeod and
Jeremy Clement, College of Charleston
One important mission of the
SCRLA is to drive future talent
to our industry. Many of our
members are familiar with the high school
programs such as ProSTART and LMP
and even the culinary programs in the
community colleges and technical schools
around the state, but what about engage-ment
at the four-year institutions. Although
T.H.E. Foundation provides scholarships to
students studying hospitality and tourism,
you can engage even more of these stu-dents
while they are in school by creating
internship opportunities with these higher
education institutions in our state. South
Carolina is home to nearly a dozen public
institution programs related to hospitali-ty
and tourism. Five of these programs
reside in four-year public institutions while
the remaining reside in community col-leges
and technical schools. This article fo-cuses
on these four-year institutions. Each
of them has a unique set of requirements
for experiential learning (aka, internships).
Engaging students during their time at col-lege
allows students to identify an area of
focus, fulfill college course requirements,
and help secure a commitment to our
industry. We suggest a strategic approach
by engaging these collegiate programs
with opportunities that make your organi-zation
an appropriate fit. We would like to
introduce you to the five four-year higher
education public institutions in our state of-fering
programs in hospitality and tourism,
their specific experiential learning require-ments,
and the representative responsible
for overseeing the internship.
The four-year public institutions with hospi-tality
and tourism management programs
include Clemson University, Coastal Car-olina,
College of Charleston, University of
South Carolina—Beaufort, and University
of South Carolina—Columbia.
The program at Clemson University is
housed in the College of Health, Educa-tion,
and Human Development’s Depart-ment
of Parks, Recreation and Tourism
Management. Students are required to
complete 9 college credit hours related to
experiential learning. The first two courses
are 1-credit hour practicums typically com-pleted
in the student’s sophomore year for
80 work hours each. The next course is a
1-credit hour internship preparation course.
The final requirement is a 6-credit hour
internship in the junior/senior year for 400
work hours and a 10-week minimum. For
more information on the internship program,
contact Mr. Dan Anderson at dander3@
clemson.edu or 864-656-4560.
The program at Coastal Carolina Univer-sity
is housed in the College of Business’
Department of Hospitality, Resort & Tourism
Management. These students are required
to complete a series of three 1-credit hour
internship experiences in the program.
Each 1-credit hour course is satisfied by
130 hours of work experience. The sec-tions
are broken down as 1-credit hour in
service production (back of house), 1-credit
hour in service delivery (front of house), and
1-credit hour in a supervisory role of some
capacity. Internships may also be undertak-en
for an additional 3-credit hour academic
elective credit. Internship host partners
must derive at least 50% of their customer
base from tourism. For more information on
the internship program, contact Ms. Ellen
Ryan-Heyward at eeryan@coastal.edu or
843-349-2679.
The program at the College of Charleston is
housed in the School of Business’ Depart-ment
of Hospitality and Tourism Manage-ment.
These students are
required to participate in
an internship experience
for a minimum of 120
hours during their senior
year. The internship is ex-pected
to be rigorous and
provide the student with
a higher level of organi-zational
and managerial
exposure. Internship host
partners are selected for
the quality of experience
they are able to provide
and in consideration of
the organizational or
operational connection
with industry. For more
information on the intern-ship
program, contact
Mr. Jeremy Clement at
ClementJ@cofc.edu or
843-953-5455.
The program at the Uni-versity
of South Carolina
in Beaufort is housed
in the Department of
Hospitality Management.
Students are required to
complete a 3-credit hour college internship
course in the summer following comple-tion
of their coursework. The internship
requires 400 work hours with a single
organization. For more information on the
internship program, contact Dr. Sean Barth
at barthse@uscb.edu or 843-208-8212.
The program at the University of South
Carolina in Columbia is housed in the
School of Hotel, Restaurant, and Tourism
Management in the College of Hospitality,
Retail, and Sport Management. Students
are required to complete 12 college credit
hours of experiential learning course-work.
The requirements are divided into
two 6-credit hour requirements. The first
6-credit hour block is termed a practicum
and requires 400 work hours with a single
organization. Work experience at one
organization in hospitality and tourism for
400 work hours will count. The second
6-credit hour block is termed an internship
and requires 400 work hours with a single
organization. Work experience at one
organization must be rotational or mana-gerial
and be organized as a formalized
internship. For more information on the
internship program, contact Ms. Glenna
Gillentine at ggillentine@hrsm.sc.edu or
803-777-2685.
South Carolina Restaurant and Lodging Association n October 2014 n Page 7
8. Industry survey: Hotel jobs offer high wages,
benefits, career advancement
The American Hotel & Lodging Association (AH&LA) and WageWatch, Inc., have released a survey that reconfirms the hotel
industry offers good, high-paying jobs with benefits and a fast track to senior positions within the hospitality sector.
The survey shows that overwhelmingly, most job titles in the lodging industry pay above minimum wage. More than half of respondents
have starting rates above the minimum wage for eight out of 10 job titles surveyed. These hourly-positions offer a fast-track to upward
mobility and serve as a gateway for new workers to enter the lodging industry.
Highlights of the survey include:
Nearly 40% of respondents pay 100% of their workforce above the minimum wage.
Almost half (45.1%) pay 75% or more of their employees above the minimum wage.
85.8% of the respondents provide medical insurance benefits to non-exempt workers.
Nearly 62% who offer employee healthcare benefits, subsidize basic individual plan premiums at 60% or greater.
80% of minimum wage workers are eligible for promotion in less than a year and 100% are eligible in less than two years.
“The hotel sector is clearly the bright spot in our nation’s economy and this survey underscores what we have known all along: Hotel
jobs are good jobs, with high wages, benefits and the opportunity to advance quickly into a life-long career,” said Katherine Lugar, pres-ident
and CEO of AH&LA. “Hotel employees are the backbone of our industry. That’s why it’s especially troubling that in cities like Los
Angeles, small business hotel owners are being singled out by union-backed extreme wage initiatives that will hurt those seeking to get
on the ladder of opportunity.”
The survey is among many recent surveys that spotlight the negative consequences of extreme wage initiatives that could result in a
drag on the economy resulting in the hundreds of millions of dollars with thousands of job losses.
The survey, which represents 23 percent of the 53,000 hotels in the industry today, includes almost half a million employees and was
conducted between January and August, 2014. It includes responses from a large swath of the hotel industry, from independent opera-tors
to major hotel management companies, including small and large hotels across the country. Find the survey at ahla.com.
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10. By Simon Hudson, Endowed Chair in Tour-ism
and Hospitality, USC
Co-authored by Karen Irene Thal, MES,
CHE
Global scrutiny of the hotel indus-try
came to the fore following
the 1992 Rio Earth Summit,
and international chains were quick to
respond, launching early environmental
performance systems such as Green
Globe 21. Larger hotel companies also
drafted and signed the International Hotels
Environment Initiative, launching an online
environmental benchmarking system for
hotels in 2001. Yet a gap between pol-icy
and practice is apparent. Despite a
plethora of certifications, online information
regarding sustainability for the hotel sector
and express commitment to sustainable
principles, a recent content analysis of
annual and corporate responsibility reports
for ten major US hotel chains, found that
few referenced concrete environmental
accomplishments.
At the same time, studies across a variety
of international settings suggest that higher
rated and chain affiliated hotels, rather
than independent hotels, are more likely
to implement environmental initiatives. A
sampling of hotel managers in Accra, Gha-na,
for example, found that 3-5 star hotels
were more likely to adopt environmental
management practices than smaller and
lower rated hotels. A separate European
study also found that managers in chain-affiliated
hotels were more aware and had
typically committed greater resources to
environmental initiatives than managers
of independently run properties. Likewise,
a study of the Hong Kong hotel industry
The Franchise on Green
How the corporate office can facilitate sustainable initiatives
found that internal constraints to adopting
sustainable practices, such as technical
difficulties, were particularly pronounced for
lower rated and small-scale hotels.
Finally, a survey undertaken in both Hong
Kong and China on the motivations of hotel
managers to adopt the ISO 14000 Environ-mental
Management Standards, suggests
that corporate governance significantly in-fluences
decisions about sustainability. No
studies that we found, however, explicitly
addressed balancing environmental initia-tives
with franchise requirements.
The focus of our study was a hotel man-agement
team that had recently overseen
the construction of a new hotel while
simultaneously pursuing enfranchisement
and Leadership in Energy and Environmen-tal
Design (LEED) certification. The hotel
we studied was the Holiday Inn and Suites
Columbia-Airport in South Carolina, part
of the Intercontinental Hotel Group (IHG)
franchise.The Columbia hotel opened on
Earth Day April 22nd, 2010 and achieved
LEED Gold certification for new construc-tion
in August 2012. We interviewed the
hotel owner, General Manager, Operations
Manager, Guest Services Manager, Head
Housekeeper, Director of Sales, and Direc-tor
of Marketing.
Overall, IHG’s support for LEED certifica-tion
was unequivocally described as “very
enthusiastic.” Not only did certification
efforts coincide with the launch of the fran-chise
company’s own ‘Green Engage’ pro-gram,
interviewees described “a big push…
to engage this whole green movement” with
awards and promotion on the corporate
website recognizing franchised properties’
environmental achievements. LEED certi-fication
was also described as consistent
with corporate mission statements. “At the
corporate level, all of the brands….if you
read some of their mission statements, in-corporate
sustainability, each one of them,”
said one interviewee. Another, particularly
encouraging trend that our interviewees
noted is that incremental hotel business
had been generated through corporate
accounts where eco-friendly initiatives are
increasingly included among selection
criteria.
The hotel management team, however,
also described challenges associated
with enfranchisement and attempts to
implement sustainable initiatives. Brand
standards and purchasing policies do not
necessarily incorporate environmental
criteria. This became apparent when the
management team at the Holiday Inn
wanted to purchase greener products from
suppliers other than those mandated by
the franchise company. “So, when (the
franchise company) has a certain type of
soap that they want you to purchase or a
certain type of coffee cup, we found that
we were taking a lot time to go through the
process of submitting waivers to the fran-chise,
and these are basically your permis-sion
or justification to break from what their
brand standard is and it could be anything
from like the bed linen….being purchased
locally versus selecting approved product
that has to be shipped from overseas.” In
other instances, brand mandated guest
perks that are wasteful or that may have
become obsolete are beyond the purview
of individual hotel managers to alter or
discontinue: “We have to offer a news-paper
for guests and we have stacks of
newspapers that are untouched but that’s
a standard, it’s not even the cost of that it’s
the waste that bothers me….”
South Carolina Restaurant and Lodging Association n October 2014 n Page 10
11. expectations, especially where these
are informed by brand standards, may
be difficult to reconcile with environmen-tal
initiatives. For example, one energy
savings strategy at the Holiday Inn and
Suites included installing mini-fridges and
microwaves in suites only, and not in each
hotel room. In some instances this pro-voked
strong reactions from guests who
have come to consider such amenities
standard issue. “So guests call and com-plain.
We have to spin it and say I’m so
sorry but we are power saving and seeking
(LEED) accreditation. They then say how
can the room rate be so high, they don’t
understand the cost of going green….They
scoff, they do, they think it is a cop out.
They view it as cheap.”
Staff training and ‘buy-in’ when it comes
to the day-to-day realities of operating in
an environmentally friendly manner was
also frequently alluded to in the course of
the interviews. One manager said: “When
we first opened up the hotel there were
a lot of other challenges…. We have (the
franchise company) in here that will be
training for all of their programs, so there
is a lot of training going on. We have to
do those to operate the hotel as a Holi-day
Inn. Then on top of that we have to
train our staff on the whole green aspect
of our hotel.” Not only is time and human
resources an issue, but the integration of
environmental commitment within an orga-nizational
culture can be a challenge. One
interviewee commented: “It’s a challenge
to continuously train and to continuously
monitor staff.... getting employee buy-in
is probably the most important because
the reality is if you have a house keeper
that doesn’t think it’s important to take the
two recycling trash cans, divide them and
recycle... they are not going to do it.” While
the individual motivations of staff to per-form
such tasks may always vary, having
a single standard may help re-enforce the
importance of performing related tasks.
Finally, our interviews highlighted the costs
and technical difficulties associated with
implementation of environmental initiatives
as outlined in prior studies. These may be
no less pertinent, albeit at larger scales, at
the corporate level where altering brand
mandated procedures and operating sys-tems
may require considerable cost and
effort. For example, sliding guest folios
under doors at night remains standard
procedure, even though additional copies
are often printed at check-out. “So if we
are sold out, that is already 122 pieces
of paper, and if (guests) don’t see it on
their way out, they may ask for another
receipt and that is more and more paper
we are printing out and more toner from the
printer.” Where electronic copies of receipts
might be acceptable to guests as well as
represent a more eco-friendly alternative,
technical difficulties may hamper an oth-erwise
quick fix. Despite the costs or effort
that a change in operating procedures or
software used by a brand franchise may
suggest, facilitating even these small
efficiencies may have considerable impact
where these are phased-in as standard
practice for all hotels under the auspices of
an international chain.
IHG’s Green Engage program further re-quires
franchisees to submit environmental
data such as water use, energy consump-tion,
and recycling. Yet existing systems
are not designed to capture or assess
environmental parameters and entering the
necessary data manually was described
as particularly time-consuming. Said one
interviewee: “With their Green Engage pro-gram,
every month you go in and you plug
in your electric bill, you plug in how many
tons of materials you’ve recycled, you plug
in all your relevant data on a monthly basis
including your occupancy and how many
guests you had. Then the system will tell
you where you rank and where you are
from last year’s savings - so it’s really good
tool for overall measurement, and give us
an accurate accounting of our progress
per room rented, per person in the build-ing.
Now I so have to say, it takes time to
do that”. A recognized need to integrate
environmental data into organizational
control systems is certainly not unique to
the hotel industry, but given the clout of the
international hotel chains globally, a move
towards data interfaces that capture utility
and resource consumption would certainly
set a welcome trend, as well as encourage
efficiencies within the sector.
In retrospect, the results of our interviews
show that despite being under the um-brella
of a corporate franchise with strong
environmental policies, challenges persist
at the individual and franchise company
level when it comes to integrating envi-ronmental
initiatives. At the same time,
opportunities also clearly exist to facilitate
implementation - and better align policy
with practice. Streamlining systems to
capture relevant environmental data, for
example, may remove a significant barrier
for hotel managers, especially where the
importance of systemized data collection
is well recognized for natural resource
management. There is also huge
potential where purchasing policies are
concerned to influence market trends and
push environmental standards up the sup-ply
chain. The tacit education of guests in
the course of taking such steps is also a
long recognized industry potential.
What is refreshing to see is that buying
decisions are being made by customers
based on LEED certification. This may
only be the case for corporate customers
of the hotel at the moment, but consumer
trends point towards travelers choosing
green products over others. As Marcos
Cordero, CEO of the Green Business
Bureau says: “the growing awareness
among American consumers about what
green really means, and how they can
incorporate more sustainability into their
everyday lives – at home and away – has
made it more important than ever for all
businesses to adopt green practices that
go to the core of their brand.”
***
Want to learn more about going green?
The South Carolina Green Hospitality
Alliance is a program of the SCRLA and
the SC Department of Health and Envi-ronmental
Control Office of Solid Waste
Reduction and Recycling designed to
help hotels, motels, restaurants and other
hospitality facilities go green.
To be a member of the SC Green Hos-pitality
Alliance, hotels and restaurants
must complete an audit of their property’s
compliance with unique eco-initiatives. En-vironmentally
friendly measures that are
reviewed include energy efficiency, water
conservation, recycling, environmentally
safe cleaning, etc. Properties are rated
based on their compliance with these
Eco-initiatives, from a single Palmetto
Tree to three Palmetto Trees.
If you are a hotel or restaurant and would
like to participate and become certified,
please visit scrla.org.
South Carolina Restaurant and Lodging Association n October 2014 n Page 11
12. Ever wonder how to make the most of your involvement
with SCRLA? A great place to start is out on the golf
course!
During the 2014 Hospitality Leaders Golf Tournament, network-ing
and relationship building with your co-workers, customers
and even potential customers will be in full swing.
This year’s tournament will take place Monday, October 20 at
the Ocean Course at Sea Pines Resort on beautiful Hilton Head
Island. It’s world-class golfing, all for a great cause.
As the first course built on Hilton Head Island, the Ocean Course
at The Sea Pines Resort embraces the true coastal golf experi-ence.
Exquisitely redesigned in 1995 by Mark McCumber, this
breathtaking golf course boasts one of only two oceanfront holes
on Hilton Head Island and poses delightful challenges to novices
and veterans.
Put your game to the test against a classic design featuring
strategically placed lagoons and bunkers. As a Certified Audu-bon
Cooperative Sanctuary course, this esteemed golf course
offers a fabulous experience for both scratch golfers and high
handicappers.
Participating SCRLA members can stay at The Inn at Harbour
Town for a reduced rate of $149 per night. The Inn features a
picturesque Lowcountry setting, superior service and several
recent enhancements that make The Inn at Harbour Town the
ultimate vacation escape.
The tournament will provide an afternoon of lively competition
and camaraderie. Great prizes will be awarded at the reception
following the match at the clubhouse. Additional contests and
prizes will be awarded for: closest to the pin, longest drive, best
dressed and overall score. Prizes will include resort stays with
golf, hotel certificates, restaurant certificates, golf merchandise,
memorabilia and other great items.
You can register as an individual or a 4-person team. We will
have a raffle of great prizes and mulligans for sale, so don’t
forget to bring your giving spirit.
The tournament helps support the SC Tourism and Hospitality
Education Foundations (T.H.E. Foundation). T.H.E. Foundation
is the only charitable foundation in the state dedicated to building
a strong, committed workforce for our industry’s future through
educational school-to-career programs, professional develop-ment,
certification and scholarships.
Bring your friends, your boss, your co-workers and your golf-game!
Spots are still available for golfers and sponsors. The SCRLA is
also collecting gift certificates and packages that we can award
to the golfers. If each SCRLA member donated a substantial
door prize plus the first, second and third place grand prizes, this
would make for a don’t miss tournament.
Immerse yourself in the incomparable luxury of The Sea Pines
Resort, Hilton Head’s most distinguished retreat. Discover the
countless reasons that have drawn repeat guests and newcom-ers
to this timeless destination - year after year - for generations.
To find out more information on the tournament and how to get
involved, visit scrla.org.
South Carolina Restaurant and Lodging Association n October 2014 n Page 12
13. Golf FORE! Education
The Hospitality Leaders Golf Tournament is all about education.
T.H.E. Foundation has awarded $18,000 in scholarships to South
Carolina students this year alone.
Scholarship recipients are using the money to attend culinary and hospital-ity
programs at universities and colleges all across the state, including the
University of South Carolina, College of Charleston and Johnson and Wales
University.
Each year, the scholarship amounts vary depending on donations and local
participation. More than $190,000 in scholarship awards have been given to
153 students in the past 11 years.
These scholarships are designed to assist students who demonstrate an
interest in and commitment to the hospitality (restaurant, foodservice, lodging,
tourism) industry.
The Hospitality Leaders Golf Tournament gives you the chance to help
students meet their potential and preserve the integrity of South Carolina’s
hospitality industry workforce, all while having some fun on the greens. Find out how you can get involved at scrla.org!
The hospitality industry of tomorrow is depending on your involvement today.
Letters from scholarship recipients to T.H.E. Foundation
Students addressed their letters to Suzanne Hine, T.H.E. Foundation board chair.
Dear Suzanne Hinde,
Dear Suzanne Hinde,
Thank you so much for awarding me the 2014
academic scholarship from the SC Tourism and
Hospitality Education Foundation. It is an
honor to have been chosen.
Over the years, my dream has been formed to
something amazing. There is something about
seeing a little kid eat a cupcake for the first
time and seeing their face light up with a smile
from ear to ear.
I made the decision of not just being a pastry
chef, but to own my own bakery too. I want to
have the number wedding and party plan-ning/
Dear Suzanne Hinde, Board Chairperson:
Hospitality has always been a passion of mine and I
have always put great pride into it. I am so excited
to start working in this field and I have always
wanted to every since I was a little girl.
I am greatly appreciative for this scholarship you
have awarded me. I have been worrying about the
cost of college and also if I could even go because
of the cost; but this is giving me that chance and is
bringing me one stop closer.
Thank you again for this opportunity.
Sincerely,
Leslie Baker
a very large enthusiast of the Hospitality and
Tourism Industry. Thank you for choosing me to
receive the scholarship of $1,000 on belalf of the
SC T.H.E. Foundation. It means a great deal to me
to be chosen by one of my community’s leaders in
the hospitality industry.
I come from a family of hard workers who un-derstand
want it, go and give it everything you have until it
is yours.
College is expensive, every little bit helps, and that
is why I am forever grateful in T.H.E. Foundation
for choosing me to receive the money.
catering business in the South.
My name is Jacob Rowles, graduate of 2014, and
that nothing is handed to you. If you
Thanks again Suzanne, I will not let you, the
entire T.H.E. Foundation but most importantly
The only thing in the way of me pursuing my
dream is tuition fees, and this scholarship helps
offset those costs. Thank you again for award-ing
myself down!
Sincerely,
Jacob Rowles
me the 2014 academic scholarship.
Sincerely,
Elizabeth Sowell
South Carolina Restaurant and Lodging Association n October 2014 n Page 13
14. Should employees sign arbitration agreements?
By J. Hagood Tighe
Fisher & Phillips LLP
On a regular basis, I am asked
whether companies should
have their employees sign
arbitration agreements. Generally, I am in
favor of arbitration agreements. But, before
deciding that arbitration agreements are
for you and your business, you should
consider the pros and cons, costs, legal
issues, etc.
What is Arbitration?
Many times, people confuse mediation
and arbitration. Mediation is a voluntary
meeting where a neutral person attempts
to facilitate the resolution or settlement of
a dispute. However, the mediator does not
have any authority to make any participant
do anything they do not want to do. Arbi-tration
is an alternative to court litigation.
This is a binding way to resolve disputes.
If parties subject themselves to arbitration,
they are bound by the decision the arbitra-tor
(basically a private judge) makes. And,
that decision can only be appealed in very
limited situations.
Costs:
Although hiring an arbitrator can be expen-sive,
many employers believe that the total
legal fees expended in arbitration are typi-cally
lower than those spent in a traditional
court case from start to finish. Sometimes
savings occur due to limited discovery, few-er
motions and hearings, or even discounts
on EPLI premiums. But, this is not always
true. Arbitrations can sometimes be just as
pricey as litigation in court.
While arbitrations
may, on average,
be less expen-sive,
they are
not cheap. Some
believe that if you
have an arbitra-tion
program,
employees are
more likely to
sue.
Additionally,
companies are
required to pay
most of the fees
to ensure that
arbitration is not
cost-prohibitive
for an employee.
These expenses can run into the thou-sands
of dollars very quickly. Once again,
some employers are concerned that em-ployees
may find all of this appealing since
they bear very little of the cost.
Speed:
Arbitrations are typically faster than court
litigation. Arbitrations are often resolved
in less than a year. Litigation in the court
system, depending on where you are locat-ed,
can last anywhere from six months to
several years.
Confidentiality:
Another appealing part of arbitration is the
confidentiality of the proceedings. Unlike
court cases which are typically open to
the public, arbitrations typically are not
and the decisions often are not published.
This helps minimize the risk of “copy cat”
lawsuits as well as unwanted press.
But, arbitrations are not always confi-dential.
On some occasions, plaintiffs’
attorneys will first file their case in court,
requiring that the employer ask the court to
send the matter to arbitration. While courts
typically do this if the agreement is properly
prepared, the initial filing is public and this
can generate publicity.
No Jury:
Employers may prefer arbitration because
there is no jury. Some speculate that jurors
identify with employees and are predis-posed
“against” a company. Leaving the
decision to an arbitrator relieves concerns
for some about runaway jury awards. Most
believe that experienced arbitrators are
more realistic than juries when valuing
damages to be awarded.
State Law Issues:
There are a number of legal issues
that employers need to consider before
entering into an arbitration agreement.
Because arbitration agreements are
contracts, state law can have an effect on
how they should be created. Therefore,
you or your employment lawyer need to
consider the states’ laws where you plan
to use the agreement.
State law issues, for example, include how
to enter into arbitration agreements with
existing employees. When entering into
a contract, by law, you must provide the
other side something of value. This is of-ten
referred to as “consideration.” When it
comes to existing employees, some states
will not allow continued employment to
serve as the consideration. This means
that the employer must give something
else of value to its existing employees
if it wishes for them to be bound by the
arbitration agreement.
One-Sided Agreements Not Allowed:
In some parts of the United States, courts
focus on whether agreements are “un-conscionable”
or so one-sided that they
should be void as a matter of public policy.
To address this, courts typically require
that arbitration agreements be mutual. In
other words, both the employer and the
employee are bound by the agreement.
Additionally, many employers include an
opt-out provision which allows employees
to back out of the arbitration agreement
within a certain time period after employ-ment
begins. If they opt-out and later
sue, they are not bound by the arbitration
agreement.
Class Action Waivers:
Another issue to consider is class action
waivers. If your company is sued in
a class or collective action and your
employees have signed an arbitration
agreement that includes a class action
waiver, you may be able to get the class
action dismissed. But, this will not likely be
the end of the legal dispute. The National
Labor Relations Board (NLRB) has taken
the position that an employer violates
the National Labor Relations Act (NLRA)
when it requires employees, as a condi-tion
of employment, to sign an agreement
that precludes them from filing joint, class
South Carolina Restaurant and Lodging Association n October 2014 n Page 14
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or collective claims ad-dressing
wages, hours, or
working conditions.
Under the current state
of the law, the NLRB
considers these agree-ments
to be illegal and to
violate the NLRA. On the
other hand, most of the
federal circuit courts of appeals to address these have upheld
the agreements. This means that until the U.S. Supreme
Court rules, including such a clause, though advantageous,
may subject you to litigation with the NLRB. However, you
may decide that the benefit of including this provision (namely
avoiding expensive class action litigation) outweighs the poten-tial
cost of litigating with the NLRB.
Conclusion:
When it comes to employment litigation, there is no one-size
fits all answer. While there certainly are some practical and le-gal
hurdles to consider, if you can afford the potential expense
associated with arbitrating cases, arbitration agreements with
your employees are still worth considering.
Hagood Tighe is a partner with Fisher & Phillips. He concen-trates
his practice exclusively in the labor and employment
area. He can be reached at htighe@laborlawyers.com or (803)
255-0000. Fisher & Phillips, founded in 1943, is one of the old-est
and largest labor and employment law firms concentrating
its practice exclusively upon representation of employers.
South Carolina Restaurant and Lodging Association n October 2014 n Page 15
16. Pay-as-you-go workers’ comp hits second generation
Once available only to clients of PEOs (employee leasing), there are
now pay-as-you-go options for the Hospitality Industry.
In By Michael Murray, Payroll Medics partnership with leading insurance
carriers, the nation’s payroll compa-nies
have supported these cash flow
positive programs and believe workers’
compensation payment programs [pay-as-you-
go] are here to stay, says Miles Mer-win,
founder of Advisors Insurance Agency
in Greenville, SC. “Why would a client pay
workers’ comp premium any other way?”
Mr. Merwin continues to point out that
“pay-as-you-go” programs are cost con-tainment
strategies that hospitality leaders
can use to better manage their cash flow
related to workers’ compensation premi-ums.
He further states, “As I watch small
businesses grow quickly they are many
times shocked by the amount it is going to
cost to purchase workers compensation in-surance,
especially when they find out how
much they are going to have to put down.
Pay-as-you-go allows a small business to
manage cash flow and focus on growing
their business.”
Historically, “pay-as-you-go”-type arrange-ments
were almost exclusively found in
and available only to clients of a profes-sional
employer organizations (PEO) aka
“employee leasing”. When a client entered
into one of these joint employer arrange-ments,
the hospitality owner typically lost
the valuable experience rating and many of
the benefits which a traditional policy offers
a hospitality owner. The two advantages
generally offered by PEOs were advan-tageous
group experience modification
factors and the cash flow advantages of
pay-as-you-go.
Today, the top insurance carriers serving
South Carolina have developed several
payment programs to compete with the
cash flow advantages typcially found in
PEOs; one is the monthly reporting form.
Monthly reporting forms, as the name
suggests, allows the business owner to file
a monthly report of the actual payrolls by
class code for the previous month and pay
a premium based on the report.
The disadvantage of the monthly report-ing
form is the required “down payment.”
Insureds are required to pull out of pocket
some percentage of the estimated annual
payroll, 10 to 25 percent can be common,
as a cost of gaining insurance coverage.
With this method, the down payment is an
adverse cash advantage method, with large
out of pocket costs upfront – negating any
cash flow advantage to the business.
Although monthly reporting remains quite
common, it is not the best cost containment
strategy nor does it help with cash flow
or labor cost reduction, which are vitally
important with the hospitality industry.
A New Generation of Workers’
Compensation Insurance
A second generation of pay-as-you-go
programs have emerged over the last sev-eral
years. Payroll companies, accounting
firms and insurance carriers such as The
Hartford, Employers, Travelers, AmTrust
and more have all jumped on the pay-as-you-
go bandwagon.
The new generation of cash flow friendly,
workers’ compensation insurance does
require a partnership between the insur-ance
agent and the payroll company. This
relationship brings new benefits to the
insured, such as “No Down Payment.”
This benefits allows the hospitality leader
to take the usual 10%-25% for a down
payment and re-invest it back into his or
her hospitality enterprise. Plus, a payroll
processing relationship assures the insur-ance
carrier that proper payroll is being
reported and that the funds are available
to pay the premium. Workers’ compensa-tion
insurance premiums are collected as
payroll is accrued.
This new way of premium collection better
matches the seasonal highs and lows with
premiums being larger when payrolls are
at their highest and premiums becoming
smaller when payrolls are reduced.
Also, this new generation of pay-as-you-go
provides each insured an individual policy.
Each insured is individually underwritten
and provided with its own policy. Further,
loss experience and experience modifi-cation
factors apply only to the individual
named insured, not an entire group.
With the cost of workers’ compensation
coverage being based on an estimate
of annual payroll at the inception of the
policy year, this can create problems for
hospitality based businesses with fluctu-ating
staffing needs. Often the hospitality
focused business owner does not know
what their payroll will be over the next 12
months. Pay-as-you-go programs alleviate
the problems associated with guesstimat-ing
payrolls and the surprise payments due
after a misstep in not calculating annual-ized
payrolls correctly.
This new way of administering workers;
compensation insurance has many bene-fits,
a few of them are:
• Reducing premium audit risk
• Reduced premium adjustments when
premium audits do occur
• Improved cash flow by adjusting
premiums to payroll changes
• Eliminating premium financing
South Carolina Restaurant and Lodging Association n October 2014 n Page 16
17. Workers’ comp continued...
How New Generation Pay-As-You-Go Works
Each pay-as-you-go program and payroll processing company may have its own procedures, but the general operation of a pay-as-you-
go program will follow these guidelines:
• To qualify for a pay-as-you-go program, it will require a payroll processing relationship. Not all payroll service firms are approved by
the insurance carriers to administer a pay-as-you-go program. If there is no payroll service relationship or the business owner is unsure
if a payroll service company is approved for pay-as-you-go, it is always best to check with your insurance carrier, agent or contact the
payroll provider directly.
• The administrative cost of the pay-as-you-go program is negotiated between the insured hospitality leader and the payroll company.
On average, it is a few dollars a month.
• The insured makes no down payment other than the expense constant required by each state.
• Each pay period, the payroll processing company calculates the workers’ compensation premium by applying the net rates and class
codes to actual payroll and drafts the premium from the insured.
• The payroll company forwards the drafted premium on a pre-determined schedule directly to the carrier for accurate and on time
reporting.
Michael Murray is a veteran of the payroll services industry and founder of Payroll Medics. As both a supporter of small businesses and
an entrepreneur himself, Mr. Murray and Payroll Medics seeks to assist you with our need, no client relationship required. Learn more
at www.payrollmedics.com.
To control food costs, start at the cook line
The cook line is, perhaps, the
most volatile area for con-trolling
food cost. Whereas
theft can occur anywhere, and vendor
prices and proper preparation practices
certainly can have an equally negative
effect on food cost, it usually is on the
cook line that many restaurants lose their
profits.
Common issues include incorrect portion-ing,
waste and overcooked or cold food
resulting from the kitchen getting slammed
with orders, items being prepared without
a food ticket, or unrecorded sales, and
communication failures between kitchen
and service staff that can result in incor-rect
orders. Review these proven tips to
control your food costs:
No ticket, no food.
This is perhaps the singularly most effec-tive
policy for controlling food and bever-age
costs. By employing a policy that all
orders must be rung up on the point-of-sale
system or cash register before they can
be made, you eliminate the possibility of
unrecorded sales.
If your POS or cash register doesn’t have
the ability to print orders to the kitchen and
bar ‑ often called requisition printing ‑ then
you may want to start shopping for one that
does. It is common knowledge among POS
vendors that restaurants using requisition
printers typically enjoy as much as 5% or
more in cost savings than those that don’t.
Keep a waste log.
Every restaurant experiences some degree
of waste, but it is a controllable expense.
Create systems to minimize and record
wasted product, such as meals returned
by the customer, kitchen mistakes and
spoilage. Keeping an accurate accounting
of the value of wasted product can help to
account for variances between ideal and
actual food cost.
Portion control tools.
Poor portion control is one of the leading
causes of food cost variances. Consider
that your ideal food cost is based on the
premise of exact portioning for each menu
item, including the portioning of each
ingredient within a menu item. If your prep
and line cooks have gotten in the habit of
“eyeballing” measurements rather than
sticking to the exact recipes, chances are
your food cost variance could be as much
as 5% or more. Proven portion control
strategies include the use of portioning
scoops, scales and measuring spoons
and cups. Pre-portioning can be effec-tive
in controlling costs by using portion
baggies and a scale to pre-weigh product
before stocking the cook line.
Recipe quick-reference charts.
The fast-paced environment at most
restaurant kitchens makes it impracti-cal
to use the recipe manual for every
menu item. Characteristically, cooks are
required to memorize the proper portions
and steps for preparing each item on their
station. The recipe “quick reference” is
used as the name implies ‑ providing the
cook with an at-a-glance list of ingredi-ents,
portion size and proper portioning
utensil for each preparation step.
Optionally, recipe references can be
accompanied by photos of the finished
product. Proper portioning and adherence
to recipes, along with a visual reference
of the properly prepared menu item help
to ensure consistency in both taste and
presentation.
This article is presented courtesy of
RestaurantOwner.com, a resource for
independent restaurant operators.
South Carolina Restaurant and Lodging Association n October 2014 n Page 17
18. SC Department of
Revenue provides
summary of
Stone Bill
By Stephen J. (Seph) Wunder, Special Counsel
Haynsworth Sinkler Boyd, P.A.
On September 2, 2014, the South Carolina Depart-ment
of Revenue released an Information Letter (IL
#14-12) giving further explanation to the recently
enacted “Stone Bill” and in doing so has provided a good synop-sis
of the rules relating to sales of brewed beer at breweries. In
applicable part, the language from Information Letter is copied
and annotated below:
“Breweries may sell beer brewed on the premises for on premis-es
consumption without the requirement that consumers take a
full tour and without a separate license, if the following require-ments
are met:
1. Sales must be made within an area of the licensed premises
that has been approved by the rules and regulations of the De-partment
of Health and Environmental Control (DHEC) govern-ing
eating and drinking establishments and other food service
establishments.
2. The brewery must comply with all state and local laws
concerning hours of operation applicable to eating and drinking
establishments and other food service establishments holding
permits to sell beer and wine for on-premises consumption.
3. The brewery must comply with the discount pricing provisions
[relating to free offerings, half-price offerings, two or more for
the price of one offerings and happy hour pricing], applicable to
persons holding permits to sell beer and wine for on-premises
consumption.
4. The price for beer sold by the brewery must approximate re-tail
prices generally charged for identical beverages by on-prem-ises
retailers elsewhere in the same county.
5. Consumers must not be intoxicated or under age 21.
6. The brewery must remit appropriate excise taxes, as well as
appropriate sales and use taxes and local hospitality taxes.
7. Signage posted at each entrance and exit and other places
visible during a tour must inform consumers of: (a) the alcoholic
content by weight of beer available in the brewery and (b) the
penalties for conviction for driving under the influence, unlawful
transport of an alcoholic beverage container and unlawful trans-fer
of alcohol to minors.
8. The brewery must provide South Carolina Department of
Alcohol and Other Drug Abuse Services (DAODAS) approved
training for its server staff.
9. The brewery must maintain liability insurance coverage of at
least $1 million for the biennial license period and provide proof
of insurance to the State Law Enforcement Division (SLED) and
the Department’s Alcoholic Beverage Licensing section within
10 days of receiving its biennial license.
10. A wholesaler must not provide and a brewery must not
accept services, equipment, fixtures, or free beer . . ., except
[for certain draft beer equipment replacement parts of nominal
value and certain point of sale advertising and product display
items].
11. The brewery must not discriminate in pricing at the produc-er
or wholesaler levels.
Separate Permit to Sell Other Beer and Wine for On-Premises
Consumption. A brewery with an area of its licensed premis-es
approved by the rules and regulations of the Department
of Health and Environmental Control governing eating and
drinking establishments and other food service establishments
may apply for a separate permit to sell beer and wine at retail
for consumption within the approved area. The separate permit
allows sales of wine and beer produced by another licensed
producer and purchased from a wholesaler through the three
tier distribution chain . . ..”
South Carolina Restaurant and Lodging Association n October 2014 n Page 18
19. SCRLA welcomes new
Upstate Membership
Coordinator
The South Carolina
Restaurant and Lodging
Association is pleased to
welcome Danny Shelton to the team
as the new Upstate Membership
Coordinator.
Danny will work to strengthen the
Association through growing and re-taining
membership in the Greenville
area.
Danny was born in Germany, but moved to the Palmetto State
and grew up in Spartanburg. He’s a graduate of Wofford College.
Danny brings more than 20-years of sales experience to the
SCRLA. He’s proud to call SC home and looks for opportunities to
tell others about all the state has to offer.
Danny is also an avid disc golfer and enjoys yoga.
Career Talks offered at
Culinary Institute of the
Carolinas
Greenville Technical College’s Culinary Institute of the
Carolinas invites everyone, especially ProStart teach-ers
and students, to a series of Career Talks.
The events include group tours through the facility, hands-on
knife skills training, a sushi demo and making and lunch.
These Career Talks are free to the public, and are aimed at
getting attendees interested in the culinary field familiar with what
the Carolina Institute of the Carolinas has to offer. Each career
talk runs from 10 am to 1:30 pm and takes place in the Culinary
Institute of the Carolinas on the Greenville Tech College Campus.
Event Dates:
Friday, November 21, 2014
Wednesday, December 17, 2014
Friday, March 27, 2015
Saturday, May 16, 2015
To sign up for one of these free career talks, email
rita@goodwin@gvltec.edu.
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South Carolina Restaurant and Lodging Association n October 2014 n Page 19
20. SWEETEN YOUR SALES AND ENJOY
A BIGGER PIECE OF THE PIE
South Carolina Restaurant and Lodging Association n April 2013 n Page 20
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