Hospitality Employee Relief

As a hospitality employer, you know firsthand the impact the coronavirus pandemic has had not only to your business, but to your employees. The industry cares about its employees, and employee resources are available as they wait for stimulus checks from the federal government or try to make ends meet with unemployment insurance.

Restaurant Employee Relief Fund

The National Restaurant Association Education Foundation has teamed up with Celebrity Chef Guy Fieri to create the Restaurant Employee Relief Fund. Employees who are eligible can receive a one-time $500 payment. In a recent interview with ABC news, Fieri said, “It’s not just the money. It’s the comfort. The recognition that your community you’ve been serving for years and years is now giving you support.”

The fund has raised $10 million so far and Fieri said his goal was $100 million.

Employees in need can visit the website and complete an application.

Eligibility requirements include:

• Worked on a part-time or full-time basis in the restaurant industry for at least 90 days in the past year, from March 2019 through now
• Have had a primary source of income in the restaurant industry for the past year, from March 2019 through now
• Have had a decrease in wages or loss of job on or after March 10, 2020
• Live in the U.S., a U.S. territory or a U.S. military base overseas

AHLA Foundation’s Hospitality for Hope Initiative

The American Hotel and Lodging Association Foundation has launched the Hospitality for Hope Initiative. The program offers hotel employees free training and educational courses to help them continue their education and stay connected to their careers during this pandemic.

The program includes hospitality management training, professional development scholarships, continuing education scholarships and short-term job opportunities.

Hotel employees can find out more about this program here.

Big Table

Big Table helps those in the hospitality industry during the best of times. Now that the industry is in crisis, it is still helping.

The organization, which has locations in Spokane and Seattle, helps low-income hospitality employees with utility assistance, rent or a deposit for housing, connections to counseling, car repair, diapers or food for single mothers, a bike for transportation to work, medical or dental care or assistance with résumé development.

The organization works on a referral basis. If you have employees who would benefit from this organization, click here.

The Plate Fund of Greater Seattle (Schultz Family Foundation)

For employees seeking relief in Seattle and King County, the Schultz Family Foundation, in partnership with All in Seattle, the Seattle Foundation and UpTogether, has launched a new program, The Plate Fund of Greater Seattle, to support restaurant employees who have experienced job loss or a loss of income during the coronavirus crisis. Launched with $4 million in funds, it will provide immediate relief to workers with one-time, $500 cash payments for items such as food, medicine, baby products, insurance premiums and phone bills.

The program launched today, and employees can apply here.