Trump Is About to Make Tip-Pooling Legal Again, Here’s What That Means for Restaurant Workers

jennygzhang_reports_business_8.0.jpg

If  just-announced changes to Department of Labor regulations go past the proposal stage, employers will be able to pool tips earned by servers, allowing them to share the tips with untipped employees like cooks, dishwashers, and others in the back of house — if they share them at all.

The proposed changes, first announced in July, roll back the Obama administration’s 2011 regulations that expressly prohibited the distribution of tips to anyone other than the front-of-house staff who earned them. Backers argue it’s a regulation that could go a long way towards erasing income inequality between back and front of the house. Others say it’s a recipe for a host of evils, ranging from tip-pocketing by management to unsustainably high labor costs. All optimists and skeptics can seem to agree on is this: It’s complicated.

Read the full article here

Seedless Avocados Are Here to Keep You From Cutting Off Your Hands

avocado.png

Here’s a new item in the produce aisle for people who adore avocados but are terrified of slicing the fruit themselves: seedless avocados. The strange product, which looks more like a cucumber or zucchini, is being featured by British retail chain Marks & Spencer.

M&S claims this thing, officially known as a “cocktail avocado,” is 100 percent edible, skin and all. The name presumably comes from the fact that it’s much safer to consume after throwing back a few alcoholic beverages: No sharp knives are required to enjoy this delicacy.

Read the full article here