Eateries you don’t want to work for

June 21, 2012

Some restaurants may be fun and appetizing to patronize, but for many of those establishments’ employees, their jobs are not so appealing. (AOL)

Restaurant Opportunities Centers United (ROC), an employee organization which claims more than 8,000 members nationwide, cites dozens of restaurants such as Olive Garden, Red Lobster, and Applebee’s which the group claims treat workers particularly unfairly.

ROC annually publishes a “Diners’ Guide,” a measure of “the working conditions of American restaurants,” according to its website. The group says it seeks to improve wages and working conditions for the nation’s low-wage restaurant workforce and has offices in Chicago, Houston, Los Angeles, Philadelphia, Miami, Michigan, New Orleans, New York City and Washington D.C.

Also included on the ROC’s “worst” list are Burger King, Hooters, Baskin-Robbins, Chuck E. Cheese, KFC, McDonald’s,  Quiznos, Subway, Taco Bell, TGI Friday’s, Wendy’s, and famed New York eatery, Ruth’s Chris Steakhouse. (Read the entire list here.)

The list does not take food quality into consideration.

According to the guide, “Workers who cook, prepare, and serve our food suffer from poverty wages, no benefits like paid sick days, and little or no chance to move up to better positions. When the people who serve us food can’t afford to pay the rent or take a day off when they’re sick, our dining experience suffers.”

Ninety percent of the more than 4,300 restaurant workers surveyed by ROC reported their employers did not offer employees paid sick leave. Two-thirds of those surveyed reported that their employees routinely cook, prepare, and serve food while sick.