InTouch | May 2022

INtouch

PO Box 7577, Columbia, SC 29202

May 2022

PRSRT STD US POSTAGE PAID COLUMBIA, SC PERMIT 168

LEARN IF YOU QUALIFY FOR ERTC AND SEE REAL EXAMPLES FROM OUR STATE. Visit SCRLA.org/ertc today!

Partner Spotlight SOUTH CAROLINA HOSPITALITY BUSINESSES COLLECT THOUSANDS The South Carolina Restaurant and Lodging Association has partnered with Empower Solutions LLC to provide our membership with a no-up-front cost opportunity to determine potential ERTC dollars. As a member of the SCRLA, Empower Solutions will also research and identify any additional governmental programs that are applicable to your business.

There is no up-front cost to see if your business qualifies. If Empower Solutions find credits or incentives for your business, as an SCRLA member, you will receive up-front discounted pricing from the experienced Empower Solutions team.

Simply complete the form at SCRLA.org/ertc and send it via email to Laurie Childress, who will reach out within 24 hours to clarify what data documents are needed for the calculation.

Should you have questions prior to filling out the form, please call Laurie at 803.391.2056, and remember to tell her you are an SCRLA member!

6 tips to safeguard your hotel from electrical hazards Electrical safety is always on the list of top priorities of hoteliers because a variety of electric machinery and equipment are commonly used in hotels. The presence of water and fire in kitchens, restaurants, and bars makes the situation more vulnerable.

It’s not only about protecting the loss and damage to the property; electrical protection from current and electric fire is required to save the lives of guests and staff members present in the hotel.

Here are six preventive measures to keep the electrical hazards away from a hotel: Test and Inspect Regularly Prepare a schedule for routine electrical safety tests and inspections.

Tests should be comprehensive, and a skilled and competent electrical engineer should perform them timely. A team member should be responsible for keeping all the crucial equipment in maintained condition. All the electric accessories, appliances, and cables should be intact and need to be replaced if they show any sign of wear and tear. Delegate this task of electrical protection to responsible team members.

material. The recommendation from the suppliers and dealers sitting in the market also comes in handy. Knowing the brand that is best for commercial set-ups like hotels and restaurants is important.

Run Timely Maintenance The electronic equipment might seem fine without maintenance for a couple of more months, but electric equipment and wiring can come in close proximity to staff and guests. Therefore, it can be a fatal mistake not to send electrical equipment for maintenance on time; the circuits may be overloaded, the cords could be worn out, or the inside wiring can be faulty. These blunders can be caught during regular maintenance. A person from senior management should inspect if timely maintenance is carried out or not.

Acquire Knowledge and Training Every team member must get basic training and education regarding electrical safety. This training should provide knowledge about preventions while working around electrical equipment, keeping well-maintained electrical equipment, and other necessary steps to prevent electrical hazards. This training can also involve locating breaker switches and damaged electrical cords. The electrical safety training program can be run based on the recommendations of bodies like NIOSH (National Institute for Occupational Safety and Health) and OSHA (Occupational Safety and Health Administration).

Hire Great Contractors and Electricians Every year, a lot of insurance claims citing faulty electric work are filed by hotels and restaurants. The best way to not be a part of that list is to hire the best possible contractors and electricians. When the time comes to appoint contractors and electricians, look for qualification and experience first and then price. A hotel or restaurant can’t be reliant on cheap and faulty electric work.

Keep Smoke Detectors and Fire Extinguishers in Working Condition An electrical mishap resulting in a fire can happen despite ticking all the boxes. Thus, the fire alarms and fire extinguishers should always be in working condition. The monthly repair and maintenance of the smoke detectors should be done without fail. Employees also need to run a full maintenance check on the fire extinguisher once a year.

Use Good Quality Materials The electrical material used in the fittings of the building is vital for the electrical protection of the entire building. The decision of which electric material should be bought must not be based on cheaper rates, convenience, or any other factor apart from quality.

An electrician or electrical engineer can advise on the right kind of

Staying Aware Any hotel can be safeguarded against fire hazards by following simple electrical safety measures like performing timely checks, maintenance, and repair, as we are conducting training programs, using standardized electrical materials, and taking the services of qualified electrical engineers. Other ways of electrical protection can also be taken depending on the requirement of the set-up.

Take your restaurant tech to the next level and

expand your business.

Point-of-sale Enterprise reporting Labor management Online ordering

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call for Expansion of state data privacy laws has implications for hospitality

bROADENING wORKFORCE OPPORTUNITIES IN THE RESTAURANT INDUSTRY The shortage in workers is making it extremely difficult for restaurants to recruit and retain employees. Restaurants have had to close additional hours, limit seating capacity, and edit menus to adapt to their lack of employees.

According to the National Restaurant Association’s State of the Industry report, approximately 50% of restaurant operators name recruiting and retaining as their top challenge.

While there’s not one silver bullet to fix the labor shortage, legislation introduced by Representative Lloyd Smucker (R-PA) is one approach that could greatly help the restaurant industry.

The Essential Workers for Economic Advancement Act (H.R. 7239) would expand the country’s workforce through a three-year, marketdriven, non-immigrant visa program specifically in occupations that provide growth opportunities and career paths without the need for a college degree. The EWEA program would connect prospective workers with employers, both of whom must meet participation requirements, and will expand the country’s workforce focusing on occupations that do not requre a college degree.

“Overlapping blows of the pandemic and now an inflationary economy are limiting industry operations,” said Association EVP, Public Affairs Sean Kennedy. “For restaurants to fully recover and grow, we have to be open at full capacity—and to do that we have to continue to grow our workforce. This program is a win-win for employers in desperate need of employees, and for individuals seeking training and opportunity.”

A specific number of positions is allotted to employers that promote nationally recognized employee safety and health programs, hire workers under the Work Opportunity Tax Credit, or have comparatively low sales per employee—making restaurants ideal program participants.

How does the ewea Program work?

The program, established by the Essential Workers for Economic Advancement Act, connects prospective workers with employers. Both the employers and employees must meet the participation requirements to be paired together.

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Must apply to particpate in the program.

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Once the employer is approved, a prospecticve EWEA employee is matched for a specific position and location.

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EWEA employees can move between qualifying positions available at EWEA employers and have the potential to advance with growth and training.

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EWEA employers and employees must participate in employment verification through E-Verify.

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EWEA employers must prove that the position has remained unfilled for a set period of time and that no equally or better qualified U.S. worker who applied is ready, willing, and able to filll the position.

Why the EWEA PROGRAM WORKS FOR RESTAURANTS...

The EWEA program allots 25% of employees for businesses that promote nationally recognized employee safety and health programs, hire workers under the Work oppurtunity Tax Credit or hvae comparatively low sales per employee.

EWEA employees are essential in the growth of the restaurant industry and nation’s economy. The program is beneficial to every level of individual in the restauarant industry.

Data is one of, if not the most, important assets in today’s digital economy. Yet, reining in the use of consumer data has been like stepping back in time to the Wild West. Although the European Union established the General Data Protection Regulation, which sets concrete consumer privacy rights and dictates how companies must protect consumer data, the United States has been slower to act on this front.

Congress has held hearings on the subject, but those hearings have not resulted in a national data privacy framework. States have stepped in to fill the void, taking action to cover residents and business interactions in their respective jurisdictions. The patchwork of state data privacy laws has begun to take form with the passage of the California Consumer Protection Act and Privacy Rights Act, Virginia Data Protection Act, Colorado Privacy Act, and just this month, the Utah Consumer Privacy Act. However, the state-by-state patchwork approach is not ideal in today’s global marketplace. “Congress needs to pass a federal data privacy law that preempts the patchwork of differing state laws to better protect consumers and allow businesses to comply with one, uniform set of rules,” said Brennan Duckett, Association director of Technology and Innovation Policy.

Help attract & retain employees by offering health insurance from UnitedHealthcare.

Visit www.scrla.org/InsuranceCenter to learn more.

These laws give consumers the right to access, correct, and delete their information, and businesses that control or process the data of 100,000 or more consumers are obligated to fulfill data subject requests. As consumer behavior has changed over the last decade, the laws still cover on-premise traffic but also website visits and transactions via third-parties.

Additionally, laws like the Illinois Biometric Information Privacy Act prohibits private companies from collecting an individual’s biometric data unless they inform and obtain consent from the individual.

While there may not be a data privacy law in South Carolina now, Duckett warns that there very well could be one coming in the next couple years. “Restaurants and hotels should start determining how many consumers they interact with, and what kind of personal information they collect and store, and with whom that data may be shared.”

Noncompliance with data privacy claws is costly; nearly 200 legal actions have been filed relating to California’s Consumer Protection Act, alone.

WE’VE GOT YOUR BACK. AND FRONT OF HOUSE.

The restaurant industry builds skills in employees that are highly transferrable to and sought after by other industries.

How does the EWEA PROGRAM COMPARE to others?

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Capacity capped at 65,000

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Could go up to 85,000 or down to 45,000 through a market-based mechanism

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Prohibits family members from joining participants in the United States

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Authorized to work for an initial three (3) years with extensions allowed for up to an additional six (6) years

Restaurant

Powerful. Scalable.

Feature-rich point of sale.

The SCRLA and the National Restaurant Association will continue to work with members of Congress to help them appreciate how essential this tool is for industry growth and urge them to ultimately pass the legislation. heartland.us/restaurant

May 2022 • SCRLA.org

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