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South Carolina Restaurant and Lodging Association n April 2013 n

SOUTH CAROLINA RESTAURANT AND LODGING ASSOCIATION

Representing, Promoting and Educating the Hospitality Industry of South Carolina October 2014 Hospitality News

© 2014 South Carolina Restaurant and Lodging Association. All rights reserved. Reproduction or quotation in whole or part without written permission is forbidden. While this newsletter is designed to provide accurate and authoritative information, the Association is not engaged in rendering legal or accounting services. If legal advice or other expert assistance is required, the services of a competent professional should be sought.

© 2014 South Carolina Restaurant and Lodging Association. All rights reserved. Reproduction or quotation in whole or part without written permission is forbidden. While this newsletter is designed to provide accurate and authoritative information, the Association is not engaged in rendering legal or accounting services. If legal advice or other expert assistance is required, the services of a competent professional should be sought.

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Contents October 2014

4Chairman’s MessageNew PAC established

5SC ProStart student shinesShe’s taking over the airwaves

7Internship 101 Internship opportunities at SCschools

8Wage studyAH&LA in-depth study on negative effects of extreme local wage hikes

19Meet Danny Shelton Welcome the new Upstate Membership Coordinator

COVER STORY10The franchise of green How the corporate office can facilitate sustainable initiatives

12Golf FORE education Everything you need to know about the upcoming Hospitality Leaders Golf Tournament

17Controlling food costs Where to start in the kitchen

18Stone 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

South Carolina Restaurant and Lodging Association n October 2014 n

South CarolinaRestaurant & Lodging

Association

PO Box 7577 • Columbia, SC 29202

803.765.9000 • Fax 803.252.7136

Email [email protected]

www.SCRLA.org

SCRLA Executive CommitteeChairman

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 RepresentativeCarl Sobocinski, Table 301, Greenville

Association StaffJohn Durst, President and CEO

[email protected]

Douglas OFlaherty, Director of Operations [email protected].

Susan Walters, Director of Membership [email protected]

Katie Montgomery, Director of [email protected]

Christal Van Wickler, [email protected]

Danny Shelton, Upstate Membership [email protected]

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

Message from SCRLA Chairman


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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.

Take advantage of exclusive health care pricing and solutions through the South Carolina Restaurant & Lodging Association (SCRLA) and UnitedHealthcareTogether, the National Restaurant Association (NRA), the SCRLA and UnitedHealthcare are offering these special advantages for your business as an SCRLA member:

} Health care reform guidance and solutions around the Affordable Care Act

} New health care discounts limited to NRA/SCRLA members

} Lower-cost medical products

} Bilingual resources for Hispanic/Latino owners, operators and employees

“When it comes to the field of health care, we live in unprecedented times. Both the regulatory and business landscapes are shrouded by a dense

fog of uncertainty. What’s more, when plotting a course for success over this rough terrain, a knowledgeable and trustworthy guide is a virtual necessity. At Firehouse Subs, we concluded long ago that the best course of action was to turn a negative into a positive. We took a leadership position in assessing the impact of the Affordable Care Act (ACA) and devised a course of action that we believe will help us achieve our business goals of growing sales and improving profitability. We felt so confident in our chosen course that we implemented the offer of qualifying insurance coverage for our hourly employees in 2014 (choosing not to take advantage of the one-year delay granted by the Obama administration). During our many months of studying the ACA and formulating our plan, the support we received from the team at UnitedHealthcare was invaluable. UnitedHealthcare stood side by side with us to help us understand the ever-shifting tenets of the ACA; they were our “go-to” resource. From beginning to end, they differentiated themselves from their competitors by demonstrating their desire to understand the needs of our business. And along the way, they helped us educate our franchise community and arm them with the knowledge they need to make a quality decision about their own path. And finally, as we moved toward the finish line of finalizing the products we would offer our employees, they proved themselves to be a superior choice in the marketplace. I highly recommend UnitedHealthcare for any business seeking a valued partner in today’s challenging business environment.”

Don Fox, Chief Executive Officer Firehouse of America, LLC (dba Firehouse Subs), Jacksonville, Florida UnitedHealthcare customer

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Find out what the SCRLA and UnitedHealthcare can do for your business, and why others in the hospitality industry are choosing UnitedHealthcare for their health care solutions.

Contact your broker, the SCRLA or Kimberlee Vandervoorn at (301) 865-7058 or [email protected].

In their own words: Why choose UnitedHealthcare?


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 [email protected] 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 [email protected] 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 [email protected] 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

Engaging SC universities with internships 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 [email protected] 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 [email protected] or 803-777-2685.


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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.

Industry survey: Hotel jobs offer high wages, benefits, career advancement


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

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….”

The Franchise on GreenHow the corporate office can facilitate sustainable initiatives


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.


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.


Golf FORE! Education

Dear Suzann

e Hinde, Board

Chairperso

n:

Hospitality ha

s always been a

passion of

mine and I

have always p

ut great pri

de into it. I

am so excited

to start working

in this fiel

d and I hav

e always

wanted to ev

ery since I

was a little g

irl.

I am greatly app

reciative fo

r this schol

arship you

have awarded

me. I have b

een worryin

g about the

cost of colle

ge and also

if I could e

ven go bec

ause

of the cost;

but this is

giving me that

chance an

d is

bringing me one

stop closer

.

Thank you a

gain for thi

s opportunit

y.

Sincerely,

Leslie Bake

r

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/catering business in the South.

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 me the 2014 academic scholarship.

Sincerely, Elizabeth Sowell

Dear Suzanne Hinde, My name is Jacob Rowles, graduate of 2014, and

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 that nothing is handed to you. If you

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.

Thanks again Suzanne, I will not let you, the

entire T.H.E. Foundation but most importantly

myself down! Sincerely, Jacob Rowles

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.


By J. Hagood TigheFisher & 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

Should employees sign arbitration agreements?


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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 [email protected] 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.


By Michael Murray, Payroll Medics

In 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 InsuranceA 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

Pay-as-you-go workers’ comp hits second generation 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

Once available only to clients of PEOs (employee leasing), there are now pay-as-you-go options for the Hospitality Industry.


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.

How New Generation Pay-As-You-Go WorksEach 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.

Workers’ comp continued...


By Stephen J. (Seph) Wunder, Special CounselHaynsworth 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 . . ..”

SC Department of Revenue provides summary of Stone Bill


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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.

SCRLA welcomes new Upstate Membership Coordinator

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, 2014Wednesday, December 17, 2014 Friday, March 27, 2015Saturday, May 16, 2015

To sign up for one of these free career talks, email rita@[email protected].

Career Talks offered at Culinary Institute of the Carolinas

South Carolina Restaurant and Lodging Association n April 2013 n

PRSRT STDUS POSTAGE

PAIDCOLUMBIA, SCPERMIT 168

PO Box 7577 Columbia, SC 29202

Chef’s Line has given delicious, upscale twists to two all-American classics—apple pie and vanilla ice cream—to energize your menu and increase sales.

The new Chef’s Line Rustic Apple Tart has the scratch-made, sweet-and-spicy flavor of Midwestern apple pie in a single-serve treat. Artisan-quality look and taste with the perfect balance of sweet and tangy, orchard-fresh apples baked in a flaky, buttery crust just like mom used to make.

Chef’s Line Vanilla Bean Ice Cream is a minimum 15% butterfat with a lower overrun/less air than most ice creams for a denser, creamier flavor and texture that is still easy to scoop. Made with simple, premium, all-natural ingredients including pure vanilla from the island of Madagascar for smooth, luscious taste.

To learn more about our innovative products, call your US Foods rep or visit us online at usfoods.com.

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