California Restaurant Association Quick
Bites
~ Serving up the latest news in the restaurant
industry ~
List
of acceptable employment-eligibility documents
shortened
The U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement
(ICE), formerly the enforcement arm of
the dissolved Immigration and Naturalization
Service and the U.S. Customs Service ?
has shortened the list of documents that
establish both identity and employment
eligibility for the purposes of checking
completed Form I-9s for new hires. These
are referred to "List A" documents
on I-9 forms.
No longer acceptable are certificates
of U.S. citizenship, certificates of naturalization,
current reentry permits and current refuge
travel documents. In addition, a current
passport alone is no longer sufficient
for List A purposes, but will suffice
if it's combined with either an I-551
stamp or an attached INS Form I-94, which
indicates unexpired employment authorization.
List B (documents establishing identity)
and List C (documents establishing employment
eligibility) remain unchanged.
Here's one for the road - designate a
driver
This holiday season, remind patrons to
celebrate responsibly. Restaurants can
take part in this campaign by utilizing
free materials being offered by the CRA
and the California Office of Traffic Safety
(OTS) and by offering complimentary or
reduced cost non-alcoholic drinks to designated
drivers. Watch for information to come
about California's holiday DUI prevention
campaign and more ideas to encourage patrons
to "Designate a Driver."
For more information on how you can get
involved, please contact Christie Schuck
at 916.418.1500 or christie.schuck@ogilvypr.com.
Reminder - The CRA Educational Foundation
(CRAEF) provides ServSafe® Alcohol
classes, providing training in responsible
alcoholic-beverage service, including
checking identification. The curriculum
is designed for licensees, managers and
employees. The training is a four-hour,
interactive program that reviews and reinforces
the skills needed to provide responsible
beverage service. Included with the training
is the administration of a secured examination.
For a complete listing of all CRAEF seminars,
click
here.
In the next California Restaurant
Bulletin
The next issue of California Restaurant
Bulletin gives you a glimpse of things
to come in 2007. From legislative issues
that will shake up the State Capitol,
to new laws and dining and wine trends,
this special edition of Bulletin will
give enlightening expert analysis of how
the new year will impact your business.
And speaking of new, our "10 Questions"
series introduces you to California's
Insurance Commissioner-elect Steve Poizner,
who explains how his professional background
makes him especially sensitive to the
needs of the state's business community.
Watch your mailboxes!
Don't leave money on the table - save
energy in the kitchen!
Did you know over the course of a year
one commercial cooking appliance can use
as much energy as an entire house? When
it comes to saving energy in the kitchen,
how you use your appliances can be just
as important as which appliances you use.
For example, cutting just one hour each
day of a broiler's "on" time
can translate to savings of around $450
annually. For more tips like this one,
read the Appliances and Food Preparation
chapter in Boosting Restaurant Profits
with Energy Efficiency, Flex Your Power's
guide to saving money and energy for restaurant
owners and managers. Find
it here.
Over $2 billion in utility-sponsored energy-efficiency
programs are available throughout the
state, and many even offer financial incentives
to help offset the cost of efficiency
upgrades. Click
here
to find incentives and services in your
area.
National
Tax Credit Group,
LLC provides in-depth state and federal
incentive tax credit studies. NTCG can
also assist chains and franchisors with
selecting the most tax-advantageous locations
to operate any new stores. For more information
on your eligibility, please visit www.ntcgtax.com
or call 800.791.3589. We offer a free
evaluation of your potential tax savings.
Join the rest of our restaurant clients
and take credits where credits are due!
For more than a century, Alsco
has offered a complete line of linen,
chef coats and dining service uniforms,
a variety of floor mats to provide a safe
and professional image for your guests
and employees as well as the latest in
restroom technology and hygiene with the
new All Fresh Facility Services program.
For more information, visit www.alsco.com.
Los Angeles City Council approved extending
the city's living wage
By a 10-3 vote on November 22, the Los
Angeles City Council approved extending
the city's living wage, of approximately
$11 per hour, to hotels and businesses
operating on hotel properties on the LAX
Century Corridor. This is the first time
in the nation a city has imposed a living
wage on private businesses that have no
contractual relationship with the city.
A coalition of local hotels, the CRA and
California retailers have started collecting
signatures for a referendum for the city's
special election in early 2007. Despite
restrictions to this ordinance limiting
its effect to the LAX area only, it is
expected the living-wage ordinance will
expand citywide and set precedent to expand
beyond just hotel properties.
The CRA needs the restaurant industry
to help educate the general public to
vote against this living wage. For more
information on how to get involved please
contact Andrew Casaña at 562.432.8291
or acasana@calrest.org.
Call to action: Help defeat the
Capitola polystyrene ban mandate
The CRA has been actively fighting to
defeat a proposed ordinance in the City
of Capitola, which attempts to repeal
the current voluntary ban on polystyrene
food packaging and implement a mandate.
The CRA has engaged restaurateurs in Capitola
to urge the council to work collaboratively
with local businesses and restaurants
to implement the original voluntary ban,
rather than impose a mandate. A letter
opposing this ordinance was sent to the
city council prior to the public hearing
held on Tuesday, November 21, at which
Amalia Chamorro, Director of Local Government
Affairs, as well as CRA members testified.
Although the proposal passed on its first
reading, the ordinance must pass a second
reading in order for the mandate to go
into effect. The CRA will be meeting with
city council members prior to the second
reading, which is scheduled for December
14. Time is of the essence. It is crucial
for Capitola restaurateurs to act now.
Write to the city council to express your
concerns and defeat this proposal.
For more information on how you can get
involved and to obtain a sample letter,
please contact Amalia Chamorro at 408.291.6344
or achamorro@calrest.org.
Letter-grade postings proposed
in City of Bakersfield
A city council committee in Bakersfield
is considering requiring restaurants to
post letter grades from their latest Kern
County Environmental Health Department
inspection. The Bakersfield City Council
has to approve the measure before this
requirement takes affect and is scheduled
to vote on it before the end of the month.
The committee made this recommendation
after the Board of Supervisors approved
a restaurant letter-grade system for unincorporated
areas of Kern County. The Board of Supervisors
left the decision up to the council members
of each city in Kern County whether to
implement the same system, which is similar
to one in place in Los Angeles.
If approved by the Bakersfield City Council
at its late November meeting, letter grades
will be required to be posted in restaurant
windows sometime in 2007. For more information
please contact Andrew Casaña 562.432.8291.
Do you want to avoid drive-by-lawsuits.
Don't miss the opportunity to learn access
compliance from a recognized expert! Are
these elements of your business compliant:
restrooms, doors, aisles, tables, counters,
accessible counter, accessible parking,
path of travel from parking, curb ramps
vs. pedestrian ramps, detectable warnings/truncated
domes and other elements. ARA
Training Institute introduces
a series of specialized trainings for
access compliance. These trainings will
teach you about access and what you need
to know about your obligations under the
ADA and CA Title 24 Regulations. Don't
be a business caught off guard and have
to pay for the defense of a drive-by-lawsuit!
Register now at ARA
Training Institute to attend
the workshop that starts you on your way
to access compliance. Space is limited
to better serve attendees. Special rates
for California Restaurant Association
members.
Are you in compliance with California's
tough meal period compliance laws? It's
a serious matter. Get it wrong and you
could be at risk for thousands, even millions
of dollars in penalties. CBS,
Inc.
offers a solution that allows operators
to track and report compliance on a daily
basis. The product, called NorthStar QuickReports,
is an affordable software solution that
runs on the back office computer of your
restaurant to tie in with your POSitouch
POS system. In addition to Meal Period
Compliance reports, QuickReports provides
dozens of other valuable tools. For more
info visit www.northstarenterprise.com
or contact CBS, Inc. at 800.551.7674.
The CRA Property and Liability
Insurance Program
Eligible CRA members who operate upscale,
full-service or quick-service operations
can take advantage of the new CRA Property
and Liability Program through UCA General
Insurance.
The new program provides coverage for
the following industry-specific features:
Spoilage of food and beverage caused by
a mechanical breakdown or failure of refrigeration
equipment.
Systems breakdown coverage for repair
or replacement of equipment and loss-of-income
coverage as a result of equipment failure.
Money and securities, including cash taken
in as well as lost or stolen credit-card
receipts and traveler's checks.
Building-ordinance coverage that provides
extra protection to help you rebuild in
compliance with local and potentially
expensive building codes in the event
of a loss.
Employee dishonesty, such as theft of
cash from the register, theft of silver
or linens and credit-card fraud.
Business income to reimburse you for lost
profits and continuing expenses caused
by fire or property damage for a period
of time selected by you at the beginning
of your coverage.
For more information about this program
and other insurance opportunities, please
contact Paula Moore at 877.644.9232 or
pmoore@calrest.org.
“ Our slips & falls have dropped
72 percent" - The Cheesecake Factory.
SHOES
FOR CREWS®
slip-resistant footwear utilizes exclusive
outsole technology to grip wet and greasy
floors with amazing traction! Our footwear
is available at no cost to your company
via affordable payroll deduction, and
you're covered by our $5,000 Slip &
Fall Accident Warranty. SHOES FOR CREWS®
is the proven solution for avoiding workers'
comp claims. Visit shoesforcrews.com
today!
CRA to host meeting on Valley robberies.
Spurred by a rash of robberies in the
area, the CRA is hosting a meeting for
members in the San Fernando Valley and
surrounding areas in collaboration with
the Los Angeles Police Department on Monday,
December 11 at the West Valley Police
Station Community Room, 19020 Vanowen
Street, Reseda. This meeting is to educate
members on precautions they can take to
protect themselves and employees. The
Los Angeles Daily News reports since their
first heist in July 2004, the "Ski
Masked Bandits" have targeted fine-dining
establishments as often as coffee shops
and are suspected of looting five restaurants
twice. The CRA hopes this meeting will
provide area restaurateurs with information
they can use to protect themselves and
their business. For more information about
this event, please contact Andrew Casaña
at 562.432.8291 or by email at acasana@calrest.org.
Upcoming CRA Events and CRAEF
Seminars:
11/30
ServSafe® Alcohol: Responsible Beverage
Service
Sacramento
12/5
Sexual Harassment Prevention Training
Silicon Valley
12/15
ServSafe®Train the Trainer Workshop
Sacramento
12/18
ServSafe® Food Protection Manager
Class and Exam
Los Angeles
12/19
ServSafe® Food Protection Manager
Class and Exam
Sacramento
12/20
ServSafe® Food Protection Manager
Class and Exam
Sacramento
For more information or to register for
CRAEF seminars, please contact CRAEF at
800.765.4842 or visit www.calrest.org.
*Partial
listing of upcoming events. Please click
here for all CRA events.
CRA members receive special rates and
simplified pricing with Heartland
Payroll Services.
You wouldn't trust just anyone to handle
your income taxes. Maybe it's time to
let the experts handle your payroll processing
too. Heartland Payroll Services* can customize
your payroll plan to include online payroll,
new-hire reporting, direct deposit, payroll
tax services and year-end reporting. Find
out how much you can save with Heartland's
Association Simplified Pricing Plan for
Payroll Processing - available to CRA
members only. Don't wait any longer. Call
888.963.3600 today or click
here.
*Heartland Payroll Services is a division
of Heartland Payment Systems.
ICE-O-Matic®
announces
the qualification of nearly 50 commercial
ice machine models for the California
energy-efficiency rebates paid by the
three largest utility companies in the
state ? Pacific Gas & Electric, San
Diego Gas & Electric, and Southern
California Edison. The major utility companies
have coordinated an offer to encourage
California businesses to install energy-efficient
equipment, which includes rebates up to
$500 for qualifying commercial ice machines.
The rebates are offered to commercial
businesses that purchase a qualifying
ice machine and have an existing, qualified
account with a participating utility company.
Rebate details and submission forms are
available from ICE-O-Matic® dealers
and distributors throughout the qualifying
regions in California. For more information
visit www.iceomatic.com.
Medcor's
unique
injury triage system is helping California
restaurants avoid unnecessary workers'
comp claims, drive down costs and improve
health outcomes! Medcor provides 24/7
access to specially trained nurses over
a toll-free number. Medcor provides real-time
language translation whenever needed and
our flexible services work with any insurance,
broker or third party administrator. Medcor
provides immediate reports to employers,
secure data online and outstanding customer
service. Employers see lower comp costs.
Employees report high satisfaction - visit
www.medcor.com.
California Restaurant Association
1011 10th Street
Sacramento, CA 95814
phone: (800) 765-4842
fax: (916) 447-6182
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