Why Asian restaurants are both good and cheap

[Jamnan_n_Steve 17]

My wife has been warned off from working in a number of Thai restaurants we frequent here in the San Francisco Bay Area. She has been told, oh no, you don't want to work here, you are fine, you have papers and a (farang) husband, etc. I have always encouraged her to try as I naively believed that here in California wait staff (for which she has ample experience in Thailand) would receive both minimum wages and whatever tips customers leave. Well at least one local restaurant 'bent' the rules, but got caught:

News Release:

California Labor Commissioner Julie A. Su issued citations totaling $481,813 to the owners of Toomie's Thai Cuisine restaurant in Alameda. The citations consisted of civil penalties and wages owed to 13 employees for violation of minimum wage, overtime and rest period laws.

The Labor Commissioner's joint inspection with the Employment Development Department (EDD) was based on complaints filed in August. The investigation revealed that the cooks, dishwashers, kitchen helpers and servers employed by Toomie's Thai Cuisine routinely worked at least 10.5 hours each day, up to seven days a week.

Workers were not paid the State-mandated minimum wage for hours worked or the one-and-a-half regular rate of pay for overtime hours. Rather, the owners paid in cash: $45 per day for servers and between $75 and $120 for kitchen staff.

The pay rate was further inadequate because it did not reflect the "split-shift" premium, as is required when employees work two or more shifts in a workday with an unpaid break of more than an hour. Workers were not allowed to leave the premises before 2:30 each afternoon when business was closed to the public, and then reported back at 4:30 p.m. for several more hours of work. The investigation also revealed that employers had not kept time records prior to September 1, 2013 or provided staff with itemized wage statements.

"The Labor Commissioner is charged with ensuring that employees are paid for all wages they are owed," affirmed Christine Baker, Director of the Department of Industrial Relations. The Labor Commissioner's Office, also known as the Division of Labor Standards Enforcement (DLSE), is a division within DIR.

"Our goal is to ensure a just day's pay for a hard day's work in every workplace in California," said Labor Commissioner Julie A. Su. "We want to create a culture of compliance where employers profit by playing by the rules and employers who have concluded that it is cheaper to break the law, that the chances of getting caught are slim, and the costs even if you do get caught are minimal know that those days are over."

Toomie's owners, Norong and Kaoduan Undomrak, are individually and jointly responsible for $108,200 in civil penalties as well as $373,613 owed to their workers in unpaid minimum wages, overtime pay, rest period and split shift premiums.

Article source giving links to the glowing reviews of the quality and low prices:

http://alameda.patch.com/groups/politics-and-elections/p/alameda-restaurant-cited-for-nearly-500000-in-wage-theft-violations

I recognize that I am complicit (having worked in Oakland's Chinatown, I have become used to lunches for less than $10 all in, after reading this may need to begin to patronize fast food restaurants such as McDonalds as at least there the workers make minimum wage and are paid for their overtime.

Steve from

Jamnan and Steve

[TBoneTX 46,204]

This is a good illustration of how new legal immigrants might end up getting hosed if they accept the "wrong" job. It's important to consider the ethics and business practices of potential employers before agreeing to work somewhere.

[Darnell 8,479]

i wonder how many workers there had the wrong papers? or any at all?

[Jamnan_n_Steve 17]

From our observations the servers we encounter 'downtown' near UC Berkeley and Berkeley City College are probably here on a student visa (and thus working without authorization) - almost by definition, anyone here from Thailand on a student visa needed to demonstrate sufficient family income/assets to afford to attend school here - in other words they are (in my wife's terms Hi-So), but because their papers do not allow for off-campus work are probably working for cash and tips..

The restaurants we frequent farther away have servers who may very well have papers and many have familiies here, but from their comments are working for cash without the legal protections real jobs have.

I would guess that most of the people in the kitchens everywhere are working for cash and many of them without papers to work, even though they probably arrived with some sort of papers many years ago.

[Karee 4,191]

Some of the girls I met in Thai cat houses in the U.S. were here on expired K-1s. Basically out of status.

[Ning 619]

Some of the girls I met in Thai cat houses in the U.S. were here on expired K-1s. Basically out of status.

I didn't realize until now that you were a PETA member and would extend any effort required to help the inhabitants of such places survive. My husband says status is determined by the location of the room relative to the front door. Or back door in your case.

[Karee 4,191]

I didn't realize until now that you were a PETA member and would extend any effort required to help the inhabitants of such places survive. My husband says status is determined by the location of the room relative to the front door. Or back door in your case.

Actually I was just giving free English lessons. Just doing my part to help the less fortunate.