By Shannon Walker

The restaurant industry continues to shift its approach to the workplace, as employees scrutinize long hours, unpaid breaks, equitable wages, and more. For forward-thinking restaurants, this shift isn’t just an ethical imperative; it’s a competitive advantage. In an era where labour disputes can hinder a restaurant’s reputation, integrity through transparency has become essential as a new business model.

Pay equity

Rightfully, employees care about fair wages, rest breaks, and respect. Certain restaurants have opted for service-included models, such as Richmond Station in Toronto, which has increased its staff wages and priced them into its menu.

Restaurants opting for this approach can now offer wage transparency to their staff, such as posting accurate salaries during the hiring process. This can help build staff loyalty as they have visibility into how much they will accurately be earning.

A 2023 Angus Reid Institute poll found that 86 per cent of Canadians willing to remove tipping believe the current system could allow employers to underpay their employees, believing tipping systems enable employer wage theft. These numbers demonstrate a significant increase in both parties to a service-based model and a higher base salary for restaurant employees. However, that also involves employers remaining transparent with their pricing and ensuring their employees receive a higher wage.

In Ontario, employees are permitted to discuss their wages under the Pay Transparency Act and the Employment Standards Act. These rights are particularly crucial if employers attempt to implement policies that restrict employees from discussing their salaries and benefits.

Culture of transparency

Just as open kitchens build customer trust, transparent HR practices, such as easy-to-use incident reporting, can demonstrate to employees that their concerns are taken seriously. Long hours without proper legally required breaks and lack of overtime pay can lead to high turnover, injuries, and low morale. Work done outside of regular working hours, such as cleaning after the shift, may go uncompensated, and skipping breaks due to understaffing may also occur.

These are examples of restaurants taking advantage of their employees. To build trust and provide transparency, restaurants could consider:

• Providing training and communicating with employees to enhance their experience and that of the client and company.
• Increasing accessibility for all clients. Digital menus accessible through a QR code, menus in multiple languages, and an email at the bottom of the menu for customer feedback are all options.

Ethically sourcing clean ingredients can also be an indicator of fair labour practices. Employees are more likely to speak up when they see leadership prioritize ethics, whether for suppliers or staff. Training managers on labour laws and creating anonymous reporting channels, such as an HR department, anonymous hotlines, or a third-party platform, can enable employees to report safety concerns, harassment, and other issues.

Speak-up culture

Setbacks are inevitable, but it’s how they are handled that makes all the difference. Although it’s beneficial for restaurants to showcase transparent processes and speak-up culture, it’s vital to strike a balance between transparency and maintaining a competitive edge.

Strategically sharing information with staff in a clear and concise manner can prevent miscommunication and enhance trust and integrity. Here are some ways to implement transparency in your restaurant:

• Start small: Encourage open discussion with management about concerns.
• Train staff: Ensure everyone understands and can communicate your policies.
• Leverage storytelling: Use your website and social media to share your transparency journey and any community partnerships.
• Monitor feedback: Adjust your approach based on employee responses.
• Share stories of employees who safely reported issues: Explaining an anonymous employee experience (e.g., one who reported unpaid overtime, resulting in an audit of their schedule) can prove to employees that the workplace won’t retaliate if they report concerns, but can instead encourage them to speak up.

Lead with integrity

Transparency is now the cornerstone of a thriving modern restaurant. When restaurants address labour violations, they set standards for the entire industry and protect future workers. From wage transparency to open kitchens and ethical sourcing, integrity fosters trust among staff, diners, and the broader community alike. While challenges like competitive risks or customer pushback still exist, restaurant owners are rewarded with loyal teams, discerning guests, and a reputation for fairness.

Ultimately, transparency isn’t just the new tip jar, but the future of the hospitality industry.

Shannon Walker is the founder of WhistleBlower Security Inc. (WBS) and executive VP of Thought Leadership and Strategy at Case IQ. WBS provides ethics, compliance, and loss prevention hotlines, along with IntegrityCounts, a proprietary case management platform for organizations globally. Shannon frequently speaks around the world on whistleblowing, ethics, corporate culture and diversity.