Loading
A few gasps erupted Feb. 28 at the Bryan Glazer Family JCC in Tampa when attorney Katie Molloy shared that employees can sue for twice what they’re owed if an employer doesn’t follow wage and hour laws properly — an issue plaguing the hospitality industry at the moment.
“At the end of the day, you have to pay your employees, and you have to treat them fairly,” she says.
With staffing shortages, Molloy says there’s a lot more overtime being worked and off the clock hours being logged. Not to mention extra pressure on labor budgets and hours.
“These are all a recipe for disaster if an employer is not compliant with wage and hour laws.”
Molloy, a Tampa shareholder of the Greenberg Traurig law firm, was one of many speakers at the Florida Israel Business Accelerator’s Shifting Trends in Talent and Customer Loyalty event.
Clyde Smith, the general manager at Bilmar Beach Resort in Treasure Island, says it's one of the toughest times for the industry in terms of recruiting and retaining employees.
“The old-school feeling of being privileged that they’re working for you, it’s almost the other way around now,” he says. “We’re privileged that (employees) would even consider working for us.”
“I joke that we used to have a ‘no tattoo’ policy, but now it’s a mandatory tattoo policy,” he adds, noting the company has had to be flexible.
Another part of that flexibility is meeting an employee where they’re at if something in their personal life is affecting their professional life. For example, if an employee is always 10 minutes late, Smith says to find out what’s causing that to happen.
“Would it kill you to move your schedule to 8:45 instead of 8:30?” he poses. “What’s going to happen in those 15 minutes? Nothing, but you might save an employee.”
But Smith also has a Keurig machine in his office that doesn’t hurt the situation.
Other highlights in recruiting and retaining employees from the event include:
Your free article limit has been reached this month.
Subscribe now for unlimited digital access to our award-winning business news.
Join thousands of executives who rely on us for insights spanning Tampa Bay to Naples.
