Enforce labour laws in restaurants

Re: “Temporary foreign worker reforms unveiled” (Gazette, June 21)

It should come as no surprise to anyone who has worked in the hospitality industry that restaurants are among the most flagrant abusers of the Temporary Foreign Worker program.

Cheap labour is one of the hallmarks of the industry, and employers will do almost anything to keep labour costs down, all while squeezing the most out of their workers. Benefits are either slim or none-existent, hours are long, employees often receive no lunch break, working conditions are often unsafe, verbal and psychological abuse are common, and employers often try to cheat workers by not even paying them all of their meagre wages. They do this by not paying workers a premium for overtime, not paying them for national holidays, not paying them the 4 per cent vacation pay to which they are entitled, and simply by not paying them for all of the hours they work.

If an employee complains, they will sometimes receive that to which they are entitled, but many employees are afraid to speak up, and there are also many who simply don’t know their rights. A program that allows a company to hire workers who are even less likely to stand up for themselves or know their rights must have seemed like a dream come true to these employers.

In my opinion, random checks should be done to ensure that employers are paying their employees holiday pay, etc. instead of placing the onus on an employee to make a complaint to the labour board. Ensuring that employees are being paid properly for all of their hours, etc., would have the added benefit of increasing tax revenue for the government (as wages that are not paid cannot be taxed).

If employers treated their workers better, their labour shortages might become a thing of the past.

Sarah Ben Sabat

Verdun