Should restaurant workers receive a COVID-19 raise? Three people tell you why

Restaurants and fast-food chains in Canada have struggled during the pandemic.

Some restaurants have closed, while others have experienced an increase in sales — specifically, with take-out.

Since the beginning of the pandemic, there has been a 55 per cent increase in take out and food delivery, according to a study from Dalhousie University. “DoorDash is now valued at $16 billion after it raised $400 million in June,” CNN reporter Hanna Ziady says.

This has placed new demands on employees, leading some to ask whether they’re due for a COVID-19 raise.

Most employees in the food industry make minimum wage. The minimum wage in Canada varies by province, but it was increased this year to $14.60 an hour in B.C. (from $13.85) and to $14.25 an hour in Ontario (from $14). But is that enough considering the added responsibility and risk that employees have to take on?

Anna, whose name has been changed to protect her identity from her employers, says a wage increase would help.

“Everybody should receive a wage increase. My crew works hard and they’re at the same risk I’m in. They deal with a lot of the same things I do.”

Anna is a shift manager at a major fast food chain in western Ontario. The restaurant is open for dine-in, take-out and delivery. All staff are required to wear a face mask and have temperature checks before they start their shift. Hand sanitizers are in place around the store, and only a limited section of the lobby can be open for dine-in. Her workload has tripled, due to mobile apps like Skip the Dishes and UberEats.

“A wage increase would make it worthwhile. When you’re doing triple the work and getting the same pay, that’s not really fair. There’s no motivation” she says.

Anna has few employees to help her with the workload. Nearly half-way through her shift, almost half the crew were cut by other managers to save labour costs. With the increase in delivery, she finds it more stressful than ever and feels as though she has little support.

Karen Bautista is a second assistant manager at McDonald’s in New Westminster. At her location, all staff must wear a face mask and do a screening test before they start their shift.

“It’s important to take it seriously. Because if you don’t, you don't know what could happen and we could shut down again” said Bautista.

Earlier this year, B.C. restaurants were ordered to close for two months unless they could offer take-out.

Karen Bautista cleaning the windows to ensure kids are safe from touching the virus with their hands.

She says over the past couple months, there has been a huge increase in delivery. The store brings in roughly $10,000 a day in delivery alone.

“McDelivery is sitting at plus-153.26 per cent versus last year” said Greg Libunao, general manager of the location.

Bautista says staff deserve more benefits while working during the pandemic.

“As the head of the people department, you think ‘these crew are helping a lot, risking their lives’ and I wish I could help them. I don’t want to risk someone’s life and they’re not getting paid enough for it,” she said.

Christina, one of the employees , cleaning the lobby to ensure guests are safe. Photo taken by Karen Bautista.

While fast food restaurants have seen an increase in take-out and delivery sales, other restaurants haven’t been as lucky. In March alone, 800,000 jobs were lost in the restaurant industry in Canada.

Niloo Daliri, who is now a barista at Kafka’s Coffee House in Vancouver, was laid off from her previous job and had to find new work.

Kafka’s Coffee House ensures all employees wear a face mask with the option to wear a face guard. There are pexi-glass barriers and hand sanitizer bottles around the cafe. When guests walk in and choose dine-in, they are asked to sign a contact tracing sheet, which asks their name and phone number.

She says sales have increased at Kafka's, but other days are slow.

“You never really feel like you know when your next pay cheque is going to come in. It’s very uncertain” says Daliri

A wage increase would help, but “it would be something you would have to earn like Food Safe.” She suggests people could be trained in how to handle the virus properly in order to receive a wage increase.

“A wage increase sounds nice in theory, but it could be detrimental,” says Daliri. “You enter the strange category of hazard pay. People who deal with human waste removal or injection sites, these people get an additional wage for dealing with hazardous material. Those people are trained.”

She says that a wage increase would be nice, but understands the potential impact on small businesses.

“These restaurants aren't funded by big companies, (they’re) regular people who started a business 10 years ago. Profits are already low for smaller businesses. Paying your employees more with low profit is a pretty tough spot,” says Daliri.

There have been 194,106 cases of COVID-19 across Canada since January, with 20,740 still active. You can find more information about cases here.