In recent years, it has become the norm for some restaurants to charge customers extra, in addition to requesting tips, to help their employees pay for medical bills. texas, IllinoisWhen Minnesota Restaurants add surcharges to customer bills to offset costs and contribute to employee benefits. In some cases, the surcharge can be 3-4%.
But not all restaurant patrons are familiar with the new trends. In a recent TikTok video According to user Ashley Nichole (@ashnichole_xo), she and her friend were separately charged a 5% fee for “employee health” after eating at the restaurant. Osteria La Buca at Sherman Oaks, California.
“We enjoy a meal, get a check, pay a check, sign a tip or something, so we kind of notice something,” Nicole says in the video.
@ashnichole_xo Is this normal? ? # green screen #receipt #Employee health #restaurant ♬ Original Sound – Ashley Nicole
She then shows a photo of a receipt with a 5% surcharge and a $4.75 charge for “employee health.”
“My immediate thought was, ‘What is employee health? What does that mean?'” says Nicole. “We looked at some options and I was like, ‘Okay?
She claimed to have asked the restaurant hostess the reason for the charge, and the hostess said it was for employee health care.
“And I’ve never heard of it,” adds Nicole, who also notes that she’s been to the restaurant many times. I live under a rock and is this normal? It may be.”
Nicole’s videos currently have over 120,000 views. Osteria La Buca Requests for comment on The Daily Dot’s surcharge policy have not been responded to via the media contact form.
according to new york timeswhen surcharges similar to those seen in Osteria Labuka began to appear around 2008, San Francisco voters passed ordinances requiring businesses with 20 or more employees to set aside funds for health care. Approved. The Affordable Care Act, which came into effect in 2010, requires employers with 50 or more full-time employees. provide health benefits.
2019 survey The U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics reports that only about 40% of “accommodation and dining services” establishments offer health benefits.
Many commenters on Nicole’s video said they found the surcharge practice strange.
“It should be illegal to bill customers for employee health insurance,” said one commenter.
“That’s weird,” another user wrote. [I don’t know]I’m all for health care, but that’s the employer’s job Lmao.
Some expressed a little more sympathy for the practice, emphasizing that at least the restaurant showed some transparency about its charges.
“You’ll pay for it one way or another,” a commenter said of the employee’s medical bills. We just need 5% more food.”
The Daily Dot reached out to Nichole via a TikTok comment and a direct message on Instagram.
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*First published: Jan 10, 2023 at 11:53am CST
Alison Waller
Allyson Waller is a freelance writer for the Daily Dot. She is a graduate of the University of Texas at Austin, New York and has contributed to other publications such as the Miami She-Herald. Outside of the world of journalism, one of her hobbies is checking out book recommendations on TikTok, listening to her pop culture podcasts, and playing with her dog, Theo.
